Universal Animal Pak Vitamin Review | Best Multi Ever?
Universal Animal Pak Review: This nutrition combo has been raved about for decades. We know that including a multivitamin in our diet while trying to gain muscle is important, but do we need substantially more than the average person?
The fact is, if you workout with a moderate to high amount of intensity at the gym, then you deplete your levels of vitamins and minerals quite significantly. When your body is deficient in certain minerals and vitamins, it will not perform or rebuild efficiently.
This is where Universal Animal Pak vitamins come into play. This multivitamin supplement by far has the most diversity and highest amounts of vitamins and minerals balanced specifically for male weight lifters than any other multivitamin.
Not only does it have vast amounts of vitamins and minerals, but the paks include an amino acid complex, digestive enzymes complex, anti-oxidant complex, performance complex, and liver protection ingredients. This is the mother of all multivitamins.
That’s the breakdown on Universal Animal Pak, but is it really all that effective? Let’s look at what the bodybuilding community is reporting about this supplement when it comes to the pro’s and con’s.
Reported Pro’s:
1) Helps to gain muscle mass
2) Covers all of your nutrients
3) It’s a fantastic multivitamin
4) Gives a sense of clean energy throughout the day
Reported Con’s:
1) A little too expensive for some people
2) The pills are freakin massive
3) Consuming 11 pills at a time is a bit much
4) Is a little much to stomach at first
Active Ingredients (2 paks):
The ingredients in these paks are very vast. I will not go over each and every mineral and vitamin in this review. The only ingredients that I will go into detail with are the active ingredients in the performance complex. I will however list the percentages and mg’s of each vitamin, mineral, enzyme, herb and amino acid.
- Vitamin E (300 IU, 1000%)
- Vitamin D (680 IU, 170%)
- Vitamin C (1 g, 1667%)
- Vitamin A (9900 IU, 198%)
- Thiamin (76 mg, 5067%)
- Niacin (82 mg, 410%)
- Riboflavin (76 mg, 4471%)
- Folic Acid (400 mcg, 100%)
- Vitamin B6 (180 mg, 1000%)
- Biotin (300 mcg, 100%)
- Vitamin B12 (11 mcg, 185%)
- Pantothenic Acid (76 mg, 760%)
- Phosphorus (1330 mg, 133%)
- Calcium (2 g, 200%)
- Magnesium (400 mg, 100%)
- Iodine (150 mcg, 100%)
- Selenium (50 mcg, 71%)
- Zinc (30 mg, 200%)
- Manganese (5 mg, 250%)
- Copper (600 mcg, 30%)
- Potassium (200 mg, 6%)
- Chromium (60 mcg, 50%)
Amino Acid Complex:
- Isoleucine *branched chain amino acid/ essential amino acid* (284 mg)
- Leucine *branched chain amino acid/ essential amino acid* (509 mg)
- Valine *branched chain amino acid/ essential amino acid* (289 mg)
- Lysine *essential amino acid* (418 mg)
- Phenylalanine *essential amino acid* (192 mg)
- Methionine *essential amino acid* (125 mg)
- Tryptophan *essential amino acid* (81 mg)
- Threonine *essential amino acid* (283 mg)
- Tyrosine (164 mg)
- Alanine (279 mg)
- Arginine (1213 mg)
- Aspartic Acid (498 mg)
- Cystine (110 mg)
- Glutamic Acid (653 mg)
- Glutamine (174 mg)
- Glycine (180 mg)
- Histidine (92 mg)
- Proline (203 mg)
- Serine (250 mg)
Performance Complex:
- Uni-Liver (4080 mg)
Basically another amino acid complex. The source is grass fed cattle raised without steroids or hormones. Universal claims that this blend protects the liver and is very helpful to those supplement with lots of products and consume a high protein diet.
- Carnitine (25 mg)
Main purpose is to transport fat to the cells to be used as energy. Helps to burn fat in the body and keep fat from being stored as energy. Carnitine doesn’t really have much of a benefit unless you workout effectively.
- Choline (250 mg):
Helps to protect the liver from fat cells attaching to it. Known to increase memory and to transport lipids from the liver. The maximum daily dose of this ingredient should never exceed 3.5 grams.
- Eleuthero (1750 mg)
Increases endurance and mental alertness by transporting more oxygen to the cells. This also results in quicker muscular recovery. May also help with radiation protection, 2-3 grams per day is a standard dose.
- Hawthorn (250 mg)
Has been known to strengthen the heart, cardiovascular system, and help to treat high blood pressure. Recommended daily dose lays between 160 mg and 900 mg.
- Inositol (125 mg)
Helps your central nervous system, brain function, skin health, and protects your liver. 1000 mg per day is a common prescription given by doctors.
- Milk Thistle (500 mg)
Well known for boosting the health of your liver. This is done by using it’s powerful anti-oxidants to detoxify the liver. Cases have shown that alcohol damage can actually be reversed by supplementing with Milk Thistle. Other supplements containing Milk Thistle contain 240 mg to 340 mg per serving.
- Oriental Ginseng (250 mg)
May help to improve memory and sex drive. The effectiveness of this ingredient has never been that impressive. 200 mg per day is a common dosage.
- Para-Aminobenzoic Acid (400 mg)
Known to enhance flexability, help with sun radiation damage, and act as an anti-oxidant fighting pollution in the body. Daily doses are common between 500 mg and 1000 mg.
- Pyridoxine Α-Ketoglutarate (200 mg)
Basically a B6 vitamin. It can help with depression and energy levels by producing serotonin. Should not consume more than 200 mg per day of this specific B6 vitamin.
Antioxidant Complex (meant to fight free radicals and oxidation in the body):
- Citrus Bioflavonoids (1000 mg)
- Alpha Lipoic Acid (100 mg)
- Coenzyme Q10 (5 mg)
- Lutein (1 mg)
- Grapeseed Extract *Vitis Vinfera* (50 mg)
- Pine Bark Extract (200 mg)
- Lycopene (1 mg)
Digestive Enzyme Complex: (breaks down foods further for optimal nutrient absorption)
- Inulin (250 mg)
- Bromelain (100 mg)
- Pancreatin (700 mg)
- Lipase (10 mg)
- Papain (64 mg)
- VegPeptase 2000 (64 mg)
Final Thoughts:
As you can see, there is an obscene amount of nutrients in every serving. The fact that this supplement has been going strong since 1983 just goes to show how solid it is. Anything that stands the test of time and is rated extremely high has to be of quality.
For this reason, it does qualify as one of the best supplements for muscle gain. The bodybuidling community raves about this product to this very day. Close to perfect nutrition is important when looking to gain muscle quickly.
Another nutritional supplement that’s worth checking out is MRM CLA 1250. This supplement is a natural fatty acid that helps to burn fat and keep it off. Stacking this with a solid multivitamin such as Animal Pak would be quite effective.