Creatine+Monohydrate,+General--Joe+and+Roberto


 * About Creatine Monohydrate **


 * [[image:hed342ergogenicaids/screen-capture-1.jpg width="340" height="422" align="right"]]Creatine was isolated from the meat of mammals in 1832 by Michael Eugene Chevreul and he named this compound after the greek word for "flesh." In 1847 it was later confirmed to be a naturally occurring compound that could be found in the flesh of mammals and was more prevalent in wild animals when compared to captive animals.


 * The form of creatine that has been most studied and commonly used in dietary supplements is creatine monohydrate, although there are many other derivatives (Figure 1). Besides naturally occurring creatine found in meat and fish, creatine comes in various forms, most commonly in powder, but is also available in pill or liquid form.


 * Creatine monohydrate is generally inexpensive to purchase, but ranges from $4.78 (120 grams of powder) to $89.99 (120 count of capsules).


 * Creatine monohydrate can be purchased online (via websites such as bodybuilding.com, gnc.com, etc.), in store (such as The Vitamin Shoppe, Walmart, etc.), even at many gyms (24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, etc.).

** Physiology of Creatine Monohydrate **
 * According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, creatine supplementation is not prohibited or banned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association or the International Olympic Committee. Although the NCAA prohibits its member schools from giving athletes any sort of muscle building supplements, they do not ban athletes from using it themselves. Creatine use by athletes is considered a legal supplement and has been seen as safe at recommended doses.


 * Creatine (//N//-(aminoiminomethyl)-//N//-methyl glycine), also known as methylguanidinoacetic acid, is a naturally occurring compound within our bodies and it is made endogenously at an amount about 1 gram per day. The synthesis of creatine occurs primarily in the liver, kidneys and to some extent the pancreas. About 95% of our bodies creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, where it will be used to fuel short bouts of high intensity exercise.The effect of creatine supplementation on anaerobic exercise has demonstrated neuromuscular performance enhancing properties on short duration, predominately anaerobic, intermittent exercises (Buford et al., 2007).


 * Creatine is used in the body in the form of phosphocreatine during short bouts of exercise (5-10 seconds) in order to fuel the need for quick, high-intensity, powerful movements. It happens when there is a donation of the phosphate group and its high energy bond from PC to ADP to form ATP. This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme creatine kinase (Figure 2). As fast as ATP is broken down to ADP and inorganic phosphate, at the onset of exercise, ATP is resynthesized via the PC reaction. The ATP-PC system provides a simple one-enzyme reaction to produce ATP for activities such as olympic weight-lifting, high jumping, or a football player sprinting down field. The largest disadvantage to this energy system is the limited supply of creatine phosphate (pg. 70-75, Dunford, Doyle).


 * Increasing the amount of creatine phosphates in the muscle is similar in concept to increasing the size of a gas tank in a race car. Increasing the size of a gas tank in a race car won't make it go faster but it will allow it to maintain its top speed for a longer duration. (pg. 74, Dunford, Doyle 2015) This is the same for our muscles, when you increase the creatine content inside the muscle you can prolong your high intensity workouts longer.

** Research on Creatine Monohydrate **
 * The total creatine concentration in muscle is about 120 mmol ∙k g-1, and 2 gram are excreted per day. These 2 grams are replaced by diet (1 gram) and by synthesis (1 gram) from amino acids. (pg. 572, Powers, Howley, 2015)

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 * Research has shown that creatine monohydrate is not degraded during digestion and that[[image:screen-capture.jpg width="325" height="215" align="right"]] approximately 99% of creatine monohydrate ingested orally is either taken up by the muscle or excreted in the urine. The bioavailability effects of creatine monohydrate (CRT) supplementation within the muscle have been compared to creatine ethyl ester (CEE), as well as, a placebo (PLA) over a training period of 42 days (Figure 3) (Jäger et al., 2011)


 * Supplementation of creatine has been shown to result in small, but significant increases in lean body mass with repeated high-itensity, short-duration (<30 seconds) bouts of exercise, albeit the exact mechanisms are unknown (pg. 75, Dunford, Doyle). Creatine supplementation could potentially cause an increase in lean body mass by reducing body fat and increasing muscle hypertrophy. (Felkar, 2010)

** Creatine Supplementation **


 * Supplementing creatine can increase muscle creatine levels by approximately 20 percent. Creatine supplementation consists of a loading phase (20-25 g/day, for 5-6 days) and/or supplementing smaller amounts of creatine over a longer period of time (3 g/day, 1 month) Supplementation and loading of creatine allows the muscle to maintain its ability to resynthesize ATP at a more consistent rate, allowing an athlete to train harder, potentially increasing strength, speed and power (pg. 74, Dunford, Doyle).


 * Creatine supplementation appears to increase body mass but this is probably due more to intracellular water retention (which may stimulate muscle glycogen storage) rather than an increase in protein synthesis (pg. 572, Powers, Howley 2015).


 * Supplementing with creatine doesn't necessarily mean its going to work for you if you already have a high amount of creatine in your skeletal muscles. Some people respond quite differently than others, so supplementation may or may not be for you. Subjects with high levels of creatine may not respond to an increase in muscle creatine levels (pg. 572, Powers, Howley 2015). The benefit of creatine can be seen in novice bodybuilders or athletes who do not have high amounts of creatine in their muscles.


 * Recent reports suggest that ingestion of carbohydrates with creatine supplementation enhances intramuscular creatine uptake and glycogen deposition and that creatine transport may be sodium dependent. In addition, ingestion of glucose and sodium with creatine would theoretically provide an additional ergogenic effect. (Kreider et al., 1998)

References

Buford, Thomas W, Richard B Kreider, Jeffrey R Stout, Mike Greenwood, Bill Campbell, Marie Spano, Tim Ziegenfuss, Hector Lopez, Jamie Landis, and Jose Antonio. "International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Creatine Supplementation and Exercise." J Int Soc Sports Nutr Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2007): 6. Print.

Cooper, Robert et al. “Creatine Supplementation with Specific View to Exercise/sports Performance: An Update.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 9 (2012): 33. PMC. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Dunford, Marie, and J. Andrew Doyle. Nutrition for Sport and Exercise. Student ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Print.

Felkar, Victoria. "The Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Lean Muscle Mass." Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. .

Jäger, Ralf, Martin Purpura, Andrew Shao, Toshitada Inoue, and Richard Kreider. "Analysis of the Efficacy, Safety, and Regulatory Status of Novel Forms of Creatine." Amino Acids. Springer Vienna, 22 Mar. 2011.

Kreider, Richard, Maria Pontes Ferreira, and Anthony L. Almada. "Effects of creatine supplementation, strength and sprint performance." MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE (1998): n. pag. Print.

Powers, Scott K., and Edward T. Howley. Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance. 9th ed. New Yor: McGraw Hill Education, 2015. Print.

"Creatine." University of Maryland Medical Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. .