Living Strong

Creatine has been the most popular sports performance supplement for over a decade, but few people actually know much about it. Creatine is in fact produced naturally in our bodies. It is composed of 3 amino acids – glycine, arginine and methionine. However, the body produces around 2g per day from foods such as meat and fish. 

Extracting the large amounts needed for commercial use is both impractical and expensive. Thus the commercial creatine that you buy is manufactured synthetically[1].

The process involves combining two chemicals – sarcosine, a derivative of acetic acid, and cyanamide. They are brought together (the reaction phase), cleaned, dried, and then milled. The final product typically contains about 88% pure creatine, with water making up the remaining 12%. So a 100% pure creatine actually contains around 12% water. Go figure!

Creatine beginnings

Eastern European countries have reported experimentation of creatine as early as 1960, but the developments in non-food creatine supplementation really took hold in the early 1990’s.[2] At first, only low dose creatine was available as a supplement and its effects had yet to be proven. In 1993 however, EAS launched a product called ‘phosphagen’, making creatine available to the masses. Since then creatine has been standing tall and proud amongst sports supplements.

It works, but there is a catch

The overwhelming popularity of creatine is based on one simple fact – it works. Evidence of this is supported by a huge body of research.

To date, over 2000 pieces of research have been published, the overwhelming majority of which support its effectiveness. The research shows that creatine supplementation can benefit athletes in several ways.[3] These include:

• Permitting a higher training load
• Improving repetitive interval/sprint capacity
• Reducing training fatigue
• Accelerating muscle hypertrophy
• Increasing fat free body mass

It is thus popular with body builders and athletes involved in sports that require high levels of strength and power, such as American football, rowing, and track and field sports.

However, creatine doesn’t work for everyone, as the particular mechanism by which it works means that unless you are training really hard, it will not be effective for you.[4] So the catch is train hard or stay away.

Are there any side effects?

Over the years, athletes have reported a number of side effects that they attribute to creatine. The most common are bloating, diarrhoea, and an increased incidence of muscle cramps or strains.

However, the incidence of these reports is low, and there is no evidence from any well-controlled clinical study to support the idea that creatine supplementation causes any side effects.[5][6][7] Furthermore, athletes have been using creatine as a nutritional supplement since the mid-1960s, with no reports of long-term side effects.[8]

Which Creatine?

There are various types of creatine available, including:

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine Ester Ethyl

Creatine Citrate

Micronised Creatine

The most popular and seemingly most effective from the people who repeatedly buy creatine are Creatine Monohydrate and Creatine Ester Ethyl (CEE). Of these, Creatine Monohydrate has been on the market for over 15 years, while CEE is the “new kid on the block”.

The debate over the merits of the two is centred around absorption rates. Quite simply, those selling CEE claim that it is absorbed far better than Creatine Monohydrate, and that it doesn’t break down in stomach acids – it is therefore claimed to deliver more creatine to the muscles.

What does the research show? While none of the companies marketing it can back up their claims, a recent independent study found that in fact, the addition of the ethyl to creatine actually reduced acid stability and accelerates its breakdown to creatinine, which is a waste product of the body.[9]

When they compared the CEE to Creatine Monohydrate they found that far more of the creatine monohydrate remained available both 30 minutes and 120 minutes after absorption.

The researchers thus concluded that CEE is inferior to Creatine Monohydrate as a source of free creatine.

As a personal trainer, nutrition advisor and supplement company owner I found this conclusion to be rather shocking especially since so many people have reported good results from CEE. However many have found that Creatine Monohydrate has not worked for them, probably due to lack of absorption. This is why Micronised Creatine has become popular. It is Creatine Monohydrate micronized into particles that are 20 times smaller than normal Creatine Monohydrate particles, making it much easier to absorb.

Double Warning

• You will also find various forms of liquid creatine – reputable scientists caution that as creatine begins to degrade within a few hours of being mixed in water, any kind of creatine pre sold already mixed in water needs to be avoided.

• Many years ago, Creatine Monohydrate was often found to contain many impurities. Since the price of creatine over the past 15 years has decreased dramatically, manufacturers try to cut corners by mixing the creatine products with other substances. Today most manufactures depend on HPLC tested creatine (High Performance Liquid Chromatography – a scientific method used to determine the purity of amino acids). Therefore, Creatine Monohydrate products that are HPLC tested and are 100% pure are a safe bet. Any good creatine would state this on their product.

To load or not to load?

There are two different regimes to follow in using creatine; loading and maintenance.

Many people follow a loading program when they start using creatine – a typical loading phase might be 5 grams of creatine 4 times a day for five days.

The benefit of this is that it quickly loads your muscles with creatine, so that you begin to reap the benefits immediately. The downside is that you use a lot of creatine, and increase the chances of minor stomach problems.

During the maintenance phase, you simply consume 1 dose (5 g) per day, post workout ideally or 30 – 60 minutes before your workout.

So does the loading phase work? Research suggests that it is effective in the short term, but by the time you have been using creatine for 30 days, there is no difference between those who load and those who follow a maintenance schedule the whole 30 days.

There is therefore no real reason to follow a loading phase unless you are desperate to see immediate results.

There is also a lot of discussion about cycling on and off creatine. Currently there is no evidence to indicate that this makes a difference, but if you want to do so be aware that it takes 30 days to clear from your system, so coming off creatine for a few days or a week is pointless.

The fat loss benefit?

There are alternative uses for creatine, mostly medical, but the one that people ask about most often is the role of creatine in weight loss. Can creatine help you to lose fat?

Directly the short answer is no! But indirectly the long answer is possibly! This is because one way in which creatine helps make muscles bigger is to “volumise” them – that is, increase the fluid they hold. So in the short term, creatine might even make you gain weight from fluid retention.

However, in the long term, creatine can be a valuable tool in controlling your weight. Creatine helps you to increase muscle mass, which is good for weight control – the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, 24/7. By using creatine and working out hard you can increase your lean muscle mass, and encourage the body to burn fat. 

This is important, because when you are on a diet, one of the hardest things to do is to keep your current muscle – many very restrictive, or “crash” diets force the body to feed on its own muscles, thus robbing you of the ability to burn calories. Therefore creatine can hold onto lean muscle tissue whilst possibly burning fat.

Creatine delivery systems

Many brands of creatine talk about delivery systems – in other words, how effective they are at getting the creatine into your muscles.

These products are based on a simple piece of research that showed that when creatine was mixed with high glycemic carbs, it boosted muscle creatine levels by 24% in 3 days compared to 14% for straight creatine.[10] Thus many supplements are sold and overpriced because they combine creatine with high glycemic carbs such as dextrose or maltodextrin which are very cheap to purchase alone.

However, you can replicate this effect by consuming your creatine with some form of high glycemic carb – a pre/post-workout banana, for example, or by mixing it with your own dextrose post workout. This enhances creatines solubility, getting it into the bloodstream quicker.

Another study compared the uptake of creatine mixed with either pure carbs, or a 50/50 carb/protein mix, and found no difference in creatine uptake between the two.[11]

Thus taking creatine alongside your pre/post-workout protein supplement will not adversely affect the uptake of the creatine – this is important as the ready supply of the amino acids in protein before and after your workout is essential for muscle growth.

Stacks well with Beta Alanine

In addition to the different delivery systems, you will also find creatine mixed with a huge range of other bodybuilding supplements – these combined products are called stacks.

For example it is common to find creatine mixed with other amino acids that have anabolic properties, such as glutamine and taurine, or ZMA (zinc and magnesium combined).

These sorts of stacks work on the principle that if you combine individual elements that are believed to have a positive effect on muscle gain, you should get a dramatic combined effect. However, there is little evidence to support their effectiveness.

One combination that may yield results is creatine combined with beta-alanine.[12] The early research results are promising – for example, a recent study looked at the effects on mass and strength gains of beta-alanine mixed with creatine in college football players.[13]

When the results were compared with a group who had received straight creatine, they found that the beta-alanine/creatine combination produced significantly more lean muscle gain and body fat loss, and significantly greater increases in strength.

Personal Recommendations

The bottom line? Creatine works! This a rigorously tested supplement that has been proven to help athletes improve speed, power and muscle gain.

However, despite all the hype and claims made for various formulations, your best bet to try first is HPLC tested creatine monohydrate in a micronised form to guarantee absorption. Mix it with water; add some carbs like dextrose at best or fruit juice, which comes a close second. Above all, train hard and live strong.

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