Biotest ZMA has 450mg Mg, 30mg Zinc. This has been used in a study and shown a big effect on T-levels. But is it possible to take less than that and still get the effect?
Do the studies use an abnormally high dose so the effect is obvious, when in fact possibly half that dose will have the same effect? Does anyone know why 450/30 was chosen? Maybe its just the RDA and I’m being stupid… but then, RDAs arent based on athletes, but the average sedentary human.
I just don’t like the idea of taking 3 capsules and pissing two of them out in my urine.
Remember the good old creatine more-is-better myth. Sure, if you want creatine in your toilet bowl, and not in your muscles…
[quote]greenslade wrote:
Biotest ZMA has 450mg Mg, 30mg Zinc. This has been used in a study and shown a big effect on T-levels. But is it possible to take less than that and still get the effect?
Do the studies use an abnormally high dose so the effect is obvious, when in fact possibly half that dose will have the same effect? Does anyone know why 450/30 was chosen? Maybe its just the RDA and I’m being stupid… but then, RDAs arent based on athletes, but the average sedentary human.
I just don’t like the idea of taking 3 capsules and pissing two of them out in my urine.
Remember the good old creatine more-is-better myth. Sure, if you want creatine in your toilet bowl, and not in your muscles…[/quote]
The amounts used in the study were higher than the RDA but not excessively high by any means. Would less be just as effective? I don’t know as I can’t say that I know they’ve ever evaluated that. I honestly doubt it though.
On a further point, about calcium and magnesium.
There are cheap “pure” Mg supplements available, but they have a “dicalcium” coating on, which must be very tiny indeed. Surely the magnesium won’t be affected by such a small amount of calcium, and so this supplement is alright.
And why does Biotest ZMA include the vitamin b6? How does this help uptake, or T-production, or what?
And yet another question. What forms of Zinc and Magnesium are most absorbable? Biotest has aspartates. But what about sulphates? or oxides? Are these really bad, or just not the best?
I ask all this because in the UK, ZMA is very expensive, and p&p from USA isn’t cheap for large quantities. But I can get zinc and magnesium separately here for less than half the price, but I don’t want to be saving money on stuff that doesn’t work…
[quote]greenslade wrote:
On a further point, about calcium and magnesium.
There are cheap “pure” Mg supplements available, but they have a “dicalcium” coating on, which must be very tiny indeed. Surely the magnesium won’t be affected by such a small amount of calcium, and so this supplement is alright.
And why does Biotest ZMA include the vitamin b6? How does this help uptake, or T-production, or what?
And yet another question. What forms of Zinc and Magnesium are most absorbable? Biotest has aspartates. But what about sulphates? or oxides? Are these really bad, or just not the best?
I ask all this because in the UK, ZMA is very expensive, and p&p from USA isn’t cheap for large quantities. But I can get zinc and magnesium separately here for less than half the price, but I don’t want to be saving money on stuff that doesn’t work…[/quote]
B6 was included in the orginal ZMA, it’s not something Biotest decided to do on its’ own. Give the following a read:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460596
The oxides and sulfates generally have lower oral bioavailability.
When the dosage says 450mg Mg, is that 450 elemental (ie, just magnesium) or is it 450 of a compound (magnesium aspartate, or citrate, or whatever), of which only a proportion is actually Magnesium?
[quote]greenslade wrote:
When the dosage says 450mg Mg, is that 450 elemental (ie, just magnesium) or is it 450 of a compound (magnesium aspartate, or citrate, or whatever), of which only a proportion is actually Magnesium?[/quote]
It’s the amount of magnesium.