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Is creatine supplement beneficial for athletes and fitness enthusiasts?

17/02/2023

Yes, creatine supplementation is beneficial for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Creatine is a natural substance that provides obvious benefits, such as improving performance, increasing muscle mass, and delaying fatigue. Creatine increases muscle phosphocreatine levels, which allows for a larger muscle energy storage size. This improves performance, especially in speed, power, and strength sports. Creatine also contributes to recovery from injury and may increase bone mineral density. Vegetarians, in particular, benefit from creatine supplementation, as their daily diets contain little creatine.

What is creatine, and how does it work?

Creatine is a combination of three amino acids, and the body produces about one gram of creatine per day. When ingested, creatine is stored in the muscles as phosphocreatine, an essential immediate source of energy for muscle work. During maximal exercise, energy is provided in the first few seconds by immediate energy sources, ATP and KP stores. Creatine supplementation increases muscle phosphocreatine levels, which allows for a larger muscle energy storage size, leading to improved performance.

How to take creatine?

There are two ways in which people are generally advised to take creatine: 1) a dose of 20-25 g/day for 5-7 days or 2) 3-5 g/day for 4 weeks. These will cause muscle phosphocreatine stores to increase in size in about a week or peak in 4 weeks. Once the size of the stores has been increased by creatine supplementation, a creatine dose of about 2-5 g per day is sufficient to maintain the stores. The timing of creatine ingestion during the day has little effect on performance or body composition, so the best time to take creatine is when it suits you best. Generally, creatine is taken with a recovery drink.

What are the side effects of creatine?

Creatine supplementation can increase body weight by 1-3 kg, depending on the individual. However, this weight gain is not fat gain, but weight gain is the result of, for example, an increase in muscle fluid. Muscle cramps and dehydration have also been claimed to be side effects of creatine, but several studies have found these to be unfounded. Research evidence confirms that even after more than five years of creatine supplementation, the body's creatine production is not disturbed. Several studies have found that creatine has no adverse effects on liver or kidney function in healthy individuals.

What is the best form of creatine supplement?

There are several different forms of creatine available to consumers, such as creatine citrate or creatine pyruvate. However, studies have shown that the most effective and best creatine supplement is creatine monohydrate due to its low price and guaranteed effectiveness.

References

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  • Branch, J. 2003. Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 13(2), 198-226.
  • Cholewa, J., Trexler, E., Lima-Soares, F., de Araújo Pessôa, K., Souza, R., Santos, A. M., ... & Rossi, F. (2018). Effects of Dietary Sport Supplements on Metabolite Accumulation, Vasodilation and Cellular Swelling in Relation to Muscle Hypertrophy: A Focus on "secondary" physiological determinants. Nutrition.
  • Chilibeck, P. D., Kaviani, M., Candow, D. G., & Zello, G. A. (2017). Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. Open access journal of sports medicine, 8, 213.
  • Cooper, R., Naclerio, F., Allgrove, J. & Jimenez, A. 2012. Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 9(1), 33.
  • Kerksick, C. M., Wilborn, C. D., Roberts, M. D., Smith-Ryan, A., Kleiner, S. M., Jäger, R., ... & Greenwood, M. (2018). ISSN exercise & sports nutrition review update: research & recommendations. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(1), 38.
  • Rawson, E. & Volek, J. 2003. Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 17(4), 822-831.
  • Hultman, E., Soderlund, K., Timmons, J. A., Cederblad, G., & Greenhaff, P. L. (1996). Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of applied physiology, 81(1), 232-237.
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