Answer by Priti covers BASIC GROUND FOR Creatine . However there is much more . In order to boost up their energy levels, many athletes, runners and body builders have been using creatine since ages. It can be taken in the form of powder, capsules or in a shake. And that is because creatine delivers what it promises. It helps build the lean muscle mass and give boosts of energy. So let us find out what creatine is and how exactly can you put it to use. https://www.musclegain.in/blog/2017/10/15/creatine-know-everything-know-creatine/ What is the science behind Creatine? Creatine is a molecule produced in the body and is available naturally in muscle cells. Hence it can be obtained from all types of meat. It is stored 95% in the muscle attached to the skeleton and about 5% in the other organs such as the heart, brain, liver etc. Creatine helps to give energy to the muscles for carrying out various types of activities. It is a nitrogen containing compound produced by the body in the liver that turns into creatine phosphate inside it. Creatine phosphate assists in making adenosine triphosphate which in turn provides energy to the muscles during strenuous activities. It has similarities with amino acids and can be produced out of glycine, arginine and methionine by the body. Creatine does two wonderful things in the body: 1. It increases the cells’ capacity to hold water and 2. It increases the cell’s capacity to store ions in it. Both of these functions helps the cells in increasing protein synthesis. Hence protein is dissolved quickly and bears fast results in terms of muscle gain. A few decades ago it was discovered that Creatine enhances physical performance of athletes. Ever since then sportsmen have taken up on it as a power supplement. It is believed that creatine improves strength and flexibility of the muscles and gives a boost of energy if taken before the workout. But it has also been observed that creatine does not produce the same results for all types of people. 10 reasons why you should use Creatine There are many advantages of Creatine. Apart from helping with energy boosts, here are some of the ways in which they can be helpful: It protects against brain diseases and helps with brain functioning.Creatine increases phosphocreatine production in the brain which helps the brain fight numerous brain diseases and also improves the brain functioning. It also helps with improving memory loss so give your brain that boost of creatine that it so deserves! MUSCLEGAIN.IN Helps to increase muscle size.It has proven to increase muscle growth up to twice the level as you would achieve with simple weight lifting. This muscle gain is not only observed in athletes but also with patients with declining muscle mass. MUSCLEGAIN.IN Helps in building up strength.Creatine gives power to the muscles and bones which means that this supplementation helps in building muscle strength by the production of adenosine triphosphate. Helps with fast recovery.Muscles breakdown while doing intensive workouts and studies have proven creatine to be effective in building them up post workout. T reduces inflammation and cell damage after heavy weight lifting. This is another reason why athletes take it after every strenuous exercise.MUSCLEGAIN.IN Provides high energy during workout.Creatine is an energy producing phosphate which helps in the regeneration of Adenosine Tri Phosphate. Adenosine Tri Phosphate powers muscle contractions that help you in performing extensive workouts.MUSCLEGAIN.IN Helps with bone development.Patients suffering from osteoporosis (porous bones) were given creatine for bone development and it increases the activity of alkaline phosphate in their body which in turn helped with bone growth. Therefore it is recommended for people with weak bones to add creatine to their diet.MUSCLEGAIN.IN Helps with heart disease. Since creatine builds up muscle therefore it can prevent the heart from a failure or heart attack. It helps with lowering the cholesterol level in the body. Although this has been proven but research in this domain is still being carried out. Boost up your testosterone level. It helps with an increase in the level of testosterone. This is especially useful once you reach the thirties when the testosterone levels naturally start decreasing. It is not that expensive. If you keep on using the basic form of creatine (which is the creatine monohydrate) then you won’t be emptying your pockets on expensive supplements for muscle gain. You can take Creatine if… Knowing how beneficial creatine is, now let us categories who can take this supplement and for what usage Athletes and body builders It provides them with high levels of energy and helps in lean muscle building. Patients It helps in healing a variety of heart diseases and neurological diseases. People in their old age It helps build stronger muscles and prevents bone degeneration Vegetarians Vegetarians do not eat meat and hence may have low levels of creatine. Therefore they can take creatine in the form of supplements to overcome the deficiency. All the Creatine goodness you can get Creatine Monohydrate. Massive research has been carried out on this form of the creatine. This is commonly used by the athletes. Micronized Creatine. It is a form of creatine monohydrate but has been cut into smaller molecule size. This is done in order to make the digestion of creatine easier. Creatine phosphate. Since creatine is found in the body in the form of creatine phosphate so naturally it makes logic to combine it with phosphate before taking it. However this type of creatine is more expensive and has lesser quantity of creatine in it as compared to creatine monohydrate. Creatine Citrate.Creatine is bonded with other citrus molecule to make it digestible. This type maybe useful for people who have a weak stomach but again this is the relatively expensive form of creatine. Creatine Ethyl Ester. It has unstable bonds and breaks down easily in the blood vessels. Therefore it will not be effective for you for muscle gain. Effervescent Creatine. One of the most expensive forms of creatine, which is combined with sugar and is given an effervescent characteristic. It has better absorption than other types of creatine but it has sugar which most people are trying to avoid while building muscles. Liquid Creatine.Creatine here is dissolved with water and other amino acids to turn it into a serum of sorts. It is easier to use but breaks down easily so it is not that effective for muscle gaining. For weight gain or for weight loss? One thing is for certain, creatine does not assist in weight loss. If you take creatine in your diet you will gain weight. Creatine is an osmotically active ingredient, which means that it retains water in the cells and hence increase the protein systhesis. This means that initially you will gain water weight but later it will result in an increase in muscle fiber mass in your body. The only way in which creatine can contribute to weight loss is if you are working out vigorously in the gym with it. This happens because the more muscles you have the more energy you will have to work in the gym. Which in turn results in burning more calories during the gym sessions. Creatine has also been proven to increase your body’s rate of metabolism which means that you’ll be burning fat faster and this may be another reason for weight loss. Build muscles with Creatine Creatine alone cannot help you to gain muscle mass. You will still have to work with those weights at the gym. This been cleared, the best time to take creatine for muscle building would be to take it after working out. If you are a body builder then you would want the post workout insulin production to drive the creatine into your muscles. This assists in faster muscle growth. It is also proven that your body absorbs creatine faster after a workout and helps in regenerating ATP at a fast rate. However there is also a creatine taking group that believes that the right time to take it before a workout. The argument they present is that creatine produces ATP and having ATP before a workout will result in better performance during the workout which will result in better muscle gaining. We recommend for you to take it whenever you want to according to what suits your routine. Experiment with the timings and see which time suits you the best. As long as you are working out with it, it will only bear you good results. Creatine has proven to power anaerobic activities and the performance during it which means that you will be able to jump, sprint and do knee extensions for longer periods of time. However there is a limitation to the extent to which creatine can help in the increase in muscle size. Muscles have their saturation limits and taking large dosages of creatine might turn out to be more harmful than useful for you. MUSCLEGAIN.IN When does Creatine usage show its effects? Everyone wants fast results. They keep you motivated to keep working out too. Loading creatine can give you faster results. You will see the effects within 2 weeks of loading. However with a stable dosage, you will start seeing the results in 4 weeks if used consistently. How to take Creatine? There are two ways of taking creatine. One is called loading and the other is to take small regular doses for longer time. Loading can be done by taking 15-20 grams of creatine per dose. This method cannot be continued for a lot of days. At maximum, loading should be done for 5 days and then you can go to the other method which is of taking smaller 3-5 grams dosage. For this, creatineshould be taken in small dosages throughout the day. An ideal per day dosage would be 20 grams for a healthy man, to be taken in 3-5 grams per day dosage. This is to build the muscle mass over a period of one month. Creatine powder can be mixed with fresh fruit juice and taken as a snack pre workout or can be mixed with other supplements such as whey powder to enhance their effects.Along with the supplement form of creatine, it can also be taken in the form of pork, beef, tuna and salmon. MUSCLEGAIN.IN Harmful effects of a Creatine Unlike other supplements, children under 16 should not take creatine supplement and even for adults excess of anything can be harmful for you even if it is naturally produced. Same is with creatine. Creatine can, in a few cases end up causing: Cramps –Cramps can occur if the body isn’t hydrated well enough. It is recommended to take about 4 ounces of water for every 3 grams of creatine. Nausea- It can occur if too much dosage of creatine is taken at once. Therefore the dosage should be distribute throughout the day. Anxiety Weight gain –Creatine retains water in your body cells which results in protein synthesis and hence more weight gain Bloating- Bloating is caused by the retention of water in the body and creatine can lead to it causing discomfort and unease. Kidney problems (not in healthy people)- However it does worsen the kidney condition in people with preexisting kidney or liver issues. Fever Headaches Diarrhea- It can be caused by certain vitamins combined with creatine. Hair loss – It can cause hair loss in some cases. It is not recommended for people with kidney or liver issues to take creatine. Same is with diabetes. Although many supplements are thought to help out with diabetes such as whey protein but creatine has adverse effect on it as creatine affects the blood sugar level. Therefore care must also be taken while having it with other medications. Always consult your doctor before adding a creatine supplement to your diet. We’ll end it on… Since creatine is a relatively new supplement so its long term effects have not been studied yet. It really just depends on your individual decision t take them or not to. Creatine may or may not work for you. If you see an increased muscle mass in a few weeks then it is the perfect supplement for you. However it is not proven to be the ultimate muscles gainer for everyone. Regular meat eaters especially those who take it in large quantities normally may not find creatine supplements to be as effective as a vegan might find it. Similarly those who consume junk food in large quantities may find creatine to be ineffective for them. It has been proved not only to be a performance enhancer but also helps with a various neurological diseases. However as with every supplement out there, one should have a balanced intake, just enough to help you out with your weight and body goals and not to abuse the supplement. Always consult with your physician before taking up a new supplement. They would know your medical history and would be able to recommend whether or not you should take the extra dosage.