By now, I'm sure you've heard of creatine and people using it to enhance their workouts and gym performance. Does this mysterious compound have other effects outside of use in the gym? Does it play different roles in a female than in a male? Should you take this if you're vegan?
The main users of creatine monohydrate are endurance and heavy-lifting athletes. Physiologically, 95% of the whole body's creatine is found in skeletal muscle. When this compound is in the muscle cells, it is stored as phosphocreatine, and when it is outside of the cell, it remains as free creatine. When muscles contract, phosphocreatine quickly donates a phosphate to turn ADP into ATP. Making it a speedy and effective energy source.
For women, creatine synthesis is about 20-30% lower than in men. Creatine can also come from your diet, but in women, the absorption is lower. It was found that women do have a higher proportion of phosphocreatine storage, but to keep those stores, you need supplemental creatine. Taking creatine during certain phases of the menstrual cycle, mostly the luteal phase, has also been shown to increase energy and reduce fatigue. Further research needs to be done to fully understand the relationship between creatine and the menstrual cycle, but for now, we have a start!
Creatine is mostly found in animal-based products, which would cause deficiencies if you are following a vegan or vegetarian diet. To counteract this imbalance, supplemental creatine would be beneficial to endurance and recovery. Some non-supplemented vegans also have a vitamin B12 deficiency. This poses an issue due to the fact that it reduces the synthesis of methionine used for precursors that produce creatine. Although creatine is mostly found in these animal products, it is synthetically produced by using non-animal-based products, making it vegan-friendly.
Women and vegans tend to have lower creatine stores. Adding a creatine supplement can boost workout performance and also aid in recovery. Have you ever used creatine? What was your experience?
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This is very well written and constructed. The benefits of creatine for physical as well as cognitive performance do seem significant. I have a love hate relationship with creatine as it actually contributed to a heat stroke I experienced. Anyone considering adding creatine should be very careful to stay hydrated as it increases your bodies need for water as the amount of water "held" in muscle tissue increases. There is also recent research that shows that a 25 gram dose of creatine can actually be very helpful in mitigating the effects of sleep deprivation. Although such a high dose could exacerbate kidney issues, particularly in someone who is dehydrated.
ReplyDeleteYes! I did not go into too much detail about water retention when taking creatine. I did want to explore this a little bit more, I found an article talking about creatine and water retention. It looks like there is an increase in water retention during the first 3 days of taking creatine. Creatine uptake uses a sodium-dependent creatine transporter, since sodium is being taken up into the muscle water will also flow in to maintain the osmolarity of the cell. that additional sodium will be pumped out of the sodium potassium pumps. Due to these pumps theres no significant change in the Na concentrations leading to no significant change in water inside of the cells. There have been studies that males and females took creatine over 28 days and there was no significant change in water retention. After the 28 days the creatine was effective at increasing muscle creatine content associated with an increase in total body weight but there was no alteration of water retention extracellularly, intracellularly, or in the whole body.
DeleteSo yes there is some water retention that occurs when first starting creatine but if you've been taking it for a while then theres also evidence to believe that there's not a significant change in water retention.
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Antonio, J., Candow, D. G., Forbes, S. C., Gualano, B., Jagim, A. R., Kreider, R. B., Rawson, E. S., Smith-Ryan, A. E., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Willoughby, D. S., & Ziegenfuss, T. N. (2021). Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 18(1), 13. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w
I enjoyed this post, Amber. It was well written and I have also made a post related to sports physiology. You should take the time to read it if you have the chance. I know LeBron James is not a women, but he has a staunch stance on not utilizing it. This was due to his issues with cramping, which I know women have struggles with especially during their periods. I would be very curious to know if a common side effect for women who take creatine during that time is worse or lightened cramping. It is something worth looking into, especially for future research.
ReplyDeleteI do not have any experience with creatine, but I do think I may try it in the future when I can have a consistent workout regimen.
The article that I was reading in response to Ryan's question also has information about cramping. It seems that in those first few days of taking creatine, there is an increase in water retention, leading to the thought that more of the body's water is in the skeletal muscle rather than other places. Excessive sweating or water loss could pose an issue and increase cramping. There was an interesting study done where football players chose creatine or a placebo sports drink, and their injuries were monitored throughout the season. The creatine users had less cramping, heat illnesses, and dehydration. It looks like creatine is also being used in a clinical setting for haemodialysis patients who reported significant cramping; they were given 5g 5 minutes before haemodialysis. This reduced cramping by 60%.
DeleteAdditional studies need to be completed for additional proof, but the studies that have been completed agree that creatine does not cause cramping but that it may actually help reduce cramping.
Reference:
Antonio, J., Candow, D. G., Forbes, S. C., Gualano, B., Jagim, A. R., Kreider, R. B., Rawson, E. S., Smith-Ryan, A. E., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Willoughby, D. S., & Ziegenfuss, T. N. (2021). Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 18(1), 13. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w