How to Start the Parrillo Supplement Program

Parrillo Liver Aminos

Maybe you’ve looked over our list of supplements, believe they can help you maximize lean muscle (they can!), but don’t know where to start. In this column, I will show you how to establish a step-by-step supplement program that will help you reach your physique goals. If you’re ready, let’s get started.

Step 1: Start with Parrillo Essential Vitamin Formula^™ & Parrillo Mineral Electrolyte Formula^™.

I will discuss these two supplements first because I believe virtually everyone should use a vitamin and mineral supplement. While it is generally accepted that you can avoid an overt vitamin or mineral deficiency disease state by eating a balanced diet, it is also widely known that athletes do not, in general, eat a balanced diet. Numerous studies have shown that many, if not most, athletes are deficient in one or more vitamins or minerals. This is not only because athletes usually don’t eat a balanced diet, but also because intense training depletes the body of various vitamins and minerals. On top of this is the concern that while consuming the recommended amount for vitamins and minerals may be enough to prevent a deficiency disease, in no way is that an assurance that you are getting enough to allow peak athletic performance. Furthermore, non-athletic people as well often do not consume a balanced diet. And, virtually no one eats enough dairy products to satisfy the body’s calcium requirement.

Many athletes, especially bodybuilders, eat very little fruit. That is because nearly all the calories provided by fruit come from sugar. Even worse, much of that sugar is in the form of fructose, a sugar with a very high tendency to be converted to fat. Bodybuilders have learned from experience to avoid fruit because it makes them fat. As you know, fruit is a good source of many vitamins and minerals, some of which are not very abundant in other types of food. Also, bodybuilders generally do not use many dairy products for much the same reason. A cup of milk contains eight grams of high quality protein, and 12 grams of carbohydrate. The form of carbohydrate in milk is also sugar (mainly glucose and galactose). So while milk and other dairy products are a good source of protein, and the best whole food source of calcium, bodybuilders generally avoid them because of the sugar content. So, by limiting fruit and dairy consumption, as most bodybuilders do, they are missing some of the best food sources of many vitamins and minerals. Even most non-athletic people don’t get enough vitamins and minerals. In reality most people do not eat enough fruits, vegetables, and dairy products to meet their body’s requirements for vitamins and minerals.

Parrillo Performance Essential Vitamin Formula^™ and Mineral-Electrolyte Formula^™ provide a complete array of vitamins and minerals. The suggested use is one tablet of each with each meal, for a total of at least 3-5 tablets of each per day. Rather than overwhelming your body with a huge dose of vitamins once a day, I feel it makes more sense to distribute your intake of vitamins and minerals evenly throughout the day. This will enhance absorption and assimilation as well as reduce GI upset (that can occur from taking too many vitamins at once). Furthermore, this method of delivery provides your muscles and other organs with a constant supply of the nutrients they need to grow and function optimally.

Our vitamin formula contains high amounts of B vitamins, vital for energy production and required in extra amounts by athletes. Our mineral formula also contains chromium, which is required for the proper functioning of insulin. Many Americans, including athletes, are chromium deficient. In addition to their function as co-enzymes, some vitamins function as anti-oxidants. Vitamins C and E are potent anti-oxidants, but considerably more than the RDA is required to attain any significant anti-oxidant activity. The RDA was established as the amount needed to prevent deficiency diseases, not the amount required to derive anti-oxidant benefits. Parrillo Essential Vitamin Formula^™ contains high levels of the anti-oxidants, well above the daily recommended amount.

Step 2: Add in Creatine Monohydrate.

This is another nutritional supplement that is clearly valuable to virtually everyone who trains with weights. The science is plentiful and the enthusiastic adherents are everywhere. It would be nearly impossible to consume enough Creatine Monohydrate from whole foods to consume the quantity necessary to trigger growth. Besides, with our modern high technology processing methods we can offer you a Creatine Monohydrate product so powerful that two small scoops contain the nutritional punch of several 6-ounce steaks without the saturated fat or the hassle of cooking. You can derive all the Creatine you need with a couple of scoops taken daily. The cost is pennies a day and the results are sensational. Creatine Monohydrate has had the fastest growth curve of any natural supplement in the nation over the last few years.

To optimize the Creatine effect, I recommend that you take one 5 mg scoop four times a day for a week to “load” Creatine Monohydrate into your system and then drop back to a scoop twice a day thereafter to commence the “maintenance phase”. Gaining ten-pounds of lean mass is commonplace and this supplement has carved a permanent place on the shelf of every serious bodybuilder.

Step 3: Consider Adding in One or Two Specialty Supplements.

If you have some specific health issues, such as sore knees or joint problems, add in our Joint Formula^™. It is an amazing combination of Glucosamine, Condroition, Shark Cartilage and Green Sea Mussel, the necessary nutrients for healthy joints. Many human studies have found that glucosamine reduces pain associated with osteoarthritis, and a handful of studies have found that supplements helped regenerate knee cartilage. Take one or two tablets three times daily. Do not use this supplement if you are allergic to seafood.

Another worthwhile standalone supplement includes High DHA Parrillo Fish Oil DHA 800 EPA 200^™. It is a natural marine-lipid concentrate that contains the health-protective omega-3 fatty acids, EPA (Eicosapentaenoic) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) in medically recommended concentrations. EPA and DHA potentially have several cardiovascular benefits, including decreased cholesterol and triglycerides; and the regulation of normal blood clotting. DHA serves important functions in mental health and the transmission of nerve impulses. Fish oil has been shown to increase exercise performance and weight management in some studies. Additionally, fish oil helps control the inflammatory process and may be beneficial for protecting joints. Take one capsule with each meal.

Step 4: Use a high-quality protein supplement like Hi-Protein Powder^™ & Optimized Whey Protein^™.

Nearly every athlete will derive benefit from a high quality protein supplement. As recently as ten years ago it was still debated whether or not athletes really do need more protein than sedentary people. This argument is settled now that more sensitive analytical methods of protein metabolism have become available. Also, several studies have looked directly at the effect of increased protein intake on muscle growth and strength development during strength training. These studies show conclusively that increasing protein intake to 2-3 times the recommended daily amount of protein will facilitate increases in muscle mass and strength resulting from weight training. Something else that has come out of these studies is the realization that endurance athletes also need extra protein.

Parrillo Performance Hi-Protein Powder^™ and Optimized Whey Protein^™ are two of the very best protein supplements available. Both are derived from milk proteins, but don’t contain the sugar or fat found in milk. Hi-Protein Powder^™ is a mixture of casein and whey proteins, while Optimized Whey Protein^™ is a pure whey isolate. Each has its own unique advantages for both the endurance athlete and the bodybuilder. The casein in Hi-Protein Powder^™ slows the digestion of the protein and causes a slower, more gradual release of amino acids. Theoretically, that may facilitate assimilation into muscle, although that has never been studied scientifically. Pure whey protein is digested more rapidly, which some people may consider an advantage. Also, the Optimized Whey Protein^™ is somewhat higher in branched chain amino acids, which are preferentially oxidized as fuel during endurance exercise. This may make Optimized Whey Protein^™ a better choice for endurance athletes. For bodybuilders, either one is a perfect choice, and selection depends mainly on personal preference regarding taste and gastric emptying characteristics. Use one or more servings of either of these products mixed with water during or after workouts or stirred into food during meals for extra protein and calories.

Step 5: Don’t Forget CapTri^®

CapTri^® is a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) supplement – the most pure and highly refined on the market. MCT’s are a special kind of fat, which are metabolized very differently than conventional fats. Basically, they are not stored as fat in the body but burned like a carbohydrate. Essentially, CapTri^® is broken down immediately in the liver and transported to muscle cells where it is used for energy. CapTri^® is not taken up and stored in fat cells, because it is metabolized in the liver. Therefore, CapTri^®does not contribute to stored body fat, as does conventional fat.

That CapTri^® can be used as fuel by muscle at the same time as carbohydrate has important implications for endurance athletes as well as bodybuilders. This means it has a “carbohydrate-sparing” effect, helping muscle glycogen stores last longer before being exhausted. CapTri^® is metabolized as a fuel source as rapidly as glucose (blood sugar), and at the same time as glucose, which is very different from conventional fats. This makes it an ideal energy source for bodybuilders and endurance athletes alike.

CapTri^® is a very efficient source of calories to help support weight gain, particularly lean mass. Adding CapTri^® to your diet provides extra calories, supplying energy to support weight gain. To use CapTri^® to support weight gain, add one-half to one tablespoon to each meal. CapTri^® is an oil and works well in salad dressings or on vegetables. Each tablespoon supplies 114 calories.

Unlike carbohydrate, CapTri^® also works well as a supplement to help with fat loss. To use CapTri^® to facilitate fat loss, use it in place of carbohydrate. For example, at each meal decrease carbohydrate content by 100 calories and replace this with 100 calories of CapTri^®. This will decrease insulin levels, promoting the use of stored body fat as energy. Many people trying to lose weight simply cut calories. This works for a while, but backfires in the end, because your body will slow down its metabolic rate to match the new, decreased, level of caloric intake. Using CapTri^® will allow you to maintain energy levels and metabolic rate, but by providing a nutrient array less prone to be stored as fat, and more prone to promote oxidation of stored body fat. Detailed instructions on the ways to use CapTri^® are provided in the CapTri^® User’s Manual, supplied with each bottle of CapTri^®. Also, the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual explains this in more detail.

CapTri^® is best mixed with food or a drink. A combination of two scoops of Pro-Carb^™ and one-half tablespoon CapTri^® makes a very effective pre-workout drink. You may experience the highest workout energy levels ever. Increase your intake of CapTri^®slowly, allowing your stomach to get used to it. Start with one-half tablespoon mixed with food, and gradually increase by one-half tablespoon increments until you achieve the desired
intake.