Login | November 28, 2024
Creatine 101
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: November 18, 2024
If you’ve been physically active and/or involved in competitive athletics for any appreciable amount of time then you’ve probably heard of creatine.
And for those of you who haven’t, well, it’s a naturally occurring compound found in muscle cells that helps to boost muscular energy for especially hard efforts.
Now unfortunately there’s a lot of misconceptions and deceptions concerning the use of supplemental, synthetically-produced creatine in sports. So let’s take an unbiased look at the pros and cons of supplemental creatine use.
As previously mentioned, creatine is a compound that’s produced naturally in our bodies, with about 95% of it being stored in our muscle cells.
Now typically we get our creatine stores from foods like red meat and seafoods. But our bodies also produce small amounts - about one gram daily - of creatine via organs like the kidneys, liver and pancreas.
Now not only does this compound play a critical role in our ability to perform fast, hard and powerful efforts in everyday life activities, it also plays a critical role in athletic endeavors - which is exactly why synthetically-produced creatine came into the picture.
The Soviets of the 1970s were the first to latch onto the notion that the ingestion of a synthetically-produced creatine compound could enhance an athlete’s power producing capabilities. And though it took a while, by the 1990s the rest of the world caught up via numerous research studies that confirmed the fact that supplemental creatine did indeed provide ergogenic (performance enhancing) benefits.
Today, after nearly 50 years of highly scrutinizing research, creatine is seen as a bonafide ergogenic aid.
And it’s not only used by strength-power athletes, but it’s also used by endurance athletes.
What’s more, the supplementation of creatine has been shown to assist in muscle recovery, thus enabling athletes to train harder and recover faster from their training and racing efforts.
So those are the facts with respect to creatine.
Now let’s get to the misconceptions and deceptions that are associated with creatine. We’ll start with several of the bigger misconceptions.
1. Creatine causes fat and weight gain. Truth: Creatine does not affect fat metabolism or body composition.
2. Creatine can cause kidney damage. Truth: No evidence exists to prove creatine is harmful to the kidneys.
3. Creatine causes excessive water retention. Truth: Creatine only increases water retention in muscle cells.
4. Creatine doesn’t need to be supplemented because it’s found in foods. Truth: One would have to consume massive amounts of meats to achieve the amount of creatine you’d get in a nominal five-gram dose of supplemental creatine.
Now the misconceptions associated with creatine usage are pretty minor and somewhat innocuous compared to the deceptions and hazards associated with purchasing creatine.
And that’s because there’s a cacophony of counterfeit creatine products out there that are marketed as pure creatine, many of which are pretty tough to distinguish from the real deal.
What’s more, since the FDA does not regulate creatine products, some of those fakes can actually be dangerous because they may contain unverified ingredients.
Thus, you have to be vigilant and educated when making your creatine purchases by familiarizing yourself with reputable companies.
Make sure to look up UPC codes and/or barcode numbers to make sure it matches up with the manufacturers information.
So high-quality, synthetically-produced creatine is not cheap.
Due to its high demand, its high R&D costs and the high production costs associated with using animal and/or synthesized compounds, you’re going to pay a pretty penny for top shelf creatine.
Generally, a 10 oz package of creatine is going to cost you anywhere from $35 to over $50. And the typical recommended dosage for creatine ingestion hovers at about three to eight grams per day depending on one’s body weight.
So how do you know if creatine’s for you?
Well, literally any athlete, from a newbie fitness buff to a longtime competitive athlete could possibly benefit from prudent creatine supplementation.
But remember, creatine is far more beneficial for individuals whose athletic pursuits involve very intense, short efforts such as in weight lifting and sprinting events.
But for individuals participating in less intense, longer endurance events like running, cycling, skiing etc., creatine has been shown to provide less significant performance benefits, though it can be helpful with respect to high intensity training and racing efforts, recovery and maybe even helping to reduce mental fatigue.
Now for those of you who are considering this supplement, do your research and honestly assess you athletic goals.
Otherwise, even high-quality creatine could be a waste of money.