In 2013, Triton Nutrition sponsored the 2013 Never Quit Challenge, a charity jetski ride from Key West Florida to New York City, arriving September 11. The athletes, military vets and support staff relied on daily supplement packs and our Vital Vegan protein shakes to stay fueled for the 5 day ride. We at Triton Nutrition are proud to support current and former military service people and encourage you to do the same!

If you’re losing steam at the end of explosive workouts, you might want to consider adding creatine to your routine.

MMA fighter and Thai kick boxer James McSweeney and Triton Nutrition® co-founder Robert Seik talk about Triton Nutrition® Kre-Alkalyn and how it’s been helping McSweeney go harder for more rounds.

Seik explains that Kre-Alkalyn is made with easily-absorbed alkalized creatine, made specifically for athletes engaging in explosive movements during their workouts. It’s perfect for boxers or heavy weight lifters.

McSweeney says since he started taking the supplement he finds he doesn’t fatigue during reps or rounds in the ring as quickly.

“Since using the Kre-Alkalyn, I’ve stayed consistently explosive throughout my workouts,” he said. “I’m just as explosive the last round as I am the first.”

“You have to try it,” McSweeney said.

Take one capsule before any explosive movement and for an added boost, take another capsule immediately after. Try Kre-Alkalyn for yourself and watch your intensity last throughout your workout.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

Recovering completely means better, harder workouts ahead for MMA Fighter James McSweeney.

He recently added Triton Nutrition® Immuno Growth Factor with PRP to his nutritional regimen. He adds one scoop to his protein shakes at breakfast and lunch and another to a glass of milk before bed, for a total of three scoops per day.

James said that normally at this point in his training preparation, he feels fatigued, but with the extra focus he’s been placing on nutrition, he feels strong. He said ensuring his body’s recovery from vigorous training has played a huge role.

“The better I recover, the better I can perform the next day,” he said.

Triton Nutrition® co-founder Robert Seik explains that Immuno Growth Factor with PRP is made from pure bovine colostrum, which is a rich source of PRPs, or proline-rich polypetides. PRPs help calm down inflammation, which speeds recovery. Robert said athletes in a heavy training cycle should take three scoops of Immuno Growth Factor with PRP per day, while those in a more moderate training phase would benefit from adding one to two scoops per day to aid their recovery.

Keep checking back for more videos with James and Robert as they reveal additional elements of the nutritional and training plan that is helping James prepare for his next big fight.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

Think you have your training and nutrition plan perfected? Don’t forget about your brain.

MMA fighter and champion Thai kick boxer James McSweeney and Triton Nutrition® co-founder Robert Seik talk about Triton Nutrition's® Neurokinetic Cream and how it can help you stay focused in and out of the gym.

One pump of this unique and innovative cream is applied twice daily to your inner forearms. Robert explains that fat-soluble B vitamins in their most active forms provided by Neurokinetic cream are used by the brain as co-factors to make neurotransmitters, which support healthy brain function.

James said with the intense time commitment that goes into training and proper nutrition, he was excited to find a product that helps keep his mind focused and strong plus keep his mood good when he's not training hard. The easy application method means one less thing he has to take in pill or drink form, which he likes.

After taking it for about five months, James said that his mood has improved in and out of the gym. He also finds he has more focus and that his mind doesn’t wander like it used to during training sessions.
“It does keep me more focused,” he said.

James said this is important because not only is he able to give his best during every workout, he’s more confident that his enhanced concentration and quickened reaction time will help him avoid injuries.

“If you’re not concentrating, a lot of things can go bad in the gym,” he said.

Try Triton Nutrition's® Neurokinetic Cream for yourself and let us know if your concentration, focus, and mood improves.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

How do they do it? How do elite athletes become, well, elite? Consistent commitment in the gym and in the kitchen.

For MMA Fighter and star of Spike TV’s Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights James McSweeney, it’s finding and sticking with what works for him and incorporating it into his routine every day. That includes Triton Nutrition® Vital Vegan Protein and Vital Greens.  

James said he’s tried many different types of protein over the course of his career, but they tended to leave him feeling bloated and gassy.

“With the Vital Vegan Protein, it’s so much cleaner and the taste is good,” he said.

Adding the Vital Greens to his morning and post-workout shakes helps him know he’s got his nutritional needs covered for the day.

“I’ve got my foundation, so it takes the pressure off. Anything after is a bonus. I can’t lose once I’ve taken my drink,” he said.

His personal recipes: Chocolate Vital Vegan Protein with the Berry Vital Greens or Vanilla Vital Vegan Protein mixed with Chocolate Vital Greens.

“With these two products it really does help to build the foundation,” James said. “It helps my performance to no end.”

Triton Nutrition co-founder Robert Seik explains that all athletes need protein to counteract the stress hormone cortisol and to rebuild muscle after a workout. Many powders contain a lot of artificial ingredients and sugars, which can cause gas. Vital Vegan Protein provides the benefits of easily digestible protein without the additions that can cause negative effects. Vital Greens provides a great source of vegetable-based nutrition which offers antioxidant protection. 

Keep checking back for more videos with James and Robert as they reveal additional elements of the nutritional and training plan that keeps James in top fighting form.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

Are intense physical training and general life stress putting important hormones at risk in your body?

The need for hormone replacement therapy is reaching epidemic levels, caused by nutrient deficient diets and exposure to environmental toxins.

For athletes, maintaining an optimum ratio of hormones, including testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and DHEA, is vitally important for both men and women. Intense training causes the body to release cortisol, known as the stress hormone. The more you train, the more cortisol you release. In addition to exercise, stress from work and family life can also keep cortisol levels elevated.

Unfortunately, the glands that produce hormones in the body have limited capacity. When an overabundance of cortisol is released, the body’s ability to make other beneficial hormones becomes reduced. This is called the “cortisol steal” where cortisol blocks other important hormones, putting our bodies in a catabolic, or breakdown state.

What does this mean from a health perspective? An athlete with too much cortisol and not enough testosterone could wind up training hard only to be “skinny fat”, meaning they might look lean, but not have an optimally low percentage of body fat.

The first step in hormone optimization is resetting cortisol levels, which is addressed in this video. The second step is improving your sleep cycle, which depresses cortisol and helps you recharge and reset for the next day so your glands can produce more of the hormones you want. In fact, 80 percent of the growth hormones we produce are made at night while we’re sleeping.

Check out other videos that address specific hormone optimization tips for men and women as well as overall balance.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

What supplements are important to take when you are on Hormone Replacement Therapy? Certain nutrients are depleted during HRT and it is very important to replace those nutrients that are depleted.

First it is first important to eat a nutrient-dense diet. Triton Nutrition then recommends a multivitamin called Basic Multipro for Men or Basic Multipro for Women. 2 capsules twice a day is the general support dose. There is also a Performance Multivitamin for Men and for Women that is expanded.

For both men and women the two most important cofactors that you will need in addition to your multivitamin is magnesium and zinc. Triton Nutrition has Mag Powersorb and Zinc Glycinate. Both are in an amino acid chelate form, which is the most absorbable form for the body.

Women should take 2-3 capsules of the Mag Powersorb and 1-2 capsules of the Zinc Glycinate a day. If they have heavy workouts then they will need to increase the dosage up from there.

HRT also requires B vitamins supplementation in a certain form because it depletes your body's resources. Triton Nutrition's philosophy is to supply nutrients in the most absorbable, most absorbable form. You sometimes see B12 in the form of cyanocobolamin, but Triton Nutrition does not use that form, they use the active form called methylcobolamin. In Triton Nutrition's Neurokinetic Cream, the biologically active forms called methylcobolamin and hydroxocobolamin are used in the form of a topical cream. This should be applied to lean body parts, like forearms or lower legs at one pump, twice a day. If you are severely depleted in methyl donors, there is methylcobolamin and 5-MTHF, both active forms of the vitamin, and you may need a total of three pumps a day.

The reason this is called Neurokinetic Cream is because the forms found in the cream are important in the making of neurotransmitters and they are also important in the metabolism of the beautiful hormone biochemistry symphony. Hormone Replacement Therapy also depletes other B vitamins as well. If you are not getting enough in your food then you need to turn to a supplement. Triton Nutrition offers a product called B-Energy Complex, which is made of the active forms of the B vitamins. B6 is in the form Pyridoxyl 5'-Phosphate and B2 is in the form of Riboflavin 5'-Phosphate, which are the active forms. These are the most usable and valuable forms of the vitamins.

It is also important for the body to safely eliminate toxic chemicals from the body that are absorbed from environmental exposure. These chemicals are also called xenoestrogens because these toxins act like estrogens and throw off the balance of hormones in the body. These toxins are found in plastics and pesticides as well as cleaners, weed killers and flame retardants on our furniture. It is very important to eliminate these toxins from our body.

Estro Shield with DIM helps eliminate these toxins from the body. It also contains bioperine to help with absorption and Turmeric, which acts as an anti-inflammatory.

Women who are estrogen dominant either from her own body's excess production of estrogen or most likely from xenohormones from the environment will experience anxiety, insomnia and breast tenderness, to name a few.

Men with the accumulation of the xenoestrogens will notice symptoms of low testosterone. Why, because these xenoestrogens can occupy the testosterone receptor, which blocks the testosterone from binding.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

CrossFit athletes are high intensity, heavy trainers and many write in asking what they can do for nutritional support.

It is important to listen to your body and when you feel that you need recovery days, it is important to take them. You should have some heavy days and some light days.

Triton Nutrition was founded by Rico Ebetino, a former US Navy SEAL and Robert Seik, PharmD. What brought the two together was the topic of athletes and nutrient depletion. Both realized that a company was needed that delivered the highest quality of nutritional supplements to hard training athletes.

It is also very important to remember that you cannot just supplement someone's deficient hormones because HRT depletes your own body's nutrients. So nutrient supplementation is necessary with HRT. It is common to see someone who begins HRT and feels good initially, but over time they begin to feel bad again because their nutrients are being depleted. Add heavy training into that equation, which also depletes your nutrients and you can find extremely nutrient depleted individuals.

Robert wants to stress the food first model and that you need to try to get your nutrients first from food and then add supplements when necessary to correct those nutrient deficiencies. It is also important to get the right amount of protein in your diet for those who are training. Protein supplementation in itself can also deplete certain nutrients in your body so it is important to keep that in mind as well. B complex vitamins and magnesium are depleted with protein consumption.

So, heavy training with heavy sweating will create zinc and magnesium depletion, protein consumption will deplete your B vitamins and magnesium and lastly HRT can cause nutrient depletion it itself. Combine all three and you can create a severely nutrient depleted individual. Listen to your body and rest when necessary and correct those nutrient deficiencies.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

Immuno Growth Factor with PRP contains a very pure form of Colostrum from grass-fed, organically raised cows. It is cold-pressed in order to preserve molecules called proline-rich polypeptides or PRPs. It provides one of the best building blocks needed for muscle recovery.

On Triton Nutrition's site, you will find recipes that use Vital Vegan Protein with a scoop of Immuno Growth Factor with PRP. But for heavy training athletes, Robert recommends taking three scoops of Immuno Growth Factor with PRP a day. One scoop three times a day with water is almost like an infusion of good amino acid building blocks direct to the muscles.

A highly trained athlete who is exercising a great deal is actually compromising his or her immune system due to the stress of heavy training. It is important to listen to your body and if you're training extremely hard and raising your cortisol level then you're increasing inflammation and weakening your body's immune defense.

It is very important to balance your training, but if you're gearing up for a competition then it is important to support your body as much as possible. Immuno Growth Factor with PRP is an excellent way to do just that for those high intensity workouts. This is an excellent product for CrossFit athletes and for those endurance athletes.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

The main ways our bodies age are through the mechanisms of drying up, burning up, turn to stone and we rust. Drying up is through dehydration and the deficiency of certain minerals. We burn up through the process of inflammation. We deposit Calcium into our arteries and we turn to stone. Lastly, we rust through oxidative stress.

Our bodies are inflamed for a number of reasons. We are exposed to so many environmental toxins that are aggravating inflammation in our body. We are eating more and more GMOs that cause inflammation and we're not eating foods that are naturally anti-inflammatory.

The healthy consumption of good oils helps reduce inflammation. You also need to eat a nutrient-dense diet and if you're not then you need to make sure you supplement your diet. Most people are deficient in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, which decrease inflammation. Triton Nutrition's Omega Prime Fish Oil contains 950mg per capsule. The fish oil is isolated from small cold-water fish under the polar ice cap, which are more pure than large fish, which usually absorb more toxins.

Omega 3-Fatty Acid consumption can reduce a number of inflammatory markers like hs-CRP (high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein) as well as many other areas in the body. It inhibits a cascade of cytokines or eicosanoids that can aggravate inflammation.

The more we train, the more fatty acids are required. Those who are on certain medications that deplete their fatty acids or those with certain diseases such as diabetes also require more of these Omega-3 Fatty Acids. These Omega-3 Fatty Acids also lower triglycerides and help balance cholesterol levels.

Another product that reduces inflammation is the D3 Ultra Drops. Vitamin D deficiency is rampant here in the United States. The Harvard School of Public Health states that the best benefits of 25-hydroxy vitamin D is seen in the 70-90 ranges. Vitamin D below 50 is associated with insomnia. Low Vitamin D means that there is an increased production of inflammatory cytokines like IL-6, IL-17, TNF alpha. Vitamin D drops are relatively inexpensive. D3 Ultra Drops are 1200 units per drop and because it is miscellized it is highly absorbable.

Immune Boost Spray is an isolated form of colostrum produced from grass-fed, organically raised cows. PRPs are extracted from this colostrum. Dr. Andrew Keech's Peptide Immunotherapy book emphasizes the importance of colostrum and the proline-rich polypeptides (PRPs). These PRPs balance the process of inflammation and balance a healthy immune system. This is very important in times of autoimmune diseases like Lupus and Scleroderma.

For more information on the benefits of PRPs please see the article Viruses and the Advantages of PRPs.

by Robert Seik, PharmD

What are the most important nutrients that you need to take to support your body's hormone balance?

Triton Nutrition's philosophy is to first build the foundation, to balance your body's biochemistry with nutrition and hormones and then to boost performance.

The first thing to note is that men need to take Zinc and Magnesium. This is the best way to maximize your testosterone level. You cannot make testosterone without Zinc and Magnesium. Triton Nutrition promotes the food first model. You want to make sure you get the 6-7 servings of vegetables a day. Take loads of dark green leafy vegetables. 3.3 oz of pumpkin seeds has about 500mg of Magnesium or you can put 2 cups of Epsom Salt in a hot bath for a 30 minute soak to absorb your Magnesium. Supplements will most likely be necessary if you work out hard.

For Magnesium, Triton Nutrition recommends Mag Powersorb, 2-3 capsules a day for men, which is best absorbed on an empty stomach.

Testosterone can easily be converted into estrogen and it is important to maintain a healthy ratio. A healthy balance in a young man is to have a testosterone level at about 1000 and an estradiol level at about 20. We want to make sure that testosterone doesn't drop too much and that estradiol doesn't climb too much. This happens very easily when there is a Zinc deficiency. In order for testosterone to be converted to estrogen, all that's needed is to simply remove a single Hydrogen atom, which is the smallest atom in the world.

Triton Nutrition has a product called Zinc Glycinate, which is in the most optimal form that the body absorbs. This is called a chelated mineral. Each capsule is 20mg and Robert recommends that men take three capsules a day.  The more we exercise and the more we sweat, the more minerals like zinc and magnesium are excreted from the body.

Testosterone in women is very important as well. If women have estrogen dominance, they will experience weight gain, heavy periods, breast tenderness and PMS. Robert recommends 1-2 capsules of Zinc Glycinate a day or 20-40mg.

Triton Nutrition also has a product called Estro Shield with DIM. DIM or diindolylmethane can be found in cruciferous vegetables. Everyone should eat about a cup of lightly cooked broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage a day. This will contain some of the DIM compound. DIM safely eliminates xenoestrogens, which are toxins that are similar in structure to our own estrogen that our body makes.

Estro Shield with DIM also contains bioperine, which helps with the absorption and it also contain Turmeric, which helps detoxify and acts as an anti-inflammatory.

So Zinc helps block the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. Magnesium is needed in the body to make estrogen. Estro Shield with DIM will help balance out the estrogen and testosterone in the body and maintain a higher level of testosterone than estrogen.

by Robert Seik, PharmD