Published on June 08, 2026
Most of what sits on a supplement shelf does nothing. Four things have real research behind them. Here is what they do, the doses studies used, and what we stock in South Bengaluru.
Integrity Square, Talaghattapura, Bengaluru · Updated June 2026
Walk into any supplement store and the labels promise the same things: burn fat fast, build muscle overnight, train like a different person. Strip away the marketing and the picture gets much smaller. Out of the dozens of ingredients sold as performance boosters, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements finds solid human evidence for only a handful. The rest range from weak to useless.
If you train seriously, your money belongs with the ingredients that earn it. This guide sorts the proven from the hype, gives you the actual numbers from the research, and points you to the products we carry so you are not guessing at the counter.
What the research actually supports
Four supplements have consistent human evidence behind them for strength, power, recovery or endurance: protein (whey), creatine monohydrate, caffeine (the active part of most pre-workouts), and beta-alanine for short high-intensity efforts. Everything else is either situational or unproven. None of these work without training and a proper diet underneath them.
That is the short version. Each one below comes with the dose range that studies used, who it helps, and where it falls short, so you can decide what fits your training instead of buying on a slogan.
Whey protein: the one most lifters get wrong on dose
Protein builds and repairs the muscle that training breaks down. This is the least controversial supplement in sport. The mistake most people make is not whether to take it, but how much, and when.
The NIH ODS sets the athlete target at 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, well above the general adult figure. For a 70 kg lifter that is roughly 85 to 140 grams across the whole day, from food and shakes combined. Around training, about 0.3 g/kg in one sitting, near 20 grams for that same person, covers the muscle's repair window, and you can repeat that every three to five hours.
Whey is the protein of choice because the body absorbs it fast and it carries more leucine, the amino acid that switches on muscle repair, than casein or soy. The choice between isolate and concentrate comes down to your stomach and your budget.
Whey isolate vs whey concentrate
Factor Isolate Concentrate
Filtering Filtered further, higher protein per scoop Less processing, slightly more fat and carbs
Lactose Very low, easier if you are lactose-sensitive Higher, can bother sensitive stomachs
Cost More per kilogram Cheaper per gram of protein
Best for Lean phases, sensitive digestion, strict macros Everyday training on a budget
What we stock:
Creatine refuels the energy system your muscles use for short, hard efforts: a heavy set, a sprint, a jump. Across hundreds of trials, the NIH ODS describes it as one of the most effective supplements available for high-intensity, repeated-effort work, alongside small but real gains in strength and power over a training block.
The dosing question people overthink is loading. You can load with about 20 grams a day, split into four servings, for five to seven days, which fills the muscle quickly. Or you can skip that and take 3 to 5 grams a day, which reaches the same muscle level in three to four weeks. Same destination, so loading is a choice about speed, not results.
Two honest caveats. Creatine pulls water into muscle cells, so expect one to two kilograms on the scale in the first month, which is water, not fat. And it does little for pure endurance sports like distance running, where that extra weight can even work against you. Buy creatine monohydrate, the form that every study uses; the pricier "advanced" versions have never been shown to beat it.
What we stock:
Strip a pre-workout down and the ingredient doing the heavy lifting is usually caffeine. It blocks the brain chemical that makes you feel tired, lowers how hard a given effort feels, and the NIH ODS reports it helps most in endurance work and in long sessions with bursts of intensity, such as football, less so in a single short lift or sprint.
Studies use 2 to 6 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight taken 15 to 60 minutes before training. For a 70 kg athlete that is about 140 to 420 mg. The FDA treats up to 400 mg a day as reasonable for healthy adults, and going past roughly 500 mg a day tends to backfire: worse sleep, jitters, and sometimes worse performance. Read the caffeine figure on the label and count your coffee and tea in the same total.
Beta-alanine often rides along in pre-workouts. At 4 to 6 grams a day for a few weeks it helps high-intensity efforts lasting roughly one to four minutes. The harmless tingling on your skin some people feel is the beta-alanine, not the caffeine, and it fades.
What we stock:
What you probably do not need
This is where most supplement budgets leak. The products below sell well, but the human trials reviewed by the NIH ODS show little or no performance benefit for healthy people who already train and eat well.
BCAAs are the clearest example. If you hit your daily protein, you are already eating plenty of branched-chain amino acids, and whey is rich in the one that matters most, leucine. Glutamine showed no effect on strength or muscle in weightlifters. Arginine and citrulline have not reliably improved performance despite the "pump" marketing. And the testosterone-booster category, including tribulus, DHEA and deer antler velvet, failed to raise testosterone or build muscle in trials, with some of those ingredients banned from competition on top of that.
Spending on these instead of protein and creatine is the most common mistake we see. Cover the proven four first.
Match the supplement to your goal
Evidence rating reflects human-trial strength summarised by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
Your goal What helps Evidence From Integrity Square
Build and repair muscle Whey protein, 1.2–2.0 g/kg/day Strong ISODOSE Isolate, XF Performance Whey
Strength and power Creatine monohydrate, 3–5 g/day Strong XF CreaPro
Energy and focus before training Caffeine, 2–6 mg/kg pre-workout Good XF Hyper Shredz
Short high-intensity efforts Beta-alanine, 4–6 g/day Moderate Often in pre-workout blends
"Test booster" / extra pump Tribulus, arginine, BCAAs Weak Skip; spend on the above
How to know a supplement is genuine
The supplement category most often caught with hidden or mislabelled ingredients, according to the FDA, is bodybuilding products. Tainted tubs can contain undeclared stimulants or steroids, which is both a health risk and a way to fail a drug test without knowing it.
Two checks protect you. First, look for third-party testing on the label: Informed Sport, Informed-Choice, or NSF Certified for Sport mean an outside lab verified the contents and screened for banned substances. Second, buy from a seller who can show where the stock came from. Integrity Square is GST verified and address verified on Vyaparify, and every product page lists exactly what you are getting.
Buy genuine supplements in South Bengaluru
Integrity Square stocks whey isolate, performance whey, creatine and pre-workout at Talaghattapura, off Kanakapura Road in South Bengaluru. Walk in, or order on WhatsApp and we will help you pick what fits your training.
Talaghattapura, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560109
Phone & WhatsApp: +91 63622 70553
Common questions
How much protein does an athlete need per day?
1.2 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, from food and shakes together. A 20 gram serving after training (about 0.3 g/kg) covers the repair window, and you can repeat protein every three to five hours.
Should I buy whey isolate or whey concentrate?
Both work. Isolate has less lactose and slightly less fat and carbohydrate, so it suits sensitive stomachs and strict macros. Concentrate is cheaper per gram of protein and is fine for most lifters.
Do I need a creatine loading phase?
No. Loading at 20 grams a day for five to seven days is faster, but 3 to 5 grams daily reaches the same level in three to four weeks. The result is the same.
Is pre-workout safe?
For healthy adults, yes, within limits. Caffeine doses in studies run 2 to 6 mg/kg before exercise, and the FDA treats up to 400 mg a day as reasonable. Check the label's caffeine number and count your other coffee and tea.
Are BCAAs worth buying?
For most people, no. Adequate protein already supplies the branched-chain amino acids, and whey is high in leucine. A separate BCAA rarely adds anything.
Where can I buy genuine fitness supplements in South Bengaluru?
Integrity Square at Talaghattapura (560109) stocks whey, creatine and pre-workout. The store is GST and address verified; order on WhatsApp at +91 63622 70553.
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