Comprehensive guide to Creatine
Aug 27 '01
The Bottom Line Creatine can enhance athletic performance and muscle growth.
CREATINE BASICS
What is creatine?
Creatine is a supplement that is designed to give people extra energy. It occurs naturally in the body, and is found in meats. Creatine is sold as a sports supplement in the form of powders, pills, and drink mixes.
What does creatine do?
The non-technical explanation:
Creatine has been proven to provide athletes with additional energy during short bursts of anaerobic activity.
The boring semi-technical explanation:
Remember learning about ATP (adenosine triphosphate) during high school biology? It is the molecule that your cells use for energy. When you break one of the phosphates off from ATP you get ADP and energy.
Creatine is stored in your muscles as creatine phosphate. It can give its phosphate away to ADP, and replenish your supply of ATP. This gives you extra energy.
Who will benefit from supplemental creatine?
--People who engage in short bursts (around 30-90 seconds) of maximal exertion, followed by resting periods. For example:
Weightlifters- The small amount of extra energy can help you do a few extra reps, or lift a little more weight. Over time this leads to increased muscle mass and strength.
Sprinters- Creatine has been shown to help sprinters reduce their times.
--Vegetarians often have lower creatine levels than meat eaters, so they may see bigger increases in performance if they use supplemental creatine.
Who will not benefit from supplemental creatine?
--People who don't exercise
--Exercisers who want extra energy for endurence exercises – jogging, aerobics classes, etc.
--People who have naturally high levels of creatine – their tissue is already saturated, so their creatine levels will not increase even if they take a supplement.
Are there any side effects?
--Creatine draws water into the muscles. People should expect to gain a few pounds of water weight the first week they take creatine.
--Some people experience stomach upset when creatine is taken without water.
--Cramping is sometimes a problem if people do not drink enough water.
Realize that there have been no long term studies on creatine use, so the long term effects are not known. There has been speculation on a variety of possible problems (mainly liver damage, kidney damage, and cancer), but there is no proof thus far to support these claims. The few scientific studies that have been done have not shown an increased risk of any major health problems, only increased energy and minor side effects (cramping and stomach upset). I personally use creatine because there is no evidence that it is harmful; however, if you are the cautious type you may want to wait until more research has been done.
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CHOOSING A CREATINE FORMULA
Purity is an issue when buying creatine
The quality of creatine varies according to the manufacturer. The manufacturer with the strictest standards is a German company who markets their products as Creapure™. Many popular brands use Creapure creatine – ProLab, Ultimate Nutrition, and Kaizen to name a few.
If your creatine doesn't have the Creapure™ logo, you can judge the quality by the taste. Pure creatine has no flavor or aftertaste. If your creatine has a bitter aftertaste, you should change brands because you do not have a high quality product.
Styles
Pure creatine powder – This is the cheapest and therefore most popular option. It is not highly soluble, so it has a gritty texture when mixed in water or juice.
Pure micronized creatine – This powder is finely ground so it dissolves more thoroughly. It is essentially the same as normal creatine powder, but you will have to pay more in order to enjoy the better texture.
Pills – These pills contain normal creatine powder. They are convenient because they are premeasured, but it is hard to vary the dosage.
Effervescent creatine – These are powders that are added to water. They come in premeasured packets so it is hard to vary the dosage, but it is supposed to be absorbed more readily than powders.
Creatine serum/Liquid creatine – This is creatine that is dissolved in water. It must be stabilized; otherwise creatine begins to break down when it is mixed in water. It is supposed to be more readily absorbed than powders.
If regular creatine upsets your stomach, it may help to switch to effervescent or serum creatine.
Dosage
The dosage varies according to the brand. I would follow the instructions on the bottle, with one exception. Like the other writers in this category, I agree that the loading phase is optional. The high doses taken during the loading phase will cause your muscles to become saturated with creatine slightly faster (~1 week instead of ~2 weeks), but it wastes a lot of creatine and is expensive. It can also increase the chance of causing stomach upset. You can skip directly to the maintainance dosage to save yourself some money.
Always take creatine with plenty of water. Allowing yourself to become dehydrated will almost guarantee that you experience side effects.
I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions that I have not addressed, feel free to leave a comment.
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