Creatine is an extremely useful nutritional supplement for ALL AGES! It contributes to an improvement in everyone’s general condition, everyone can benefit from increased vitality and reduced recovery time after physical effort. Creatine is primarily found in the muscles, therefore athletes and bodybuilders will benefit tremendously due to its ability to maximise muscle performance and endurance during training, you will find significant increases in strength and power not to mention giving a boost of energy to perform at your best.
WHAT IS CREATINE?
Creatine is as essential to life as proteins, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins and minerals, it’s of crucial importance for energy metabolism, muscle movement, and human existence. Creatine is a natural substance occurring in the body synthesized endogenously from amino acids. This synthesis takes place in the liver, the pancreas and in the kidneys from where creatine is then transported into the muscles via the bloodstream. Approximately 95% of the total creatine is stored in the skeletal muscle tissue as free creatine and phosphocreatine whereas the remaining 5% can be found in the heart, brain and the testes. A 70kg male should have a total creatine of about 140 grams in his body While half the creatine is synthesized within the body, the second half is ingested by daily nutrition. Dietary creatine is found mostly in meat and fish in contrast to that only trace amounts can be found in plants.
HOW CREATINE WORKS
The high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine (PC), as well as the common nutrients carbohydrates (with glycogen as storage form) and fats, are the sources responsible for supplying the human muscles with energy.
Normal nutrition (carbohydrates, proteins, fat) drives the metabolism which releases energy in the form of high energy molecules (egg: ATP). The muscles transfer the high energy molecule into muscular performance via phosphocreatine – creatine cycle (black arrows). The higher the creatine content in the muscles the higher the release of muscular power (red arrows). Phosphocreatine plays an important role in the energy metabolism as it provides the high-energy molecule (ATP) with phosphate, which is essential for the release of energy. When phosphocreatine levels decrease, performance is likely to deteriorate due to reduced ability to release energy. Increasing the creatine content in the muscle means increasing the availability of phosphocreatine and consequently an acceleration of the back-up of the energy source ATP.
CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY
Every nutritional supplement is certain to provoke concerns coming from the public, some of these concerns emanate from unsubstantial anecdotal reports about the long-term suppression of the body’s own production of creatine. The enormous amount of high-quality research available proved that creatine supplementation is a safe practice when taken at the dosage recommended. No adverse side-effects from the ingestion of creatine have been discovered. Athletes have already been using creatine as a nutritional supplement for over ten years without complaint. As a general recommendation, people suffering from heart and liver diseases should consult a physician and should keep to the recommended dosage. It is important to have ample water intake (isotonic drinks) in order to maintain an optimal electrolyte status.
