Supplement Round Up: Creatine
What is Creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance in vertebrates. It is stored in the skeletal muscles, heart, brain, and testes. Creatine is one of the most researched supplements on the market and is usually sold in its most effective form, creatine monohydrate. It can also be found in meat.
What does Creatine do for athletes?
Creatine volumized muscle, increases strength and power, provides energy to muscle, and buffers lactic acid which improves recovery. It’s particularly beneficial for power and strength athletes, but can also help endurance athletes. Vegetarians and non-meat eaters have lower baseline levels of creatine and can benefit more from supplementation. It’s also being studied for maintaining lean mass in aging and masters athletes, as we discuss in this blog.
How much of Creatine should I take?
It’s recommend to start with 0.1g/kg body weight per day. This is about 5-10g daily. There’s no need to do a loading phase unless you want to increase your levels quickly. It takes about 3-4 weeks of discontinuing creatine supplementation to return to baseline levels.
Over favorite products, available on our safe supplement dispensary (you will need a Fullscript account first) are Klean Creatine (5g per scoop), NOW Creatine (in 2.2lb bag), and Pure Encapsulations (4g per scoop) Creatine Powder.
It’s tasteless and can easily be added to a post workout drink of your choice. We add it to our Fueling Edge shakes as an add-on.
How safe is Creatine?
You cannot overdose as absorption in intestines is decreases after doses larger than 3 grams. It can cause minor side effects such as muscle cramps, stomach/intestinal distress, weight gain due to water retention in the muscles.
The NCAA discourages the use of creatine in teenagers due to its effects on power and muscle. If creatine is taken, the individual will not know what their body is capable of doing while growing and maturing and using a good diet and exercise protocol.
Bottom line
Creatine supplementation can be beneficial to a healthy athlete, especially masters athletes and vegetarian athletes. Studies have shown that with a continued administration of 5-10g of creatine monohydrate daily can assist in increasing strength, power, recovery, and muscle mass. This particular supplement can have minimal acute side effects such as water retention which can result in weight gain, stomach/intestinal distress, and muscle cramps when not properly hydrated. Adding creatine post-workout can be a cheap and effective way to bring performance to the next level.
What to know whether creatine is appropriate for you?
Contact our sports nutritionists today to get your personalized needs.
Special thanks to one of our interns, Brittany Wuis, who is a student at N.C. State, a Certified Personal Trainer and NPC Figure Competitor.
