11. Anything I should avoid while taking X-Factor
NSAIDS are to be ideally avoided due to their direct effects on inhibiting the COX enzyme (central to the mechanism by which X-Factor works). However it may be that taking NSAIDS at certain times is worse than others with respect to muscle building. Certainly if you have an occasional headache and are known to respond to NSAIDs you could probably take the medication without interference.
12. Do I need to eliminate everything that is anti-inflammatory?
No. The only anti-inflammatory in the literature (so far) known to have strong adverse effects on X-Factor's benefit in skeletal muscle are NSAIDs (or its herbal equivalent white willow bark) due to their direct effect on the COX enzyme. Indirect anti-inflammatory products (which many products claim as a side benefit) most likely won’t have a strong effect on what X-Factor does. Actually some of the benefits of arachidonic acid appear to be through reduction of systemic oxidative stress/insulin levels (provided the muscle is active), which ironically may actually reduce COX-2 in non-muscle tissues. So all this stuff can be in the same ballpark.
13. Do I need to avoid fish entirely?
You should still eat fish. We will be investigating the interactions of different levels of fish oil supplementation with X-Factor in the very near future. The good thing is that in some cases the clinical benefits of fish oil appear to be directly tied to increases in cell membrane arachidonic acid. This is good news for the future of this supplement and those that love fish oil.
For now we ask that you limit oily fish intake to three times per week until more is known as far as real life effects in bodybuilders go.