Should You Supplement With Creatine? - Rhonda Patrick

Summary

The script delves into the benefits of creatine as a supplement for muscle growth and energy production. It explains how creatine converts to phosphocreatine, enhancing ATP generation for high-intensity workouts. Supplementation is shown to improve muscle power, performance, and recovery, with the International Society for Sports Nutrition endorsing creatine monohydrate as highly effective. The script also addresses misconceptions about creatine's side effects, such as weight gain and hair loss, citing extensive research indicating minimal adverse impacts.

Takeaways

• 💪 Creatine is a supplement that has been shown to stimulate muscle growth by enhancing energy production in muscles through the conversion to phosphocreatine, which is crucial for ATP production.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Supplementing with creatine can boost muscle capacity to produce ATP, leading to improved muscle power and performance, particularly during high-intensity and endurance exercises.
• 📈 Creatine supplementation is supported by extensive research and is regarded by the International Society for Sports Nutrition as an effective performance-enhancing nutritional supplement.
• 🔋 The recommended dosage for creatine often starts with a loading phase of 20 to 30 grams per day for 5-7 days, followed by a maintenance dose of 3-5 grams per day to maintain elevated muscle creatine levels.
• 👴 As we age, muscle mass and strength naturally decline, but creatine supplementation combined with resistance training can help counteract these age-related changes.
• 🧠 Creatine has also been studied for its effects on brain function, suggesting potential cognitive benefits that are detailed on the provided topic page.
• 🚫 The most consistent reported side effect of creatine supplementation is weight gain, likely due to water retention, rather than an increase in fat mass.
• 🏥 Long-term studies across various populations, including infants to the elderly, indicate that creatine supplementation is safe and without serious adverse risks.
• 💊 Concerns about creatine causing kidney damage are not supported by data, and the supplement has been deemed safe for use in the long term.
• 🦲 The misconception that creatine causes hair loss or baldness originates from a single study with a small sample size and short duration, which has been contested by subsequent research.
• 📊 A meta-analysis of various studies confirms that combining resistance training with creatine supplementation improves strength, increases fat-free mass, and enhances muscular endurance and bone mineral density.

Q & A

What is creatine and what is its primary role in the body?

Creatine is a supplement that plays an important role in muscle energy production. Inside muscles, creatine is transformed into phosphocreatine, which is crucial for the production of ATP, the primary source of energy for cells, especially during high-intensity or long-duration exercise.

How does creatine supplementation affect muscle performance and growth?

Creatine supplementation can supercharge the energy production process, boosting muscle capacity to produce ATP and enhancing energy availability for intense activities. This increase in available energy can lead to improved muscle power and performance, potentially resulting in gains in muscle performance and growth.

What does the International Society for Sports Nutrition say about creatine monohydrate?

The International Society for Sports Nutrition regards creatine monohydrate as the most effective performance-enhancing nutritional supplement available on the market for athletes and fitness enthusiasts looking to increase their strength, power, and muscle mass.

What is the typical dosing protocol for creatine monohydrate supplementation?

Research indicates that creatine monohydrate supplementation often involves a loading phase of about 5 grams or 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight taken four to five times a day. This can increase creatine stores in muscle tissue by 20 to 40%. Continued supplementation of 3 to 5 grams per day is required to maintain these elevated levels.

How can creatine supplementation benefit older adults?

For older adults, creatine supplementation combined with resistance training can counteract age-related declines in muscle mass, strength, and bone density. It may amplify the benefits of exercise, improving strength, upper and lower body performance, muscular endurance, and bone mineral density.

What are some potential misconceptions about creatine supplementation?

Some misconceptions about creatine supplementation include the belief that it can cause kidney damage or hair loss. However, extensive research has shown no serious adverse risks associated with creatine supplementation, and the only consistent reported side effect is weight gain, likely due to water retention.

Is there evidence to support the claim that creatine causes hair loss?

The claim that creatine causes hair loss originates from a study where participants took 25 grams of creatine a day for a week, resulting in increased serum DHT levels. However, subsequent studies have not found evidence to support an increase in testosterone or free testosterone levels, which are precursors to DHT, suggesting that creatine is not a significant concern for hair loss.

What is the relationship between creatine supplementation and kidney health?

Despite concerns, there is no data to support the idea that creatine supplementation negatively affects kidney health. Studies involving various dosages and durations have shown no serious adverse risks to kidney function.

How does creatine supplementation impact muscle recovery post-workout?

Creatine supplementation has been shown to help speed up muscle recovery post-workout, potentially making it easier for individuals to bounce back after intense training sessions.

Are there studies that look at creatine's effect on brain function?

Yes, there are studies that explore creatine's effect on brain function, which can be found on the provided creatine topic page. These studies are of interest as they may suggest additional benefits beyond muscle performance and growth.

What is the consensus on creatine supplementation and its impact on testosterone levels?

Among numerous studies, only a few observed minor increases in total testosterone levels after creatine supplementation, while the majority found no change at all. There were no increases detected in free testosterone levels, which is the precursor for DHT production.

Outlines

00:00

💪 Creatine's Role in Muscle Growth and Energy Production

This paragraph delves into the benefits of creatine as a supplement for muscle growth and energy production. Creatine is crucial for the conversion into phosphocreatine, which is essential for ATP production—the primary energy source for cells, especially during high-intensity or endurance exercises. Supplementing with creatine can enhance this energy production process, leading to improved muscle power and performance. It has also been shown to speed up muscle recovery post-workout. The International Society for Sports Nutrition recognizes creatine monohydrate as a highly effective performance-enhancing supplement. The recommended dosage includes a loading phase of 5 grams four to five times a day, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 to 5 grams per day. Studies have demonstrated the positive effects of creatine on exercise performance, muscle mass, and recovery, especially when combined with resistance training.

05:02

🏥 Safety and Misconceptions of Creatine Supplementation

The second paragraph addresses the safety and common misconceptions associated with creatine supplementation. Despite numerous studies on creatine, the only consistent reported side effect is weight gain, likely due to water retention, rather than an increase in fat mass. Long-term studies involving various age groups and dosages up to 0.8 grams per kilogram body weight have shown no serious adverse risks. Concerns about kidney damage have been debunked by the lack of supporting evidence. The myth of creatine causing hair loss originated from a study showing a temporary increase in dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels in rugby players after a week of high-dose creatine supplementation. However, subsequent studies have not found significant increases in testosterone or DHT levels, suggesting that creatine is not linked to hair loss. Overall, creatine supplementation appears to be safe and beneficial for enhancing athletic performance and health.

Keywords

💡Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring substance in the body that plays a crucial role in muscle energy production. In the context of the video, creatine is discussed as a supplement that can enhance muscle growth and performance. The script mentions that creatine is transformed into phosphocreatine, which is essential for ATP production, the primary energy source for cells, especially during high-intensity exercise.

💡Phosphocreatine

Phosphocreatine is a compound formed from creatine and a phosphate group. It is highlighted in the script as a key player in the production of ATP, which is vital for energy supply during physical activities. The conversion of creatine to phosphocreatine is facilitated by the enzyme creatine kinase, which requires magnesium.

💡ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)

ATP is the primary energy currency of the cell, and its production is central to the video's discussion on creatine's role in muscle energy metabolism. The script explains that supplementing with creatine can boost the muscle's capacity to produce ATP, which in turn can improve muscle power and performance during intense exercise.

💡Creatine Kinase

Creatine kinase is an enzyme mentioned in the script that is responsible for converting creatine into phosphocreatine. This conversion process is significant for the energy production in muscles, particularly during high-intensity activities, as it helps maintain the supply of ATP.

💡Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential mineral that the script identifies as a requirement for the function of creatine kinase. It is a cofactor in many enzymatic reactions, including the conversion of creatine to phosphocreatine, thereby playing a role in energy production within muscles.

💡Muscle Growth

The script discusses creatine as a supplement that is often associated with stimulating muscle growth. It explains that the increased energy availability from creatine supplementation can lead to improved muscle power and performance, which may contribute to muscle growth.

💡Anaerobic Activities

Anaerobic activities are exercises performed at high intensity for short durations without oxygen, such as weightlifting. The script mentions that creatine supplementation can enhance energy available during anaerobic activities, potentially improving performance and muscle growth.

💡Muscle Recovery

The script highlights the potential of creatine to speed up muscle recovery post-workout, which is important for athletes and fitness enthusiasts to bounce back after intense training sessions. This recovery aspect is linked to the overall performance benefits of creatine supplementation.

💡International Society for Sports Nutrition

The International Society for Sports Nutrition is an organization that the script cites as recognizing creatine monohydrate as the most effective performance-enhancing nutritional supplement available for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

💡Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine monohydrate is the specific form of creatine discussed in the script as being most effective for enhancing athletic performance. It is the form used in many studies and is recommended for supplementation to increase strength, power, and muscle mass.

💡Loading Phase

The loading phase is a supplementation strategy mentioned in the script, where a higher initial dose of creatine is taken to rapidly increase muscle creatine stores. This phase typically involves taking 20 to 30 grams of creatine per day for a short period, followed by a maintenance dose to sustain the elevated levels.

💡Resistance Training

Resistance training is a type of exercise that the script discusses as a way to counteract age-related declines in muscle mass and strength. The combination of resistance training with creatine supplementation is shown in studies to improve strength, increase fat-free mass, and enhance muscular endurance.

Highlights

Creatine is a supplement that has been long touted for stimulating muscle growth.

Creatine plays a crucial role in muscle energy production, being transformed into phosphocreatine which is essential for ATP production.

Supplementing with creatine can enhance energy production in muscles, particularly during high-intensity or endurance exercises.

Creatine supplementation can improve muscle power and performance, potentially leading to muscle growth.

The International Society for Sports Nutrition regards creatine monohydrate as the most effective performance-enhancing nutritional supplement.

Creatine has been shown to speed up muscle recovery post-workout, aiding in bouncing back after intense training sessions.

Research indicates that creatine monohydrate supplementation often involves a loading phase of 20 grams per day for 5 days to increase muscle stores.

Maintenance of elevated creatine levels requires 3 to 5 grams per day of continued supplementation.

Oral creatine supplementation has been used since the 1980s to enhance physical performance.

Creatine supplementation can help maintain higher intensity training, increase fat-free mass, and enhance endurance and strength.

Combining resistance training with creatine supplementation can improve strength, fat-free mass, muscular endurance, and bone mineral density.

Creatine has also been studied for its effects on brain function, with findings available on the topic page.

The only consistent reported side effect of creatine supplementation is weight gain, likely due to water retention.

Long-term studies show no serious adverse risks associated with creatine supplementation, even promoting health and performance benefits.

There is no data to support negative effects on kidney health due to creatine supplementation.

The misconception that creatine causes hair loss and baldness originates from a single study with limited evidence.

Subsequent studies have not found evidence to support an increase in testosterone or DHT levels related to creatine supplementation.

Transcripts

so the next question was submitted by

Peter and the Peter asked about creatine

um Peter says creatine as a supplement

is long touted as a stimulate is

stimulating muscle growth is there any

evidence for this um so we have a topic

page on Creatine it's very in depth it

goes into everything and Under the Sun

on Creatine so foundy fitness.com

toopics they're alphabetized clicked on

click on C and you will find Creatine

please go look at that up if you want to

learn

um what my team and I have put together

on Creatine so how does creatine work it

does it does play a really important

role in how our muscles produce energy

inside of our muscles creatine is

transformed into phosphocreatine through

the action of a of an enzyme called

creatine kisee which by the way requires

magnesium to function magnesium to

function so phosphocreatine is a key

player in the production of ATP this is

the primary primary source of energy and

most all of our cells particularly

during high-intensity short duration

exercise or long duration endurance

exercise as well um supplementing with

creatine can sort of supercharge this

whole energy production process it

boosts our muscle capacity to produce

ATP it enhances energy available

particularly under intense you know Anor

robic activities um this increase in

available energy can lead to improved

muscle power uh it can you know help

help performance as well um these

enhancements can lead to you know even

gains in muscle performance and growth

so you know creatine has there's enough

data out there to to sort of make those

statements um additionally creatine has

been shown to help speed up with Muscle

Recovery post-workout so potentially

making it easier to bounce back after

really intense training sessions um the

international Society for Sports

Nutrition regards creatine monohydrate

as the most effective erogenic so this

is a performance performance-enhancing

nutritional supplement on the market for

athletes and fitness enthusiasts looking

to increase their strength their power

muscle mass again go to our topic page

because it has all those studies um

backing up backing up those statements

with respect to

dosing um I the Research indicates that

creatine monohydrate

supplementation a lot of times a lot of

these studies were done with a loading

phase so they're about five grams orx

approximately 0.3 gram per kilogram of

body weight of creatine taken four s a

four or five times a day so that's a lot

of creatine um and that was able to

increase creatine stores in muscle

tissue by 20 to 40% with continued

supplementation 3 to 5 grams per day

required to kind of maintain those

elevated levels um you know a lot of the

there's a lot of studies dating back to

the 1980s where oral creatine

supplementation was routinely used to

enhance physical performance I there's

many studies now showing that you know

muscle creatine uptake improves exercise

performance while low creatine phosphate

levels are related to muscle fatigue

particularly during physical activity so

in particular there's evidence

suggesting that these people that are

participating in heavy resistance

training while supplementing with a

total of 20 to 30 grams of creatine per

day they can maintain higher intensity

training they can increase their

fat-free Mass they can increase their

endurance strength and um it promotes

Muscle Recovery after exercise training

as we age we do face the challenge of

declining muscle mass bone density

strength that's part of the natural

aging process or should I say natural

sedentary aging process um engaging in

resistance training is a way to

counteract these you know age related

training these age related sedentary

related

changes so this you know adding the

creatine supplementation into that mix

particularly for older adults may may

increase those benefits even more they

may amplify them so there's a meta

analysis again which pulls together data

from a lot of different studies and it

is found that combining resistance

training with creatine

supplementation um does improve strength

it improves upper and lower body

strength it increases fat-free mass and

it enhanced muscular endurance and Bone

mineral density there's also a variety

of studies looking at creatines effect

on brain function as well that are very

interesting I'm also very interested in

you can find those on our our topic page

um on our creatine topic page so make

sure you check that out adverse effects

misconceptions of creatine there's been

over a thousand studies that have been

conducted um using creatine and the

really only consistent reported side

effect from creatine supplementation has

been I I would say um weight gain but

not fat Mass so this probably is water

gain um but that's that's really the

main I would say in consistent main

adverse effect with creatine

supplementation there's a lot of

short-term and long-term studies in

healthy and also people with diseases

ranging from infants all the way to

elderly and the doses of creatine R

ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 grams per

kilogram body weight per day for up to 5

years and they've shown that creatine

supplementation really has no adverse

serious adverse risks and again may even

promote a variety of health and

performance

benefits there's been a lot of interest

in kidney damage or renal function and

there's really no there's just no data

support to support a negative effects on

Kidney Health with respect to creatine

supplementation does creatine cause hair

loss and baldness I think that's

another I would say misconception that

that that sort of makes makes its rounds

in the in the blogosphere in in people's

um Minds so that that link between

creatine supplementation hair loss

originates from this one study it was in

in college aged male rugby play rugby

players and in the study the

participants took 25 grams of creatine a

day for a week just one week and um then

they did that was their loading phase

and then they did five grams a day for

two more weeks and after the end of the

3-week trial there was a notable

increase in their serum DHT levels their

dihydrotestosterone levels so it was a

56% rise uh after their initial week and

then a 40% increase from Baseline even

after the maintenance period so this

outcome was significantly different from

the placebo group which consumed glucose

instead of creatine so the the the DHT

has been increases in DHT has been

associated with hair loss in some cases

so the concerns about creatine

contributing to baldness have come from

the study and DHT levels not not any you

know indication of actually those

participants losing hair or anything

like that there have been there have

been some subsequent studies exploring

creatine's impact on testosterone levels

to look at a little bit more of a

broader perspective so among 12

additional studies that have looked at

creatine doses ranging from three all

the way to 25 grams a day over periods

of 6 days to 12 weeks only two two of

those studies out of the 12 observed

minor increases in total testosterone

that were um that were deemed you know

actually they were deemed

physiologically uh maybe relevant the

majority of them 10 studies found no

change at all in testosterone levels and

then furthermore um in the studies that

measured free testosterone so this is

the precursor for the DHT production the

dihydro testosterone production there

were no increases at all that were

detected so I think that that initial

study has now sort of been called into

question because there have now been a

variety of studies that have come out

that have shown there's really no

evidence to

support um you know an increase in the

testosterone or the free testosterone or

anything that would be um leading to the

DHT now why they didn't measure DHT

directly who knows um but I I would say

right now it does it doesn't seem like

it's a big concern based on those newer

and um the quantity of those newer

studies and so one one study versus you

know these other 12