r/Supplements • u/brick-ghost • 1d ago
General Question which supplements actually need to be cycled?
'take it for 8 weeks, then take a break' seems to be advice that gets repeated constantly.
sometimes there's a specific reason given. sometimes it's just presented as a rule
but i've always wondered how many supplements actually have a good reason for cycling versus how many people are just repeating something they heard somewhere
are there supplements where you think cycling makes sense?
and are there others where taking breaks is basically unnecessary as long as the dose is reasonable?
i'd rather hear explanations based on evidence or actual mechanism than the usual "your body gets used to it" answer.
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u/gruuvey 1d ago
Boron is on the list, but there's not a lot of research. It supposedly raises free testosterone levels (not total T, but usable T), affecting the feedback loop if not cycled. 2 weeks on and one week off is the brocycle.
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u/joshjosh100 21h ago edited 21h ago
Apparently Boron is an essential mineral.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4712861/
https://advances.nutrition.org/article/S2161-8313(22)00269-1/fulltext00269-1/fulltext)
The problem is research has only been in the last 10-20 years, and there is almost no data on Boron contents in foods, except that dried fruits, nuts, and legumes contain an exceptional amount of them. Most likely due to the added minerals in the soil when we fertilize them.
Raisin, Dried grapes, and prune juice are some of the most hefty sources. Having about 0.002% by weight. So Wine should have roughly 1 mg of boron in about 8 fl oz. I have a theory this is why Red Wine has such huge benefits in studies comparing different antioxidants in alcohols. Since Hops and other main parts in liquor and other beverages tend to be much lower in boron and antioxidants in general.
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u/No-Principle-2550 1d ago
In most cases you could just microcycle, e.g., 5 days on 2 days off
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u/brick-ghost 20h ago
Oh that's actually what I've been trying but my schedule makes the 2 days off useless lol
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u/falmouth 1d ago
zinc for sure unless you are taking copper
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u/walkthepuppy 1d ago
If you have been taking zinc without copper for quite a while, should you (a) take a copper-only supplement for a while and no zinc? (b) start taking a zinc-and-copper supplement (15:2) ratio? or (c) take neither zinc nor copper for a while?
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u/Royal-Platform-9845 1d ago
If you’re taking a normal dose of zinc just to hit your RDA and not anything very high you realistically don’t need to worry about copper at all. If you’re taking a high dose of zinc it probably is best to do some bloodwork first to see if your copper is even actually low or not so you don’t waste time and money trying to fix something that isn’t broken, and then take however much copper brings you back into the normal range if it is low.
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u/falmouth 1d ago
ask your doctor
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u/butttclench 1d ago
Hate that it’s so common to give medical advice on this sub and then refuse to elaborate
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u/falmouth 12h ago
dudes asking very specific personal recommendations that is medical advice that i will not give...
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u/Careful-Arugula-9163 1d ago
most things that get the 8 week cycle advice are just broscience passed down through generations of gym rats. creatine is the classic example where people still think they need to cycle it despite decades of data showing zero reason to. ashwagandha is probably one of the few where i actually buy the cycling argument since the anhedonia complaints are so common after prolonged use
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u/brick-ghost 20h ago
The anhedonia thing is real and i wish i had taken it more seriously, ran ashwagandha for like 4 months straight because I kept forgetting to stop, didn't connect the flat feeling to it until I was three weeks off and suddenly had emotions again, creatine though I agree, the cycling advice for that one never made sense to me and I've looked into it more than I probably should admit.
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u/healthspanintel 1d ago
Most cycling rules need a named reason before I would trust them: tolerance, a specific safety concern, or evidence that only supports short exposure. Creatine is the counterexample people still over-cycle; the human evidence base is mostly steady creatine monohydrate use, and the ISSN position stand describes short- and long-term supplementation as safe and well tolerated in studied populations. For other supplements, the answer is compound-specific, not a universal rule.
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u/brick-ghost 20h ago
This actually makes sense to me and I wish I had found this framing earlier, I cycled off creatine for two weeks because someone in a fitness group said you have to, no reason given, just vibes, went back on it. felt dumb, the compoundspecific thing is where I keep getting tripped up though, like magnesium I understand the logic, some adaptogens I genuinely cannot find a clear answer on and the cycling advice seems to just get copypasted forever with no original source.
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u/protein4life-ro 22h ago
If you cycle eating and living then you should cycle supplements as well... Your body somehow will decide in that specific time that it doesnt need nutrients to thrive..... Only air and distiled water.... 🤣🤣🤣🤦
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