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Supplements can be so beneficial and in different ways. However, they're not like the magic key. They're there to help you and to assist you in moving forward towards your goals. So you still have to, you still have to be consistent in workouts, nutrition, sleep, all of those different things. 

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Welcome to the dangerous women podcast, where the intersection of pierceness and femininity fuels empowerment. Our goal is to provide women with insights to unleash their power, grounded in the seven principles of self confidence, we guide women to embrace their duality, delicate as a flower, yet powerful as a bomb. I'm your host, Colleen. Colleen, inviting you to join me as we explore topics on health and wellness, empowering you to embody the essence of your dangerous woman. I started creating a performance recovery shoe called after burn back in the fall of 2023 on a separate episode, I will be telling you why I created it, but today I'm excited to bring back registered dietician Hillary urban, who's going to give us the facts about the three different supplements I have packed into after burn, which are creatine monohydrate, BCAAs and l glutamine. Please be advised these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases. Hillary, what is creatine? All right, I love talking about creatine. It's one of my favorite supplements to talk about, and it is because creatine is one of the most well researched ergogenic aids, and our body makes creatine from amino acids in our body. So our body is making creatine. It's produced in the liver, kidneys and the pancreas. We also can consume creatine from some of our animal proteins. There's different types of creatine. However, the creatine of monohydrate is the most extensively researched, and it's typically the most cost effective. So we love creatine because it helps store energy in our muscles, which can be used to refuel our body's primary energy source, which is ATP. It's kind of like the energy currency in our body, and this is helpful for exercise, or just kind of like any activity, physical activity that we're doing, and what are BCAAs? So BCAA is short for branch chain amino acids, and they have a specific structure in their chemical makeup, which is why they are called branched chain amino acids. So there are three of them that we look at when we're talking about BCAAs, leucine, isoleucine and vein. Our body cannot make them. So they are essential. We have to get them from external sources. When we look at BCAAs, there's there's definitely research that we want to continue to do on them and to continue to explore the impact that they have on our body, especially when we look at the conclusion of supplementation, if you will. So they may decrease our muscle protein breakdown and muscle soreness. For Dom's, so knowing you work out and feel the soreness appear a few days later, it may help with that. Now to look at each of the three VCAs a little more closely, so leucine plays a role in our muscle protein synthesis. It's kind of like the star of the group. And then we have isoleucine, which it helps with our muscle repair, it helps with that energy production and maybe immune function as well. And then valine, it helps with our muscle metabolism, and it may reduce exercise induced fatigue. So when we look at that word, may it's something that we've seen, but we want to continue to research it, maybe in bigger studies with bigger sample sizes, or studies that maybe include a more diverse population, such as women, female athletes, or just a broader group of folks in particular. And would you say they're worth it? So I think this is always a good conversation when it comes to supplementation. So supplements are there to supplement our diet. And I know that you are, you are like, pro food first, too, right? Yes, absolutely. Supplements in general, like they are there to enhance so I think the VCs fall in that same category. They can be really helpful if you don't consume enough protein from animal food. So these may be helpful for folks who have limited dietary options. Maybe they're plant or maybe they're plant based, or they just don't enjoy consuming animal proteins. They also can be great for people who don't enjoy like protein powders or protein shakes. Being able to consume it in a different form can be really helpful. And I think maybe the question I should have started with, when we look at like, are they worth it, is, why are you supplementing? Look at what effect you're kind of wanting to obtain from supplements, and you can try it out and observe, see how you feel, see the impact that it makes on you. And they just, they fill the gaps. So my thoughts is, they can be worth it for you. It just, it depends, and it can be worth trying. And I know you have shared that there was a double blind, independent with 23 participants. Can you respond that for a second? Yes. So when we look at we've seen, I know that I shared. It's kind of like the star of the show. And in this specific study, they found that when pairing leucine with glutamine, it led to better strength recovery over certain periods of time. So 2448 and 72 hours. Now I think that this study is exciting, and it's one of those where we want to know more. Can we have a bigger sample size? Can we maybe improve on technology? But I always think that it's exciting to see this type of information and that we can continue to build on. And again, just to back up everything Hillary is saying, I'm totally on board with those supplements are intended to provide the nutrients that you may lack or could benefit from consuming. It's just here to fill in the gaps. Is that correct? Yes. So we haven't talked about L glutamine yet, and now that we know this is definitely something maybe we need some more research on. Can you tell us what that supplement is, yeah, so glutamine and L, glutamine, those words are typically used interchangeably. There's two forms of glutamine, L and D, D, glutamine. You really don't hear it talked about RC. It spoke about in different pieces of literature, l glutamine is that bioactive form. So it's, you know, the form that our body can use, and it impacts the body. So just kind of bear that in mind. Typically l glutamine and glutamine are used pretty interchangeably. So l, glutamine is not an essential amino acid because our body can synthesize it. However, in certain instances, it may be conditionally essential, which means that our body may need more of it. So this can happen if folks are really sick, maybe you have a major injury, especially like burns, or if you have a more advanced or invasive surgery, if you will. So it can be beneficial in greater amounts for folks in certain circumstances outside of activity, there's also some pretty interesting literature out there that it may help with the integrity of the GI tract. That's definitely something that that is continuing to be looked into. The gut health space is really interesting. It's a space where they're just continuing to do more research and continuing to understand it better. And glutamine is also something that they're looking into in that space as well. So now that we have the information on the supplements that are all packed into the shoe that is after burn, how would you define an intense workout for those who could be benefiting from taking the supplement that is after burn? Defining an intense workout, to me, can be subjective, right? Everyone has different levels of knowledge and skills in exercise, so it can be very person dependent, for example, just to give up personal and I am recently getting back into regular activity. So an intense workout for me now feels different than it did two years ago. So this goes to just kind of say that you don't have to be like the 1% in that very elite athlete space to to possibly benefit from using supplements. The intensity can vary depending on the person various types of athletes, which I love to make sure that everyone knows. Like if you are regularly exercising, you are working the hard you are an athlete. You don't have to be paid, you don't have to be professional, you don't have to be at the Olympics to be an athlete. So athletes who are participating in strength sports, endurance sports, team sports, any type of activity where you are working hard and moving your body like you can benefit from them. So the supplementation can can be helpful in all of those modes of activity, because it can help with repairing, restoring, and then that adaptation from exercise, which is going to help you to keep improving. So what is happening for anybody who is an athlete, who has gone through a quote, unquote, intense workout, and again, totally understand it depends how you define what intense workout is. But if you are somebody and you are sore, you need to be ready to go for the next workout in X amount of time. What is happening to our bodies being in the after effects of an intense workout. So after we work out, and we're giving, you know, our best effort, we're really pushing in those exercise experiences, whether to class, whether it is group, whatever that may be, there's different things that happen. So our muscles are damaged, which is an okay thing. That's a good thing, because they're going to be our body's going to work to repair them. And when that happens, there is an increased protein turnover due to muscle protein breakdown and then protein synthesis. And there is where our body needs replenishment at those energy sources. So we look at that the fueling bit that I always like to talk about, and that's where the supplementation can also be beneficial as well. We also like to consider the fact that there is fluid and electrolyte loss as well after exercise, especially if you are working out in hot climates, hot space, or if you're just having sweaters that can also advance the amount of fluids and electrolytes that you're using. Other things to think about that happen when we are working out and then when our body is recovering as well, is there are hormonal responses, which, those are a good thing. Our central nervous system gets tired. We also have cardiovascular adaptations, and there's also that psychological and emotional response following exercise. So there's a lot of things that attack that's going on in our bodies, and that's why it can be really helpful to to look at, you know, what we're doing before and after, because our body is working really hard to get through those workouts, perform how we're asking it to, and then recover. And then, most of us, you're not professional athletes, right? That isn't working out. Is not our job. We're not our job. We're not getting paid to recover, exercise, do all those things, so we stop to go to work while we may have to, like, take care of families, keep up, you know, our living spaces. So the nutrition component enhance the supplementation that can be really helpful and and it's important to note that supplements still do not override a healthy diet, working out, getting out of the rest, yet, if you have all of those pieces dialed in, it sounds like it can really help to give you an edge. I have felt that personally, is that correct to say, Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Because the supplements that are, they're there to give you that, like extra bit of support. And I think that they can also be, you know, they can kind of be helpful when you have a good routine in utilizing them. It helps you to get into it can help you get into a good flow with other things that maybe you're working on. Kind of, looking at this term, I've heard James clear talk about this is called habit stacking. And you know, maybe you're incorporating the supplements post workout, right? You have that, then maybe you're getting into a good flow with your water intake, so you're stacking that habit so that you're helping with your fluids, or, you know, maybe you're stacking it with your post workout nutrition. So they can also be kind of helpful when you creating these good practices post workout or pre workout, versus kind of like at any point in your day as well. So yes, they can be helpful in different 

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ways. Now after burn, in and of itself, it is being marketed as a performance recovery supplement. And it's one of those things where I think a lot of times people are like, okay, when do I take this? When's the exact time to take it? And truth be told, you could take this at any point in the day. However, it is not meant to be thought of as I'm going to take this as pre workout to have the energy to just like, crush it like, even though it says performance on the packaging, it's not necessarily there to be that supplement that's going to make you turn up differently 30 minutes later after taking it is really meant to help facilitate in the recovery process. So can you explain to us how each of these supplements that make up after burn again, creatine monohydrate, BCAAs and l glutamine, how each of them play a role within the performance or the performance recovery process? And specifically, can we start talking about creatine? So how does creatine impact performance and or performance recovery? Yeah, like I said, creatine is one of the most well researched or cogent aids up with caffeine and creatine, in terms of its benefits from a performance standpoint. So it can help with increasing strength, power and endurance. So that's why we can look at creatine not being just for people who are lifting weights. It can also be beneficial for endurance folks, but it can enhance the body's ability to make ATP, which, like I said, is that energy currency in our cells. It all has been shown to you to help with recovery speed. So getting getting that ability to recover maybe a little bit faster as well. Now, to build off, our talk about supplementation is filling in the gaps. It's helping us out. Supplementation with creatine, in particular, really helps to maximize the creatine in our stores. So most of us do get, you know, creatine in our diet from the different foods that we're consuming. However, it looks to be that most of the most of us see that our muscles are about 60 to 80% saturated. So creatine really helps to kind of, like, top off our stores and allow us to maximize them, if you will. Now there's some really important things I want to note on creatine, because I get a lot of questions whenever I personally talk about creatine. So creatine does not cause fat gain. However, sometimes when we first start utilizing creatine, we'll see fluctuations or movement on the scale. You may see this if you're weighing yourself daily, and that is because creatine has some specific effects in our body. So it has an osmotic effects, which effect, which mean it like attracts and holds on to water. So water is being pulled into your muscles. So the increase in that water in your cells can lead to some temporary shifts in weight. And you also may see that your muscle glycogen stores instead of your carbohydrates. Kind of thinking, glycogen and carbohydrates together can also lead to that shift in water, because carbs like to hold on to water. So a lot of people will, you know, come to me concerned that they are, you know, gaining weight, or they don't want to see the scale Co Op because they're creatine. This is temporary, typically, like a temporary shift, so long as the other things are consistent, of your diet. The only point I would say for folks that maybe would want to be a little constant they would implement creatine is, if it's someone who's a weight class athlete who needs to be a specific weight at a specific time, then they may need to want to consider when they are implementing creatine. It may not be best to implement right before or close to a time where you need to be a specific weight. The other thing to know is, creatine is totally okay for men and women. Is not just for men. Women can absolutely benefit from using creatine as like you've experienced I've experienced in so many other women have experienced as well. What about BCAAs? How do they play an impactful role in this game? So create, sorry, BCAAs may reduce creatine kinase. So creatine kinase is this enzyme in your body that plays a role in our energy production, especially in our muscles. So with muscles, or like, the stress, which happens, you know, after our exercise, the creatine kinase new rise. And that's where those species could be possibly helpful in kind of leveling that up, like I mentioned earlier, they may be also, they may be helpful in reducing DOMs or that delayed onset muscle soreness. So after you work out, a few days later, you try to, like, go up or sit down, and it's really painful, it may help reduce that now, current studies have not shown conclusively that they'll have an impact on muscle performance. However, more research is definitely needed on larger populations, and research on women in general, I think, is also something we want to look at. Typically, studies, especially in previous years, have been largely conducted on men. More and more research has been conducted on women, which is exciting. These are areas that we will see research done on as well. And then, how does a glutamine impact? So a glutamine, we have evidence in research work recovery from strength training. And another bit that I know I mentioned earlier is that it may always work the GI tractor stomach in prolonged endurance exercise. And to me, this is exciting in an area that I hope they continue to look at, because in endurance sports is the duration of the activity increases. Gi troubles or challenges can arise where it can make it really difficult for the athlete to fuel themselves. So again, this is an area that I think we would benefit from seeing more research done in women in larger populations, and continue to explore how all three of these supplements can make an impact. Because, as we've you know, as we've seen, research is always growing and evolving. Things that we thought five years ago, 10 years ago have changed, and there's always benefit to continuing to look into these specific areas. Hillary, can we talk a little bit about dosage for these supplements? So in afterburner, this was in the bag that there is a serving size of taking five chews within this serving size it is giving, and this is third party tested, five grams of creatine monohydrate, five grams of BCAAs and one gram of L glutamine. Now, how does somebody know how to actually be taking? Does it change from person to person based on your weight, based on your gender? What are some of like the general recommendations for each of these supplements? Can we just talk to that a little bit Sure. So with creatine, the recommended dose is between five milligrams per day. Sometimes folks who have a more sensitive stomach prefer the lower dosage, but three to five milligrams per day is typically the recommended dosage. This means that you also want to include it on rest days. Creatine is something that is recommended to take day meeting, not just on the days you're exercising. Another thing to think about with creatine is that you don't need to load it. There are specific loading protocols that you may find online, and that is something that you don't have to do, especially if you're planning to take creatine over an extended period of time. I typically don't recommend loading because it's not really necessary if you're again taking it over a period of time, and it also causes GI distress just due to that large influx of creatine coming in. 

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Cannibal, catalyst, the exercise guide for women to build strength, lean muscle and self confidence to overcoming limiting beliefs, is a book I wrote for women to be empowered to get started with kettlebells. In this book, not only will you learn the 101, hard style, kettle technique, but you will also meet lots of women who were brave enough to try using kettlebells and hear how they transform, both physically and mentally. To Buy your copy, visit Amazon or Barnes and Noble today, it's been easy. Ecase, the general recommended dose is about five milligrams. And with glutamine, the optimal dose or increasing muscle mass is, however, it looks as if the dosing range from 530 milligrams per day is what is recommended now, with the A glutamine or BCAAs, these are when we're looking at the supplementation part. That's where we're definitely looking at that filling in the gaps. So you gaps. So you might be getting your L glutamine or BCA or food as well. So these are these ranges, or that those recommendations can vary a little bit more. I think that's a really cool thing to note, and something to just be mindful. When you look at serving sizes or what's recommended on packaging, it's like you can't really talk to the fact that, you know, it depends right there has to be something right there on the label. So being mindful can get additional supplementation from each of these products in what you're eating, I think is something really important to just be mindful of. Yes, and like we talked about, we're not wanting to say supplements replace, you know, the foods that we're eating, filling in the gaps, adding your extra teammate to help you along. When I initially brought this up to one of my clients. She had asked a question about, How long does it take to actually feel a difference? Why does it take so long when I try, you know, taking something, I'm not sure I can actually feel it. Do you have anything to say on that? So this is actually a really good question. And the thing is, you're likely not going to have this like, over I feel a crazy difference. You might notice subtle changes, but it's unlikely you're going to wake up and just feel totally different. It's not like a pre workout where you might get that burst of energy or the tingles on your skin. That's not going to with this, you know, this type of supplementation, if you're looking for the very notable, you know, experience or moment where you're like, Wow, I feel amazing. It's probably not going to happen. It's one of those where we're continuing how you're feeling over time, progressing with how you're feeling. So that's sometimes a little challenging for people, because, I mean, it's it feels frustrating at times, not that clear evidence that something's happening, but you're likely not going to have this really aha moment when I started taking all three of those supplements on my it took probably close to, like, two and a half weeks till I started noticing some changes within other variables at play, as what I was doing in my workouts, the amount of rest I was getting, but I would say, noticing a difference in terms of, I don't feel as sore and I'm able to get an extra set or Get some more reps in. I also noticed that a couple PRs started popping up in more of my power exercises, like my Snatch and my swing. But to your point, it never felt, gosh, like it's in my body now, but for somebody who's really curious to see a difference there, it's one of those things where you know, are you what you're eating? Are you tracking your sleep? Are you you're doing in your workouts and tracking how feeling. If those are things that you already have data on, adding something like this in after a few weeks or maybe up to a month, maybe then you'll start to see, oh, there is a difference in my recovery. There is a difference in how I'm able to show up for the next workout. Is there anything else that you would add to that or change to that? To me, this goes back to the point I shared on like, what are you going to achieve the supplementation? And that's where like to keep note of it. Do you have data points that you're wanting to look at, or more subjective points, and use internal or use use the computer and take note of that. You could use rating scales, different ways that you want to to monitor, track how you're feeling, and use that as to to see how you might be impacted. And just because you don't feel these, oh my goodness, the moments like, well, I'm performing so great because you don't feel that does not mean that it's not working. And and using the data that you're trying is going to be really helpful. So we have a lot of great information now on three different supplements that are all packed in. Chapter burn, I have a number of questions that I have received from clients and people who are curious about Afterburn that we are going to break into next so Hillary are supplementary, safe to take, yes. So especially speaking to the ones that are sharing with the world, yes, they're generally safe to incorporate. They wanted to jump. And this is definitely some of these are person dependent, so you want to supplement any of your medications, it's always good to check that if you have any concerns, always a good idea to consult your doctor before starting any thoughts. And then so making sure that they are third party tested, which we know you're several different places that you can check to see if supplements are third party. Or you can also look like some of those different ways to the testing of different products and the third party testing just to ensure that what they're getting there's no surprises, things aren't or to also ensure they're not getting no less than what they think they're taking in. So that's always helpful to have that third party testing. I'm going to share more information about this component on a separate podcast episode. But what I can say from going through this process, it is very easy to go about creating a supplement. So for somebody who wants to get something out and do it very cheap way, it's possible that you could be taking this stuff thinking that you're getting more in it, where you're actually not. So that's the beauty of adding a product being third party. You're just checking off your boxes, making sure that everything you're being told you are actually getting exactly and that there's not extra fillers or funky ingredients in there. So that is a really good point for someone who's never taken a supplement. Is it different than taking a steroid? Yes, I wanted to first, like, think about talking about creatine, because this is the one where sometimes I will hear people in conversation core like creatine to start. Creatine is definitely not an analytic steroid. Sonic steroids are synthetic substances. They're not going to be every body, and they help promote muscle growth. They enhance it with athletic performance. So they can definitely give an advantage. However, they're typically, well, they're banned in electronics, professional sports and organizations and misuse to risk. There's just a lot of different challenges that can like anabolic steroids, recreating is definitely set in the naturally. For instance, it's produced by the body and then utilizes it. So the supplements that you've talked about these days, glutamine, creatine, they're not steroids or, you know, anything that falls under that category. Now you've already portion of this. You have made it very clear that men and women from this. But aside from gender, is there anything to note in regards to age demographic and taking these supplements? And this is one of the, one of the challenges that we can sometimes find with recommendations in general, these are not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and they're not recommended for people on this is no large terms of conducting ethical research. It's not it's not ethical to conduct on folks who are pregnant or breastfeeding of the infant or Latinos cannot get. And we're also looking at things in terms of ethics. So American Academy of Pediatrics and the American society of Sports Medicine do not use under the age of 18. Do we actually ingest any of these food you have on this? But just to make it super clear, why would you actually consider anything with can get them through food? Good questions. So is found in somebody so primarily meat and fish, it is naturally found in space. So if we're a based athlete and you don't consume animal proteins, then you may find that your your creatine stores are lower. So that supplementation completely helpful these days, can be found in plants and animal foods may have lowered compared to their animal counterparts, and same with can be found in both animal foods, but maybe lowering those plant based sources. So these last two especially helpful in filling in the gaps, and then some of the other samples as well. Can you walk us through who would be someone to not take these supplements? So who would not want to take creatine, like I mentioned before with pregnant if you're pregnant, you should probably provider if you're under the age of 18, is another thing you would want to consult with your provider certain health conditions, getting diabetes, Part D, you would definitely want to consult with your that it is safe for you to take them, and then consulting with your provider to also look at Potential medications for PCAs, they are generally safe for most. There was sure that spoke to certain diseases, ideal or safe for folks to take or UD days and where we want to check with our provider and look into and as far as gluteal also appears to be safe for most. However, those who have liver or kidney disease, and also for the literature speaks to meet folks who have seizures or epilepsy may also want to work with their in specific conditions and then interactions. So if you have any pause for concern, check with your provider versus a pharmacist if you have medications, just so you can make sure all of your it seems like there's a lot of because this thing that you actually encouraged me to start taking before getting considered creating a product like this have been something that you and I have been going on for almost two years now. They're an ideal person who considered taking this for all you know, as we're wrapping up this overall takeaways from everything we've talked about taking all three of these supplements together, the benefit is that work together in some form or fashion. So I know I touched on the research, speaking to how glutamine, and specifically leucine, can work together. And then you know that comes comes in really well researched product supplements. I would say that in terms of who can benefit from this? It would be the athlete. Remember, athlete, if you're listening to this, you don't have to be paid in the tolerance. And if you are working out hard, you're probably benefit your strength athlete, whether you're whether 

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you're with limitation, you also want to make sure you're checking some of your other books. Other so are you sleeping? Are you consistent with your exercise? Are you getting the nutrition that your body needs for chopping? You also want to look at those components as well, because they're not taking care of those pieces, the supplements are likely not going to have that you want. And you can look up us around with getting, you know, getting bigger, growing ourselves, decreasing, getting better. So it can be in so many different goals that we have, especially when we come with, like our athlete, being consistent, aligning our goals or goals nutrition as well, taking care of yourself. Is a human being, or any response for these in a chew or a gummy form, I would say, from working with a lot of folks that gummy is so convenient creating monohydrate in power form, some folks just don't like how it mixes the texture you'll travel. Really beneficial and the barriers so tasty. It travels in your gym, easier, less messy and just, I would say, convenient after for sure. No You have touched on benefits to other benefits of taking these supplements outside of recovery in the form of after taking them fully. When we look at creatine, there is continued research on this supplement, and research shows that it may have COVID and all. So they're looking at effects of creatine and our brain. And there's also research on looking into it in terms of health. So very especially if brain COVID is, is it a barrier where they're really being and for elevating, I know I shared like trauma or injuries, and then also your overall gut health. So this also speaks to how, how we can benefit supplementation, training days, not just when we're working out, and continue to be beneficial, are recovering from an injury or have a little bit of a gain in our workout programming, and still have impact on other ways creatine safe for your kidneys. This is another good question. Colleen, when we look at creatine, often sometimes lumped together with the creatine is something that we add when we so creatinine is used the market product of the breakdown of creatine. So there's concerns for who are thinking, if I start using going back to my levels and stuff, may increase create reviews when we look at long insurance routine for folks who have healthy have recently found that there's no however, this would definitely be ones or if you do have higher creatine levels that you would want your Doctor to have any negative implications. Final question, Hillary certificate, would you want to share additional warnings if somebody was considering taking after or of any of these three supplements? The main points probably the supplementation. It can be really advantageous for you, especially those boxes with consistent training, also secure your training program is aligned with your goals. If you're wanting to start your training should be aligned with that faster, improve your endurance should be aligned. The supplements can be sold benefit different ways, but however, they magically help you so you still have to workouts, nutrition, speak all of those different things. I think you know, one of the other things about this, remember, is to observe, to kind of keep track of both subjective and data. Can feel for the supplementation is how and then is if you're going to try it consistent, be objective, be curious, as you're that way you can make a decision, perhaps jumping off the links, or how you want to continue to apply something. Thank you so much.