Creatine
Creatine is bodybuilding’s ultimate supplement, and for good reason. For one thing, creatine can significantly increase lean muscle mass in just two weeks. It is also responsible for improving performance in high-intensity exercise, increasing energy levels, and speeding up recovery rates. It’s no wonder athletes who use it have such of an edge over those who do not. Soon nearly every athlete who competes will use it (if they don’t already). Creatine’s ability to enhance energy reserves in muscles comes from its muscle protein synthesizing action, while minimizing protein breakdown. This occurs because creatine has the awesome effect of super-hydrating muscle cells with water. It enhances muscles’ growth too-making muscle fibers bigger and stronger.
Quite a few studies have been done on creatine to figure out why and how it works so well. There have been over twenty double blind (meaning neither the researchers nor the subjects knew who was getting what), placebo-controlled studies conducted on creatine in the past five years. They proved that creatine increased energy levels, resulting in increased strength, endurance levels, and recovery rates. Another unexpected benefit attributed to creatine was discovered as well: creatine accelerates fat loss, while building lean body mass!
What is it and where does it come from?
Creatine is actually a nutrient found naturally in our bodies,and it’s made from a combination of the three amino acids arginine,glycine and methionine. The main function of creatine is providing energy to your muscles for movements, especially quick and explosive movements. Your body gets its creatine from food and/or supplements. You can imagine then, that taking extra creatine monohydrate will help you out during workouts.
The chemical name for Creatine is methyl guanidine-acetic acid. Creatine is a natural substance found in our muscle cells, especially around the skeletal muscle with about 95% of the body’s creatine supply, and the remaining 5% is stored in other parts of the body. Creatine is a metabolite produced in the body which mainly consists of three amino acids namely - methionine, arginine, and glycine. Our liver has the ability to combine these three amino acids and make creatine. The pancreas and the kidneys also synthesize a small amount of creatine when necessary. The other way we get creatine is from our diet. And one more way to get creatine is to take it as an dietary supplement. Although it comes in many different forms but the most common formula used for athletic purposes is creatine monohydrate.
A 72 kg person will have about 120 grams of creatine stored naturally in his body. The main food sources of creatine are fish and red meat. Half a pound of raw meat provides about 1g of creatine for the body. However, the amount of creatine we get from foods is very less as compared to the amount needed to get the maximum beneficial effect. To get roughly 20 grams of creatine (the general dosage amount for the loading phase), one would have to consume roughly 16-18 steaks. Because of this, it is much more convenient to simply consume creatine as a supplement, otherwise one would have to eat a lot of meat products.
Unlike steroids or drugs, creatine is 100% natural and occurs naturally in many foods; therefore, it can never be banned from any sports or international competitions (unless they banned eating meat). Many foods especially herring, salmon, tuna, and beef contain some creatine. However, the very best source of creatine by far is creatine monohydrate because it contains more creatine per weight of material than any other source.
Benefits of Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate, is a dietary supplement that athletes and many bodybuilders use to increase high intensity exercise performance, increased strength, have fuller looking muscles, increase body mass and faster post workout muscle recovery.
Anything that improves performance is mostly associated with steroids, creatine has gotten a bad reputation from people who do not understand it. There are a wide variety of responses to the supplementatation of creatine, some people respond to it very good and almost instantaneously and some people don’t even respond to it. For instance, a vegetarian who already has a low amount of creatine coming from his daily food would probably respond better than someone who eats meat everyday (a very good source of creatine). Creatine is not a hormonal supplement like other legal steroids or prohormones.
Are there any Side Effects of taking Creatine Monohydrate?
No, studies have shown that consumption of creatine monohydrate do not cause any serious adverse side effects. However, some persons may experience a slight stomach and digestive discomfort like gas or bloating or some diarrhea problems for a few couple of weeks in the beginning with the use of creatine. The digestive and stomach problems may be eradicated by lowering the amount of intake of creatine monohydrate. Since creatine supplementation causes the muscles to retain water, some people may experience a weight gain of as many as five pounds in the first few weeks, and may also become dehydrated.
