Stronger, smarter with creatine?
You may be familiar with Creatine or you may never have heard of it. It is one of the most widely studied supplements out there and is very affordable. Let me show you why this amino acid is not going away anytime soon in gym culture but also why it is a valuable contributor to living a long and healthy life.
What is Creatine?
Creatine Monohydrate has long been used by athletes and gym junkies to give them that extra edge in performance and muscle building. Outside of the gym however, it’s not widely talked about.
Creatine monohydrate is an amino acid created by the aminos arginine and glycine and is stored in predominantly in the energy demanding skeletal muscles and brain (95%) and a little in the liver, kidneys and testes. As mentioned, it is one of the most studied substances and also one of the cheapest.
Supplemental creatine has traditionally been used to replenish the Phosphocreatine (Pc) in muscles. Pc is used for the fast energy pathway. It gives you that extra oomph for the first few seconds an exercise and high intensity exercise. Its anaerobic and doesn’t rely on oxygen to perform. Pc joins with Adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to create Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) for energy. It can also work the other way and breakdown Pc from ATP to replenish muscle Pc stores, ready for the next explosive bout. Sprinters, power lifters, tennis players, basketballs etc use the Pc energy source a lot during their sport. Whether or not you are involved in those sports, the everyday athlete (you, yes, you) can benefit. Sometimes life will require quick moves from you, ie, grabbing a falling object of various weight, size and velocity, and having your fast twitch muscles ready and able to cope with this sudden tension without damaging yourself (or others), is one of the keys to longevity.
Does it work?
In short yes.
In most people it increases the creatine content in muscle when supplemented. Studies show a 12-20% increase in strength and a 12-26% increase in power output when creatine was used in combination with an appropriate training program.
Concerned about your brain health? In those with lower creatine levels, which is generally those with low red meat and seafood intake, it will also aid in increasing alertness, memory, learning and cognition. or those with ample stores their seems to be no extra cognitive benefit.
Here is a list of other benefits from Examine.com (Examine has many links to studies there) :
DNA damage - Creatine appears to mitigate much of the DNA damage associated with exercise and may be useful for cancer therapy.
Lowers depression? - A few studies have shown a lowering in depression. It seems to help SSRI therapy and is more pronounced in females.
Heart disease - It has heart disease protective properties by lowering triglycerides, LDL and total cholesterol. It also is protective by lowering possibly homocysteine levels which are high in heart disease patients.
Anti-aging - topically applied, it has been shown to decrease lines and firm skin. (yes I’m looking further into that!)
Can be protective to the effects of stroke as it can work in an oxygen deprived environment.
Can I supplement it with just food?
Yes, kind of. Red meat and seafood contain higher levels of creatine. This will give your muscles and brain a fair bit of stored creatine to work with. However:
Those with certain gene mutations may not be able to create creatine their diets and use it efficiently.
It also may not be necessarily of benefit to eat too much red meat for other health reasons, such as heart disease risk from high saturated fat intake.
Cooking denatures creatine so to avoid destroying the creatine you would need to have your seafood raw and your steak quite under cooked.
If you do decide to follow a diet or predominantly diet way of supplementing, I would also recommend considering a broad spectrum digestive enzyme with your meals, to help your body digest and utilise the nutrients as efficiently as possible. Choose grass-fed beef and wild sourced seafood and only lightly cook them.
Are you vegetarian, vegan, sleep deprived or an older adult?
These groups are often lacking in ready creatine supplies and can benefit greatly from adding it into their diet.
Vegans and vegetarians are most likely to be deficient in stored creatine.
If you are older, then be aware that protein doesn’t digest as well, so your body won’t be able to take advantage of your food as much as say a 20 year old. Supplementation and adding a digestive enzyme will greatly enhance the uptake of creatine for muscle building and mental enhancement. You still have to lift the weights however creatine will counter act the older bodies from breaking down muscle as fast (probably due to its myostatin lowering effect which in high levels will facilitate muscle breakdown). It stops muscle wastage, builds strength and aids endurance.
Interesting
Creatine has been found to increase memory, learning and cognitive ability especially in older women.
How do I take it?
Take 2.5 - 5 gms a day. It will increase the water stored in your muscles so make sure to have plenty of water when you take it. There used to be stories of needing a juice or source of sugar to enhance its uptake and avoiding caffeine as it can nullify creatine effect. Fortunately none of that is worth following and certainly adding sugar or juice is not recommended for a healthy body. An elite athlete however may notice a difference if taking creatine with berries or a healthy low glycemic carb meal. Please note that the extra uptake a low glycemic carb can give isn’t of much benefit for those that aren’t athletes whose diet is right on point where every small change can potentially make a difference in performance.
The time of day also, doesn’t seem to play any factor in the efficacy of uptake, so take your dose when its convenient. Although there is a little research that taking it too close to bed can interfere with sleep.
Do you need to load it?
Loading is a method to take a higher dose of a product to get higher levels into your system quickly. There is no need to load creatine, you can go straight to daily doses of 2.5-5 gms. This will mean it will take 2-3 weeks for noticeable benefits.
BUT if you want to fast track the benefits. Start by loading for 5 days with approx 20 - 30 gms a day, pulling it back to 2.5-5 gms daily thereafter.Be aware with higher doses that you may experience stomach upset and bloating. Water retention is often associated with higher intake too. Counter this with high water intake when you take creatine. If you find you have gained a pound or several with creatine in water weight then consider lowering the dose and even cycling your intake by giving yourself days, weeks off from taking it.
Cycling?
There is no study showing creatine should be cycled but it may be a useful technique as mentioned above to counteract the cycling.
Which creatine is best?
There are LOADS of creatine supplements out there and most say they have the best uptake into the body because of the type of creatine they use or the extra ingredients they have added into the supplement. All this means it will cost you more. There is no research out there yet that shows that any are better than your standard readily available creatine. Personally I would look for a brand with a good reputation, that is approved and goes through testing processes, just to ensure that the product is 100% creatine and not creatine with ‘extras’.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Creatine. Its a very interesting supplement and from my personal experience, it is one of the few supplements that I did notice that extra strength I suddenly gained. Its not much but every bit counts and now that I am fully aware of its neural protective and enhancing effects I shall be much more consistent with taking it. I will still cycle the product, as is my habit, but not leave it a couple of years as I have done. I’m back on it!
Please note that if you have a poor diet, creatine will not work miracles at all. Ensure that you are exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet most of the time before trying to get extra benefits from supplementation.
If you have any interesting stories or questions about creatine please comment below. If you would like a consult to upgrade your nutrition and fitness then don’t hesitate to contact me.
Vashti x
References and Links:
https://selfhacked.com/blog/creatine/
https://www.leafscience.org/geroprotectors-creatine/