Why did you choose the four you did for the Daily Essentials Kits?
Q: Of all the products you make, why did you choose the four you did for the Daily Essentials Kits? And what do these products do?
A: Hammer Nutrition's Daily Essentials supplements—Premium Insurance Caps, Race Caps Supreme, Mito Caps, and EndurOmega—provide the widest range of benefits for both athletic performance and overall health purposes. They are the cornerstone of the Hammer Nutrition product line, and they should be the foundation of your supplement program. Take them every single day, whether training or not, and enjoy the tremendous benefits they provide.
WHAT THE DAILY ESSENTIALS DO FOR YOU
- Replenish vitamins and minerals, which athletes and active people deplete in greater amounts than sedentary people, to optimize overall health
- Support entire-body health by supplying a wide range of antioxidants to help neutralize free radicals and the cellular destruction they cause
- Provide key substrates to maximize efficient and consistent production of energy
- Optimize mitochondrial health, an absolute necessity for enhancing athletic performance and overall health
- Supply the body with the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are closely involved in numerous areas of human health
Premium Insurance Caps
Unlike many multis that contain inadequate Daily Value (DV) or Reference Daily Intake (RDI) amounts of nutrients (which are only the minimum standards for preventing nutrient-deficiency diseases), Premium Insurance Caps is formulated with Optimum Daily Intake (ODI) amounts of the highest quality vitamins and minerals. This supplies your body with the higher quantities of nutrients it needs for optimal health. Also included in the formula is an impressive array of complementary nutrients and digestive enzymes.
More about Premium Insurance Caps
Race Caps Supreme
The combination of nutrients in Hammer Nutrition’s premier product works synergistically to provide you with a plethora of dynamic athletic and general health benefits, unmatched by any other athlete-specific supplement. These include:
- Higher energy levels during workouts and all day long, without the unpleasant stimulant side effects that come from the ingredients in many other supplements
- Noticeable increase in endurance
- Less muscle soreness and enhanced recovery after training sessions
- Antioxidant support for optimal immune system function
Everyone will benefit greatly from the consistent use of Race Caps Supreme, and it's an absolute essential for athletes.
More about Race Caps Supreme
Mito Caps
The Mito Caps formula is based on the eye-opening studies of Dr. Bruce Ames regarding mitochondrial functioning, aging, deterioration, and regeneration. The importance of maintaining optimal functioning of the mitochondria is eloquently stated by Dr. Bill Misner: “The longer you can stimulate the lifespan or health of the mitochondria, the longer you may potentially live and the better you will perform in endurance events. The athlete who has the most healthy/efficient active mitochondria is the athlete who performs at their best.”
More about Mito Caps
EndurOmega
The premium-quality fish oil contained in EndurOmega supplies the body with the essential fatty acids (EFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both of which are vitally important for numerous aspects of athletic performance and overall health. These EFAs are required for life itself, in fact, so it’s no wonder they’re designated as “essential”! Our bodies cannot make EPA and DHA; supplementation with EndurOmega is the easiest, most efficient way to ensure you’re receiving adequate amounts of EPA and DHA.
More about EndurOmega
SUMMARY
The combination of the Hammer Nutrition Daily Essentials provides a tremendously wide range of benefits that support optimal athletic performance and overall health, a range that no other supplement combination can come close to matching. Available in money-saving kits, Premium Insurance Caps, Race Caps Supreme, Mito Caps, and EndurOmega are products that everyone, athlete and non-athlete alike, will benefit from. They should be the foundation of every daily supplement program, including yours!
After taking Mito Caps my urine has an unusual smell. Is this normal?
The R-alpha lipoic acid and DMAE components in Mito Caps have a naturally occurring smell that can best be described as a sulfur-to-slightly-vinegar smell. It is completely normal and safe.
Am I getting too much vitamin E?
Q: I noticed that there’s vitamin E in Premium Insurance Caps, Race Caps Supreme, and Mito Caps. If I’m taking all three products, will I be getting too much?
A: The answer to this question requires a bit of information, but the short answer is “no”, you won’t be oversupplying your body with too much vitamin E.
There are numerous studies, far too many to list even a fraction of them, that show that Optimum Daily Intake (ODI) amounts of vitamin E supplementation have multiple benefits. Still, there are some who believe that higher vitamin E intake is unnecessary and may, in fact, be detrimental. Dr. Bill Misner suggests otherwise, stating, "The only warning for limiting Vitamin E intake is if you are taking a prescription anticoagulant. In that case, you should follow your physician's counsel. The therapeutic dosage of Vitamin E commonly used by athletes seeking to prevent free radical damage during and following exercise is 1,200 IU per day. Dosages of up to 3,200 IU of Vitamin E have been used daily in a wide variety of subjects for periods of up to two years without any unfavorable side effects occurring.”
Vitamin E has many, many benefits including:
- Maintaining cell membrane integrity and helping reduce cellular aging
- Acting as a fat-soluble free radical scavenger
- Maintaining healthy platelet aggregation
- Protecting ocular (eye) health
- Helping delay cognitive decline
- Enhancing immune function
All of the above-listed reasons are why this important vitamin exists in Premium Insurance Caps, Race Caps Supreme, and Mito Caps. It’s important to remember that your body will be depleting vitamin E as it neutralizes free radicals, and also as it donates an electron to a “used up” antioxidant such as the coenzyme Q10 in Race Caps Supreme and the R-alpha lipoic Acid in Mito Caps, effectively renewing its antioxidant properties and capabilities (the is one of the main reasons why vitamin E is in Race Caps Supreme and Mito Caps). This means that your body is not storing all the vitamin E you're ingesting, but rather using it up as it utilizes its antioxidant properties (donating part of its molecular structure) in counteracting the negative effect caused by free radical production and accumulation, as well as regenerating used up/electron-missing antioxidants.
Each capsule of Premium Insurance Caps supplies approximately 38.22 mg/57 IU of vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol), each capsule of Race Caps Supreme supplies 89.33 mg/133 IU, each capsule of Mito Caps supplies 8.33 mg/12.5 IU.
On a daily basis, if you are taking (for example)…
- 4 Premium Insurance Caps
- 2 Race Caps Supreme
- 2 Mito Caps
… you are consuming approximately 348 mg/519 IU of vitamin E per day. The Optimum Daily Intake (ODI) for vitamin E is 400 - 1200 IU daily. I believe that 400 - 800 IU daily is a sufficient amount for general health purposes, with the lower amount being adequate for sedentary people. For athletes, however, because they are generating several times more free radicals than sedentary people do, an amount upwards of 1200 IU daily is rational.
What kind of diet should I be looking at for prediabetes?
Q: I’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes. What kind of diet should I be looking at, and what supplements may help me?
A: As far as diet is concerned, there’s an excellent article from Johns Hopkins Medicine. In that article there’s a link to the Mediterranean Diet, which, unsurprisingly, in 2023 received the #1 rating for “Best Diet Overall” for the 6th straight year. Following that diet as much as possible will be the most important thing you can do.
Regarding supplements, the magnesium in Essential Mg is excellent for a plethora of reasons; it provides so many benefits, including playing a role in stabilizing blood sugar. Studies have shown that magnesium participates in insulin secretion and function, and low magnesium levels are correlated with insulin resistance. Other research reveals that magnesium levels are significantly more common in people with diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance compared with the general population, and higher magnesium levels correlate with lower HbA1C (see What is HbA1C for more on HbA1C). Other research suggests that higher magnesium intake is associated with decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Another key nutrient for protecting against diabetes is the trace mineral chromium (Chromemate), and it works in tandem with the magnesium in Essential Mg. See A Powerful Pair for Insulin Resistance and Magnesium - The Key for Proper Insulin Function for more information.
Vitamin C is excellent for lowering post-meal blood sugar levels, elevated post-meal blood sugar level surges being especially problematic for prediabetics and diabetics. Of the dozens of naturally occurring compounds in citrus fruit (aka bioflavonoids), there is one bioflavonoid called hesperidin that is especially beneficial, with one research study concluding, “Digestion of hesperidin produces a compound called hesperetin along with other metabolites. These compounds are powerful free radical scavengers and have demonstrated anti-inflammatory, insulin-sensitizing, and lipid-lowering activity.” Our Endurance C is the best, most complete vitamin C on the market, and it includes an outstanding amount of hesperidin.
EndurOmega contains omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats are found in fish and some nuts and seed. Research concluded that “diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to promote weight loss, enhance insulin sensitivity, and reduce death from cardiovascular disease by reducing inflammation, improving lipid profiles, and reducing blood clotting. When omega-3 fats are incorporated into cell membranes, they make the cell surface more fluid and pliable and appear to enhance cells’ ability to remove glucose from the bloodstream.”
The r-alpha lipoic acid in Mito Caps plays numerous important roles in human health. Research shows that this powerful antioxidant decreases oxygen free radicals, which in excess promote endothelial dysfunction and contribute to diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.
Are your supplements 3rd party tested?
Yes, every Hammer Nutrition supplement is 3rd party tested in compliance with the FDA’s regulations, 21 CFR Part 111 – Dietary Supplements. All the raw materials for each supplement we produce are tested for purity, strength, identity, and integrity. In addition to raw material testing, every Hammer Nutrition supplement is also tested in every stage of production—blending, encapsulation / powder-filling, packaging components and finished goods—before being released for distribution.
Why are nutrients that used to be measured in International Units (IU) now measured in milligrams or micrograms?
Q: Why are nutrients that used to be measured in International Units (IU) now measured in milligrams or micrograms, and what is the difference between these two measurements?
A: International Units (IU) was historically used to measure vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin D, and vitamin E. However, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required that supplement facts labels change IU to metric units, which is why you now see milligrams (mg) or micrograms (mcg).
It’s important to know that even though there is a new standard of measurement, the amounts of the nutrients have not changed in any of the affected Hammer Nutrition products.
Beta-Carotene – 1 IU = 0.6 mcg beta-carotene
Example: 7-capsule dose of Premium Insurance Caps contains 7,500 IU of beta-carotene, now expressed as 1800 mcg of beta-carotene.
Vitamin E – 1 IU = 0.67 mg vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol)
Example: 3-capsule dose of Race Caps Supreme contains 400 IU of vitamin E, now expressed as 268 mg.
Vitamin D – 1 IU = 0.025 mcg
Example: 1 softgel of EnDuro D contains 2,000 IU of vitamin D, now expressed as 50 mcg.
I've noticed some color variation in Mito Caps. Is this normal?
Firstly, the normal/natural color of Mito Caps is a light-to-moderate brown, which comes from the rice bran that is used as a filler. In some batches of Mito Caps the capsules appear to be a slightly more brown color than the capsules from another batch. The variation in the brown color is due to the varying amount of rice bran that is used on a given batch. A capsule of Mito Caps can contain anywhere from 280-365 mg of rice bran, which explains the difference in the color... obviously the more rice bran that is used, the darker the capsules will appear. To reiterate, the color of the capsules, as well as the slight variation in the color, is completely normal.
Also, the R-alpha lipoic acid (R-ALA) and DMAE components in Mito Caps have a naturally occurring smell that can best be described as a sulfur-to-slightly-vinegar smell. It is a bit of an unusual smell; however, it is completely normal.
Lastly, R-ALA is not the most stable of nutrients in the heat or when exposed to moisture or air. The quality and stability of R-ALA has improved significantly over the years; however, it is still a more-sensitive nutrient than many others, especially when it comes to the heat. Mito Caps does not need to be refrigerated (though it wouldn't be wrong nor harmful if it were), but it should never be kept in a place where it's warm and/or exposed to direct sunlight.
