I need to preface this section with the qualification that I no longer take supplements (other than the occasional sports drink).  I’m “off the superfoods, and onto the food foods,” i.e. - lots of fresh fruits and veggies.  Still, I spent many years trying out different supplements, and these are some of my favorites. 

Energy bars:

My pet peeve in this category is candy bars that disguise themselves as health bars (eg - Attune).  Your only defense is to look at ingredient lists, and be suspicious of anything that is coated in chocolate or sweet yogurt, has various forms of sugar as 3 of the first 5 ingredients, etc.  The bars below have simple ingredient lists, yet still taste good!

- Larabar & Cliff Nectar: At some point I started buying fruit & nut energy bars with very simple ingredient lists (see related blog entry here), and due to ease of avoiding ingredients that I am allergic to, and these were my reigning favorites.

- Raw Crunch: May be hard to find in stores (I’ve never seen it), but easy to order online.  I love the simple ingredient list and I think it tastes very good.  A little messy to eat since it crumbles.

- Probar: I love that this bar makes you feel full - most flavors have calorie counts in the mid 300’s.  Ingredient lists are not short, but they are very comprehensible!  I’d be eating these all the time if the first ingredient wasn’t something I turned out to be allergic to (oats)!

- Lydia’s Organics: I have found these for sale at Real Foods and Whole Foods in SF.  Raw / sprouted ingredients, excellent taste, very crisp and hard to bite into but worth the effort!

Omega 3’s:

I’ve already internalized that Essential Fatty Acids are important, and lazily forgotten a lot of the justifications, so I’m just going to provide the following link.  Sorry!

1. -Udo’s Oil: tastes terrible but it works.  I particularly like the DHA variety!  See related blog entry here.
   

2. -Cod Liver Oil: Peach flavor helps it taste better!  I alternated this with the plant source type.
   

3. -Flax Oil w/ DHA: tastes markedly better than Udo’s, though I prefer the concept of a blend (eg - Udo’s) to a single oil.  Good to rotate in.
   

Probiotics:

The idea here is that your stomach is supposed to contain a healthy balance of helpful bacteria to help you digest food and absorb nutrients.  It is particularly important to take these after you go on antibiotics, since in killing the bad stuff you kill the good stuff too.

1. -Flora Source: my holistic doctor recently recommended this to me.  Important to keep refrigerated.
   

2. -Primal Defense: I used and loved this product starting with when I lived in NYC.  Helps you poop like a champ!
   

3. -Silk Soy Yogurt: Yogurt is a good source of healthy bacteria, and many yogurts now add additional healthy bacteria to their formulas.  If you are trying to avoid dairy, Silk isn’t a bad alternative - strawberry, blueberry and vanilla all tasted decent to me.
   

4. -Kombucha: tasty drink, very lightly fizzy because it’s fermented. I like the Original and Citrus flavors, and they have no added sugar.
   

Athletic Supplements:

1. -PowerGel: Raspberry Cream is my favorite flavor.  Tastes really good.  A great compliment to a Camelbak - it’s like carrying a sports drink with you but you don’t have to worry about cleaning out your bottle as often.  Need to be careful since many flavors are caffeinated.
   

2. -Nuun: Love this stuff.  Think it won an award in Outdoor magazine.  Drank it all the time when I was fasting in the desert.  Little tabs dissolve quickly in water, then you get a sugar-free electrolyte drink that is still delicious.
   

3. -Cytomax: My go-to race day sport drink from my triathlon days.  Still the best.  Gatorade doesn’t compare!  Need to watch out for several flavors which are caffeinated.  And from the same company...
   

4. -Muscle Milk: It’s a meal replacement and protein supplement in one.  I felt good and strong after I drink this, which is perhaps the only measure of a great supplement!  A few of their flavors are labelled “naturals” and cut out artificial sweeteners / colors / flavors, this is probably the way to go.
   

5. -Calcium Supplement: My doctor recommended a liquid calcium / magnesium blend to me for sore knees after tennis or running.  I couldn’t find the exact brand online, so the provided link is just from one of the first google hits.  I can assure you that some brands taste better than others!
   

Other Supplements:

1. -Green Vibrance: There are a lot of green “superfood” drinks out there, but this is the best one I’ve tried.  It gives you good subtle boost of energy.  The reviews on Amazon are flawless.
   

2. -Multi-Vitamin:  I don’t have a brand I love.  I never really feel any different when I take them.  But it’s a pretty cheap insurance policy, isn’t it?  Better to get your nutrients from food, but maybe a multi-vitamin could help patch some unknown hole?  Consumer Reports suggests avoiding “bargain-basement brands” and megadoses.