Tag Archive for: creatine

Creatine and the Unasked Question

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If you read the article on creatine posted by the AMA, while as short as a sentence or two, the points were valid. Let me elaborate on a couple of the ones I think are most important.

Creatine Builds More than Muscle

The point they were making is that creatine may be beneficial to build muscle in those over 65, but that’s not all. I checked the study on the relationship between creatine intake and memory in persons 66 to 76; while it’s a meta-analysis and those can be potentially biased in the way studies are chosen for inclusion in the analysis, the data showed that memory was improved compared to a younger population.

The question is why? My personal opinion is that creatine may increase the production of energy in nerve cells in the brain, which can help learning and memory. There’s also the possibility that creatine may help increase the fluid content of brain tissue, thus making the cells work more effectively; we do tend to dehydrate more as we get older.

The second important point was that creatine is safe to use for nearly all of us, provided we don’t have chronic kidney conditions. While there have been a few small studies that have shown that even in people with diabetes-related kidney failure, creatine can be safely used, it’s best to work with a physician/specialist if you’re in that category of kidney disease. They can check creatinine levels to make sure kidney function isn’t being harmed. For the rest of us, using 3 to 5 grams of creatine every day seems to increase the benefits of muscle repair and growth with weight training.

The slight water retention and digestive issues mentioned are minor issues that typically resolve themselves when compared to the benefits creatine may generate. Just remind yourself that if your brain is retaining a little water, that’s a good thing!

The Unasked Question

What’s the question no one ever asks in nutrition studies? “How did you feel while you were taking the supplement?” Feelings can vary depending on the supplement: more energy, better sleep, fewer digestive issues, and on and on. I’m not talking about filling out questionnaires or taking tests. We’re all grown up enough to know that you may feel a little worse at first, but it usually goes away with time, so don’t get in a hurry to give up on creatine.

Simply, “How did you feel?” At the end of the day, that’s what’s really important to the person taking the supplement. Too often, because there are no real “hard science” tests for how a person feels, it’s not asked. We simply don’t know everything about how every food, every supplement, and every pharmaceutical impacts every tissue in every organ in the body. Sometimes, it’s just about how you feel day in, day out.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/prevention-wellness/9-things-patients-should-know-about-taking-creatine
2. Nutr Rev. 2023 Mar 10;81(4):416-427. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac064.

The AMA and Creatine

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After last week, you may be thinking I’m going to talk about another healthcare professional dissing supplements. I’m very pleased to say that’s not correct this time around. You can read the article by clicking here; I wouldn’t recommend listening to the audio version—seems like an AI voice to me.

The first thing that blew me away was the sponsorship: the American Medical Association. I’m not used to the AMA even acknowledging supplements exist except to caution patients to be very cautious using them. Great change.

According to the title, there are nine facts patients should know about creatine. I think the first was the most important: taking creatine in conjunction with a weight training program will increase muscle mass over time. I agree completely. The age range goes from 20 to 80; for people over 40 and facing a continual decline in muscle mass over time, that’s important information to know.

I’ll cover the rest on Saturday, including the question never asked in many studies on dietary supplements.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/prevention-wellness/9-things-patients-should-know-about-taking-creatine

Creatine: Does Size Matter?

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The researchers in Tuesday’s study demonstrated that the use of creatine did not increase muscle size after considering the increase in fluid levels. The major problem is the limited scope of the study: looking only at changes in lean body mass. While the researchers should be given credit for the approach using DEXA, there are several issues with the study.

Age: The researchers used both men and women in the study—no problem if you have enough of each gender. The problem was that they included subjects between 18 and 50 years old; research has shown that muscle loss due to age can begin as early as 40. With only 63 subjects, ideally it would mean 15 men and 15 women in each group. Dividing those few subjects into under 40 and over 40 means as few as six or seven subjects in each group. That’s just not enough subjects to prove their point; it’s sufficient for a pilot study, but not enough to determine health recommendations.

SEM: SEM stands for Standard Error of Measurement. The DEXA scan has limitations in determining the lean body mass with precision. The differences in lean body mass fell within the standard error of the measurement; the measuring tool wasn’t precise enough to measure actual differences.

Strength: Where was the strength data comparing differences in gains between the creatine and experimental group? Looking at lean body mass is looking at a combination of factors, but strength is strength: the amount of weight can you lift in several lifts like the dead lift, the squat, and the bench press. You can’t do such an intensive study and not measure the simplest variable. I’ve emailed the corresponding author, but he’s on a break in Australia. If I get a response, I’ll share it with you.

The Bottom Line

Creatine is a natural substance that may be beneficial for a variety of issues besides muscle growth. I use it every day because I lift to increase strength, but also because it benefits energy levels, skin, muscles, and other organs as well. I think everyone over 40 can probably benefit from taking five grams of creatine monohydrate every day.

Check with your doctor to find out your limitations on exercise intensity and get after it. Weight training should be a part of your regular routine, and creatine is a natural way of making more energy to increase muscular strength.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference:  https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17061081

Does Creatine Help Build Muscle?

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Creatine is a naturally occurring chemical your body makes by combining glycine, arginine, and methionine. It’s primarily used in energy production as a precursor in the manufacture of ATP in your body. Creatine is often used to help increase muscle mass in people who train with weights and that’s the focus of the paper I’m going to review.

Researchers in Australia recruited male and female subjects who had been sedentary and had not done any form of resistance training or creatine supplementation in the past year. They collected data on 33 controls and 30 experimental subjects for a 13-week creatine supplementation and resistance training study. The objective was to see if there were actual changes in muscle mass and lean body mass within the resistance training and supplementation program. Prior research had shown that creatine may change only water levels—creatine is known to increase fluid levels in muscle.

The tool they used to assess fluid levels was DEXA to scan for lean body mass before the study began, after the 7-day wash-in period with creatine, and after the 13-week resistance training program. They found that lean body mass increased during the wash-in period in the supplementation group before the resistance training program began, and the difference in lean body mass was maintained throughout the resistance training program. In response to the resistance training program, both groups increased lean body mass by 4.4 pounds after accounting for the initial difference in weight. Therefore, they concluded that creatine may not contribute to increases in lean body mass when used in a resistance training program because of the lack of difference between the supplement and the placebo group once the initial lean body mass was accounted for. But did they ask the correct question? We’ll find out on Saturday.

Tomorrow night is the Insider Conference Call. If you want to get your questions answered, become an Insider before 8 p.m. tomorrow night to join in.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference:  https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17061081