My Evening Routine and Supplement Stack
The evening routine and supplementation that balances my health and happiness. Supplement Stack series part 5/5.
Supplement Stack series:
My Evening Supplement Stack
In part 4 of this series, I took you through the supplements I take pre and post-workout. In this post, I’m going to take you through my evening routine and supplement stack.
I consume most of my calories in the evening. I’ve never been one to eat a lot in the morning, and I became even more accustomed to this when I was intermittent fasting. More than anything, this works for my schedule and is a lifestyle I enjoy. Preparing and then sitting down for a big yummy dinner with my partner is something that gives me joy.
My partner intermittent fasts most days, and she usually breaks her fast at around 5:30pm or 6pm, which is when we have a snack together. This usually consists of things like unsalted nuts, a little cheese, and some biltong (a South African style of cured meat that we make ourselves or buy from Stryve). If my workout that day was intense or I otherwise feel like my blood sugar is a little low, I’ll have some carbs like a sandwich made with Dave’s wholegrain and seeds bread and some peanut butter or fish paste (another South African thing that I’ll elaborate on another day).
I tend to drink plenty of water in this early evening period as I’m usually thirsty at this time, and I like to get close to my water intake targets earlier in the evening, so I don’t drink too much before bed.
We eat dinner at 8pm or 8:30pm and aim to finish eating by 9:30pm so that we have a couple of hours to digest before our regular bedtime of 11:30pm. I take Magnesium Bisglycinate and more Omega 3s with dinner.
My sleep would probably benefit from finishing eating even earlier than this, but honestly, my sleep is good, and there is a balance on how far I’ll go to optimize vs. parking in things I enjoy.
I take my sleep supplements at around 11pm and then go to bed at 11:30pm.
Designs for Sport Omega 3 Hi-Po
In my Lunchtime Supplement Stack post, I talked about the importance of Omega 3s and that I supplement with 2,000 mg of EPA and 1,000 mg of DHA a day. I take Thorne Super EPA Pro with my lunch which has 1,300 mg EPA and 320 mg of DHA, and then take Designs for Sport Omega 3 Hi-Po with my dinner, which has 750 mg of both EPA and DHA in a triglyceride-bound form for enhanced bioavailability.
There’s an interesting clip on YouTube with Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Morgan Levine, PhD where they talk about how having a higher Omega 3 Index is correlated with a 5-year longer life expectancy. My goal for this biomarker (which comes from a blood test) is 8%, which I was able to hit on my last lab test with the above protocol (you can check out my post on PhenoAge, created in part by Morgan Levine, here).
Designs for Sport Magnesium Bisglycinate
Magnesium plays many crucial roles in the body, such as supporting muscle and nerve function and energy production. Low magnesium levels don't always cause obvious symptoms, but they can negatively affect mood, energy levels, athletic performance, and sleep. Chronically low levels can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.
I mentioned the importance of consuming enough vitamin K and magnesium when supplementing with vitamin D in my Lunchtime Supplement Stack post. While vitamin K helps make sure that calcium goes to the right places, magnesium is needed to move vitamin D around in the blood and activate vitamin D.
I measure my magnesium levels when I do my labs. Using the Magnesium, RBC test (which is far better at determining levels than serum tests), I saw that my levels were lower than I’d like, so I’ve increased my supplemental intake. I take 1 capsule of Designs for Sport Magnesium Bisglycinate with lunch and another with my dinner.
Designs for Sport Neuro Complex
A fancy name for what is essentially “just” Magnesium L-threonate.
Magnesium L-threonate is superior to other forms of magnesium at getting through the blood-brain barrier because it is able to transport magnesium ions across lipid membranes, including those of brain cells. Researchers at MIT concluded that elevating brain magnesium content via supplementation with magnesium L-threonate may be a useful strategy to support cognitive abilities and decrease common age-related memory decline.
Designs for Sport Neuro Complex contains a patented form of chelated (meaning that the molecules are bonded to another molecule) magnesium called Magtein®. It’s best taken on an empty stomach, and I take a serving of this about 30 minutes before bed.
I personally find that I get a little more REM sleep when I take it and wake up feeling more refreshed.
That’s it for the Supplement Series! In the coming weeks, I’ll put a post together that summarizes my entire stack.
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