Creatine: Everything you need to know!

Creatine Monohydrate - the wonder supplement

Creatine is as close as it comes to being a wonder supplement and one of the most widely researched supplements available. It is a naturally occurring substance stored in muscle cells and used for energy during high-intensity activities.

An amino acid that plays a vital role in muscle contraction and overall athletic performance. While the liver and kidneys produce half of the body’s creatine, the rest comes from diet, particularly red meat, dairy, and seafood.

What is creatine in the body?

Creatine is formed from the amino acids arginine and glycine and helps you produce energy during heavy lifting or high-intensity exercise by raising the amount of phosphocreatine, which leads to greater ATP production.

ATP is the energy currency for muscle contractions. Supplementing with creatine leads to increased muscle growth and stamina due to more work being able to be put in before fatigue hits you.

Is creatine a steriod?

Creatine is not a steriod, it is a fully legal supplement and one of the most science backed supplements out there. Creatine is widely used to enhance athletic performance, increase muscle mass, and improve workout recovery, making it a popular choice among athletes, powerlifters, bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts who perform anaerobic exercises. Unfortunately, it won't do much for endurance athletes.

Side effects of creatine & the dangers of creatine use

Unfortunately, creatine is one of those supplements that is so effective, that several myths have developed. People think it’s a steroid. They hear that it damages the kidneys. They think it’s only for bodybuilders. None of these are true. In fact, the people who can benefit the most from creatine are those with the least amount of naturally occurring creatine stores in the body: the elderly, vegetarians, and women.

How to take creatine?

There are many forms of creatine, for the purposes of this article, I've decided to use Creatine monohydrate. It is the most researched and recommended form of Creatine. It is also the most cost-effective.

A loading phase is highly encouraged when using creatine monohydrate to fully saturate your creatine stores and start experiencing the benefits. Typically 5 days (for those under 200lbs) and 7 days (those over 200lbs) at 0.3g of creatine per kg/bw daily split into 4 doses (Morning, pre-workout, post-workout, bedtime).

Deciding not to use a loading phase means full creatine saturation levels will take approximately 4 weeks instead of 1 week.

After the loading phase, the dose will be dropped to maintenance levels at 0.04g of creatine per kg/bw daily (pre-workout is best) for 4-6 weeks.

6 proven creatine benefits

1) Increases strength & power output

Creatine is so effective that in a recent study trained handball players were found to have increased power output by 17% in the bench press, 20% in the half-squat, and 5% in the vertical jump after supplementing with 20 grams of creatine for 5 days.

2) Improved body composition

Creatine monohydrate has been shown to help burn fat by increasing intramuscular levels of IGF-1 and allowing your muscle cells to grow bigger by decreasing serum myostatin concentrations.

Studies have also shown that this increase in training intensity and volume, allows you to perform more work with less effort resulting in improved body composition.

3) Helps reduce sarcopenia & osteoporosis

One of the biggest health risks as we age is that our bones & muscles become weaker. One measure to reverse this is weight training, with moderately heavy loads - something we, unfortunately, rarely see elderly people do in gyms.

A year-long research study examined a group of elderly women, supplementing creatine with weight training had significantly reduced bone loss—the creatine group had a 1.2% decrease in bone loss compared to 3.9% in the placebo group.

4) Helps reduce depression

A primary source of depression and low mood is thought to be poor brain energy metabolism. Increasing creatine levels appears to be able to improve levels of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin in animal studies, and it has an anti-depressant effect in humans as well, especially when paired with anti-depressant medication.

5) Improved Metabolic health

Creatine supplementation has been found to improve metabolic health in diabetic patients by increasing the signaling pathways that allow the body to burn sugar for energy in the body.

In a research study examining non-diabetic patients, those who used creatine reduced their blood sugar response to a glucose tolerance test on average 16%.

Another study found those engaging in an exercise program for 12 weeks significantly improved glycemic control, improved insulin sensitivity markers, and lowered their HbA1c from an average of 7.4 to 6.4.

6) Improve cognition and reaction times

20% of your body's total energy use comes from the brain, more than any other human organ. Creatine is a pivotal energy source for the brain because it provides “fast” energy. ATP, which as we discussed earlier is the energy currency of muscle.

In neurological conditions creatine is neuroprotective or any time brain function is reduced such as when you are sleep-deprived.

A research study involving 45 vegetarians supplementing with 5 grams of creatine daily for 6 weeks drastically improved memory and scored 50% higher on IQ tests. Vegetarian athletes can benefit greatly from creatine uptake as they don't eat red meat - drastically limiting weekly creatine intake.

Key take away points

• Optimizing creatine levels can benefit everyone, especially athletes, vegetarians, and the elderly.

• Consuming meat and fish high in creatine regularly can help achieve optimal levels. For omnivores, supplementing with as little as 3 grams per day can maintain optimal creatine stores, while vegetarians may benefit from up to 5 grams a day.

• A loading dose is not essential, but it can raise levels more quickly.

• Taking creatine with carbs or protein can enhance creatine uptake into the muscles by raising insulin levels. It's recommended to take creatine within an hour of exercise, either pre- or post-workout.

• Drinking plenty of water is important for cellular hydration.

• Additionally, creatine may have positive effects such as reducing arthritis, lowering cholesterol and triglycerides, and speeding up recovery from injuries.