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WHAT IS CREATINE MONOHYDRATE?
Creatine Monohydrate (methylguanidine-acetic acid) is one of the
leading supplements used in athletic enhancement. Widely recognized by athletes
and amateurs alike, creatine is heralded as a highly effective, natural
performance enhancer (an ergogenic). Creatine has grown in popularity since the
early 90's, although being studied for many years prior to this, and has become
a staple supplement for many athletes regarding it almost as an essential
nutrient.
WHERE DOES CREATINE COME FROM?
Creatine is a natural dietary constituent of all animal food,
and is produced and stored by our own bodies. Our liver and kidneys tends to
synthesize creatine from the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine and
so is not considered an essential nutrient however many numerous studies have
shown supplemental creatine of doses higher than 2 grams a day can have profound
effects on various types of physical performance. The physiological effects of
supplemental creatine have been so widely studied and acknowledged in terms of
athletic performance research has now turned its attention to the possible
beneficial use of this substance in preventing losses of muscle and neural
functioning during aging or with various neuromuscular diseases.
IS CREATINE NEW?
Creatine has been acknowledged as
a food constituent for over 150 years. The substance was discovered in 1832 by a
French scientist named Michel Eugene Chevreul. Even as early as the start of the
20th century creatine had been shown to increase muscle content in animals. More
recently the number of human studies show time and time again that creatine supplementation
has a marked effect on performance. Being non-hormonal in it's
action makes this supplement equally beneficial to women as well as men. It is
estimated that in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta almost 80% of the
athletes, both male and female, were using creatine, with this figure surely
rising to this day. Creatine,
as with all supplements, is perfectly safe in normal recommended dosages. There
have been a few anecdotal reports suggesting creatine misuse could lead to some
possible physical ailments such as dehydration, muscle cramping or even stress
to the kidneys however these findings have never been proven nor are very
common. Usually the bad press about many health supplement has come from
misinformation or total false accusation.
OUR BODY
NATURALLY PRODUCES CREATINE
An average man
weighing 70kg stores roughly 120g creatine in total around the entire body and turns over
(uses and replaces) around 2g a day. It should be noted that a large
quantity of this creatine pool is stored in muscle tissue and obviously the
larger the muscle becomes the higher the creatine content becomes and daily
requirements to replace used creatine from training. Creatine is stored within
the body as about 30 - 40% free creatine and 60 - 70% phosphocreatine (creatine
bound to phosphate). Consumption of creatine in an average diet from natural
food sources may also vary quite widely. A strict vegetarian may receive
absolutely zero creatine and may replenish their creatine stores purely
from endogenous synthesis by their own liver. Individuals whom consume a normal
omnivorous diet, whose protein intake ranges between 1 and 2g per kilogram of
bodyweight daily obtain around 0.25 - 1 g of creatine from their diet. If an
individual drastically increased their protein intake every single day,
ingesting 1 or more pounds of red meat or fish they could achieve maybe a 3 to
4g intake of dietary creatine. Beyond this, however, it would be very difficult
and unlikely to increase intake much further.
ENHANCING
CREATINE ABSORPTION
Creatine is an
osmotically active substance; thus an increase in intracellular creatine concentration
may induce water influx into the cell. This is often a very
rewarding and beneficial aspect to athletes concerned with gaining muscle mass,
size or strength. Creatine may be a signal to stimulate protein synthesis,
possibly by this intracellular fluid retention and increasing osmotic pressure.
It is important to note that creatine absorption can actually be enhanced and
the benefits increased. There is evidence that creatine uptake into tissues may
be mediated by insulin (a hormone related to food consumption and it's
response/action to consuming nutrients). It has been shown that ingesting large
quantities of carbohydrate (upto 95g) along with a supplemental dose of say 5g
of creatine facilitated greater creatine uptake by the muscles than taking
creatine alone. This response was apparently mediated by the glucose-stimulated
release of insulin. In fact further enhancements of creatine absorption have
recently been made with the use of insulin potentiating substances such as Alpha
Lipoic Acid or D-Pinnitol. Making improvements to creatine absorption is
becoming common knowledge and there are many pre made creatine transport systems
now available.
ATP - WHAT IS IT?
All cells use ATP
(adenosine triphosphate) as the immediate energy source, but since ATP stores
are limited they must be regenerated by other metabolic processes in the cells
in order to sustain high muscle output. The classic hypothesis suggests that
muscle fatigue is caused by failure of the energetic processes to generate ATP
at a sufficient rate. Energy is liberated from the ATP molecule as the phosphate
from ATP is removed by an ATPase enzyme leaving adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and
inorganic phosphate (Pi). Collectively the ATP and Phosphocreatine (PCr) energy
sources are known as the phosphagen energy system. During very high intensity
exercise the phosphate from the phosphocreatine is cleaved off to provide energy
for resynthesis of ATP. This allows the ATP pool to be turned over several dozen
times during all-out maximal-effort exercise. From an ergogenic (performance
enhancing) viewpoint, resynthesis of Phosphocreatine could be the critical
factor during sustained very high intensity exercise. Further it is worth noting
phosphocreatine (the primary stored form of creatine in muscle tissue) has a
role in helping to buffer H+,
increasing the cells capacity to attenuate the decline of pH levels during
intense exercise and may help delay fatigue. This is as we know the burning
sensation when lactic acid floods the muscle and causes us to cease exercise. Theoretically
the phosphagen, or ATP-PCr, energy system is capable of providing energy for
only a few muscle contractions before being depleted. Since PCr is the substrate
for this system, it is logical to hypothesize that creatine supplementation is a
possible ergogenic strategy to rapidly replenish PCr and enhance performance tasks
less than or equal to 30 sec in duration.
BENEFITS FROM
CREATINE SUPPLEMENTATION
Creatine may also enhance training
in other ways. Increased creatine or PCr may enable athletes to reach a higher
training load, improve repetitive interval sprint capacity, reduce training
fatigue and possibly enhance muscle hypertrophy - all factors that may enhance
competitive performance. Creatine also increases fat free body mass (muscle)
which is extremely beneficial in sports requiring a high power output to resist
the inertia of another body (e.g. weight training).
HOW DO I USE CREATINE?
Creatine supplementation protocols
involve a loading and maintenance phase. The most commonly used research
protocol for creatine loading is to ingest a daily total of 20 - 30g of
creatine, usually creatine monohydrate, in four equal doses of 5-7g dissolved in
about 250 ml of fluid, over the course of the day (usually early morning, noon,
afternoon and evening) for a period of 5 to 7 days. When powder is used some
recommend warm or hot fluids for better dissolution o creatine. Based on body
weight the recommended loading dose is 0.3g/kg body mass per day for a period of
5 to 6 days. A more prolonged loading protocol of 3g/day for 28 days is just as
effective as the short term loading protocol. After the creatine loading phase
the recommended maintenance dosage is considerably lower, approximately 2 - 5g
of creatine per day or 0.03g/kg body mass per day. After ingestion of 5g of
creatine, levels in the blood peak during the first hour and then begin to
dissipate during the next several hours. To help maintain peak plasma levels it
is recommended to ingest 5g doses every few hours or around 4 to 5 times a day
during the loading phase, however, it should be noted that several studies have
shown no extra benefit from supplementing any higher than 20g a day.
Creatine has also
been widely used with caffeine, which often comes as a surprise to many people.
Caffeine is however a strong ergogenic aid in its own right. The adrenergenic
effects of caffeine may elicit a variety of cellular responses - one being an
increased sodium/potassium ATPase pump activity in the muscle cell membrane, an
effect theorized to enhance creatine uptake into the muscle. Several studies
have shown creatine mixed with caffeine (5mg/kg/day) has indeed increased the
muscle uptake of creatine by upto 15%. However caffeine may interfere slightly
with the rate of muscle PCr resynthesis during intermittent exercise.
Creatine is excreted
normally by the body by diffusion in the kidneys into the waste product
creatinine. This catabolism of creatine is a fairly slow process. It is
estimated that elevated muscle creatine stores will return to normal, declining
slowly, over a period of around 4 weeks. This is because daily creatine turnover
is only a maximum of about 2g a day.
CREATINE
INTOLERANCE
It is interesting to
note that there are individuals whom have limited results with just creatine
supplementation alone. Usually supplementing with creatine causes a marked 20%
increase in TCr content of muscles, however, there does seem to be a few
individuals, around 20 - 30% of the population, whom do not respond as well to
usual creatine loading - only achieving around 8% TCr increase. It is
interesting to note that this biochemical/genetic individuality is generally
resolved when using a creatine/glucose combination.
CREATINE SCARES
There have, as
mentioned, earlier been a few unsupported scares regarding the use of creatine
monohydrate supplementation. As already mentioned most of these studies have
been either totally misguided or explainable to some sensible degree. However,
when purchasing your creatine supplement you want to be totally assured of the
purity and quality of what you are placing in your body. It is worth noting that
many suppliers of creatine do not independently test their product nor do they
use a reputable source of high quality creatine such as Creapure - from SKW in
Germany - the worlds leading supplier of highest quality Creapure. A product
containing high quality creatine will be marked as either containing such a high
quality creatine, or if you write to the company they should provide you with
the information you require and whom they use as their creatine supplier. Buying
cheaper creatine, or one not to high standards, may contain any or all of the
following toxins:-
-
Dicyandiamide - a
derivative used in the production of fertilizers, explosives, fire proofing etc.
This substance breaks down into cyanide gas when exposed to strong acid such as
stomach acid.
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Creatinine - as
mentioned earlier a byproduct of creatine metabolism with absolutely no
ergogenic value. Also linked to increased colon cancer incidence.
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Dihydrotriazine -
not enough research provided on the toxic effects of this substance.
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Sodium - aside from
the obvious health implications, people surely don't want to be spending the
amount of money they are on creatine to find such a high level of sodium in poor
quality creatine products.
Obviously when you
are loading on a creatine product you surely don't want to be dumping high
levels of these toxins into your system and so it is always worth spending that
little bit extra on a reputable brand clearly labeling their creatine.
Enhancing
Creatine Absorption Further
As mentioned earlier
there are a number of various techniques now employed to enhance the uptake of
creatine by the muscle. Primarily these techniques involve enhancing the action
of the highly anabolic hormone insulin. Many companies now
see the added benefits of these techniques and so have brought to the market
pre-mixed creatine transport systems (see creatine transport systems).
Creating your own
transport system can sometimes prove expensive but still favoured by many. Here
are a few things that you can do to increase you creatine absorption especially
during the loading phase.
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Add your
creatine to around 75 - 100g of carbohydrate. A mixture of dextrose primarily
for high insulin output, maltodextrin, second, for sustained energy. A
little fructose for liver glycogen.
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Add taurine to
the mix. Around 1 gram has an added cell volumising effect much the same as
creatine has in drawing fluid into the muscle.
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Add phosphate to
the formula to enhance the lactate buffering creating a more favourable pH
balance decreasing the onset of muscular fatigue. This can also help lower
the acidity of the stomach, improving absorption and causing less waste of
creatine being converted into creatinine before even being used.
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A number of
antioxidants such as Vitamin C and E would be of benefit to help deal with
the waste byproducts of intense training which could adversely affect
performance.
-
Glutamine could
also be added in a dose of between 5 - 10g as a secondary cell volumiser,
again enhancing the size gains caused by creatine. Glutamine is also the
primary amino acid which makes up around 70% of human skeletal muscle tissue
and is vital to muscle repair and growth. Adding glutamine in this way can
seriously improve recovery rate and reduce muscle soreness dramatically.
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Several insulin
priming nutrients would be of benefit. Chromium Picolinate (around 200 mcg)
enhances the action of insulin making it much more stable and better at its
job. Vanadyl Sulphate (around 15 mg) has also had plenty of research showing
it's insulin mimicking properties and ability to literally force feed
muscles with nutrients including creatine. Alpha Lipoic Acid, a strong anti
oxidant also with insulin improving properties, would be an excellent choice
at a dose of around 200 - 300 mg. Finally new research is showing D-Pinnitol
would be a worthy addition.
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Adding the
primary amino acids of creatine synthesis may be beneficial, especially to
cell hydration, methionine, arginine and glycine.
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It is possible
that albion chelated magnesium may also enhance the absorption of creatine
by around 100% and uptake by the muscle cells of around 200%.
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Taking your
creatine mixed formula in a warm (preferably not hot, nor cold) liquid would
be ideal. Stomach emptying is much better at body temperature, when taking a
drink cold, 1st your body must increase the liquids temperature while the
creatine does not dissolve properly. Taking a liquid too hot could easily
damage the creatine and force the stomach to first cool the temperature of
the beverage down.
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As noted earlier
caffeine may exert a beneficial addition to the creatine mix, as apposed to
common belief, so long as daily you keep well hydrated. It would therefore
be an idea to add 200mg caffeine tablets to your intake of creatine or
simply a good cup of regular hot coffee either before or straight after your
creatine. Some people even mix their powder straight into the coffee once it
has begun to cool.
In Summary
Creatine
supplementation is a successful supplement for most individuals in its
monohydrate form or one of the transport systems.
Expect gains in
energy, strength and muscle size from creatine use. These benefits will continue
for as long as creatine is used and around four weeks after cessation of use.
Gains in lean body
weight from enhanced strength and possibly enhanced protein synthesis can be
retained when coming off creatine.
Useful mainly in
sports related to short bursts of high intensity exercise such as weight
training and sprinting. Beneficial to endurance athletes also, so long as the body
weight gain does not hinder increased performance. Variation with dosage
normally reveals a beneficial optimum.
Possible side
effects to note are dehydration and muscle cramping. Resolve by increasing water
intake daily.
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