Continuing with the food theme, this week’s topic is all about creatine, which is found in our muscles and the brain. You’ve probably heard of creatine from your fellow gym bros, and I guess now you know why. Creatine is a non-protein made up from 3 amino acids, and plays a metabolic role, i.e., energy. It is classified as a non-essential nutrient, as our bodies synthesise it on own, more specifically it’s produced in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas from the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. Although we produce it and we can also get it when consuming seafood and red meat, which naturally contains it, it tends to be at a much lower dosage than those of supplements (which are synthetically made).
Before we jump in, here’s a fun fact: the word creatine comes from the Greek word (as are most words…) κρέας which means meat and is pronounced /ˈkreas/.
So, what does it do?
It plays a role in energy production, and more specifically in muscle cells. It increases the availability of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), a chemical which provides energy for many processes of the cells, like muscle contractions. So, when a cell requires energy ATP is converted to ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate) and a free phosphate molecule - this reaction releases energy which the cell can use for many different functions.
Creatine is one of the most common supplement purchased relating to sports, both by professionals and non-professionals in an array of different sports. In 2022 the global market was USD$280M, projected to reach USD$688M by 2031.1
Creatine was first introduced in the 90s, and it was used by people as a catalyst for increasing their muscle mass, strength and also to improve performance. As it causes for more energy to be available in the muscle cells, the person can push themselves further and get more reps or perform at higher intensity, if weights or cardio, respectively.
There has been a lot of research done on creatine, and it has been deemed both safe and effective as a sports nutrition supplement. A 2017 review, concluded that is a supplement which has consistently had studies showing an ergogenic benefit.2 However, research has not only focused on the sports aspect of it, but also for brain health, neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s, etc), and ageing.
Brain: as stated at the start, our brain naturally has creatine, so it would be natural to speculate that supplementing with creatine could boost brain health and function. A 2021 review, looking at recent literature did conclude that there is potential for it to improve cognitive processing, however, the optimal intake is still undetermined.3 It should also be noted that the causal relationship between creatine supplementation and cognitive effect is still unknown.
Neurodegenerative disease: in Alzheimer’s (AD) patients, creatine kinase activity is decreased by as much as 86%, there’s also decreased protein expression of 14% - this means that Alzheimer brains have lower phosphocreatine levels at the first stages. So, it’s speculated that a way of minimising the progression of the diseases is the mechanism of creatine kinase. 4
Ageing: of course diseases like AD are associated with ageing, but another aspect that is linked with ‘bad ageing’ is the loss of muscle and decrease in bone density / minerals, aka sarcopenia. A 2019 review, looked at various studies and concluded that creatine supplementation increases ageing muscle mass and strength in both the upper- and lower-body.5 Now, a step further is if one has more muscle and better bone health, they also tend to have better balance and are less frail, so even if they were to have a fall the adverse outcomes will be greatly minimised, like broken bones.
So, how much should one take?
Reflecting, on this it does indeed sound like I’m advocating for a lot of supplements… see taurine, but in reality some can indeed be beneficial with little to no adverse effects. The recommended dose is 3-5g / day or 0.1g per kg of body weight / day. Outside of the dose, when it comes to compounds relating to exercise the time of consumption is also an important factor - in this case shortly before or after you exercise is when you should be consuming it. Some people also take it on non-workout days / rest days as it claims to help with recovery and decrease soreness and fatigue.
In other good news, it is also a very economical supplement with 100 g costing around £5, so of course buying in bulk is even cheaper.
But, not everything is always positive, a main downside of it is that it’s associated with “weight gain”, and I’ve put it in quotation marks as it is not actually fat increase but instead an increase in total body water. This tends to be between 1-2kg of water weight. Now, of course extended use in order to increase muscle mass would lead to a higher number on the scales obviously due to the increased muscle mass, so the water retention would be negligible.
To wrap up another essay about another white powder (once again); if you’re also entering your weight lifting era like I am (or like to tell myself so, having not lifted anything in awhile…) maybe creatine is for you to help you reach your fitness goals!
As usual, I’ve added some links below. I hope you enjoyed - see you next week! :)
Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18. Published 2017 Jun 13. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
Roschel H, Gualano B, Ostojic SM, Rawson ES. Creatine Supplementation and Brain Health. Nutrients. 2021;13(2):586. Published 2021 Feb 10. doi:10.3390/nu13020586
Smith RN, Agharkar AS, Gonzales EB. A review of creatine supplementation in age-related diseases: more than a supplement for athletes. F1000Res. 2014;3:222. Published 2014 Sep 15. doi:10.12688/f1000research.5218.1
Candow DG, Forbes SC, Chilibeck PD, Cornish SM, Antonio J, Kreider RB. Effectiveness of Creatine Supplementation on Aging Muscle and Bone: Focus on Falls Prevention and Inflammation. J Clin Med. 2019;8(4):488. Published 2019 Apr 11. doi:10.3390/jcm8040488