Creatine Monohydrate

The Ultimate Facts
 
Jeremy Keough - July 14, 2008
   
Disclaimer: Before starting creatine talk to your health care professional and see if it is safe for you to take. Do not take if you are pregnant or expect to be pregnant. This product is not intended for people 18 years and under. The statements in this article have not been approved by the food and drug administration and is not meant to treat or cure any disease or illness.

Before I get into the details of creatine, I figured I would get into what creatine is and why people use it. Creatine is an over-the-counter supplement you can find at any supplement store. There are 3 different variations of creatine:

I. Creatine in pill form. Most people prefer not to use this type of creatine for two different reasons. one of the reasons is because most people do not want to be swallowing pills on a daily basis, and two, people report it does not work as efficiently as other creatine would.

II. Creatine Serum (syrup form) Again, this is not a favored form of creatine either. Does not work as well as creatine monohydrate, and also people prefer not to take this because of it's taste (although you can mix it with your protein shake)

III. Creatine Monohydrate (powder form) This is the 'king of all creatine'. Most people into bodybuilding love this form of creatine. Some come flavored, flavors such as cherry, orange, etc; and you can mix with a glass of water. A lot of them come flavor-less. Personally I prefer the flavor-less version as I can mix it with water, grapefruit juice, or even blend it with my protein shake.

There is also creatine that you can find in a gum form. Most people choose not to use this method, so it is not popular at all.

Creatine can also be found in meats and fish. It's a naturally occurring drug synthesized through the liver, pancreas, and kidneys. It is created in the body through two different amino acids, Arginine, and Methionine. In order to get the full rocomended amount of creatine (20 grams) you would need to eat about 10 pounds of meat.

The History of Creatine

Creatine was discovered nearly two centuries ago in 1835 by a French scientist, who goes by the name of Michel Eugéne Chevreul. He was responsible for discovering a skeletal component which he later named "creatine."

Nearly ten years later a scientist (name unknown) discovered that wild animals have ten times more creatine content then those that were raised as farm animals. This made the scientist come to the conclusion that creatine content was found in higher amounts from the increase in exercise levels.

It was found by researchers in the late 1920's that creatine can found in two different forms: Free Creatine and phosphorylated creatine. It was also discovered that ingesting large amounts of creatine increasing the concentration of skeletal muscle activity.

The first time creatine was used in sports as far as the public is aware of, is in the 1992 Olympics. It was made known that the gold medalist were using this to increase their stamina and muscular reaction. Creatine was used again in the 1996 Olympics and it was found that three in every four medalist have used creatine with their nutrition plan.

1998 Muscle Tech Research and Development© produced the first creatine-carbohydrate-alpha lipoic acid supplement. They discovered when you combine creatine with Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) it will increase the level of phosphocreatine (Pcr) levels in your system. Pcr is the creatine found in your skeletal muscles which is used as an energy source for muscle contraction. It contains three different amino acids.

How to Use creatine

Creatine is usually done in two different phases, the loading phase and maintenance phase. The loading phase is done to increase the amount of creatine being fed into your body. The recommended dosage by most users during the loading phase is 5grams 5 times per day for about 5-7 days. The maintenance phase users take 5 grams of creatine once per day and make it last 3-4 weeks.

It's suggested that you do not use any diuretics while cycling with creatine. Creatine is used to increase water retention, using a diuretic only voids out the creatine you're putting in. So nothing with caffeine, or anything else that will decrease the water retention. Another thing you should not do is mix creatine with citrus beverages. The citrus voids out the creatine and all you'll be doing is drinking waste product.

When using creatine try to avoid any over-the-counter or prescribed pain killers. The pain killers increase creatinine levels in your body which is a by-product of creatine metabolism that can cause potential kidney damage.

It is unknown what the overdose symptoms of creatine are as there aren't any reported. It is strongly suggested to speak to a medical professional if you decide to load up on a lot more than the Recommended dosage.

Creatine Benefits

Controls Lactic Acid Build up - Lactic Acid is the acid in your body which creates the "burning" feeling in your muscles while working out extensively. Th creatine bonds with a hydrogen ion that will delay the build up of lactic acid, helping you from not feeling the "burn".

Increase in muscle size - The creatine you ingest soon will give you water retention. The water gets into your muscle cells and help volumize the muscles. This is not a permanent fix to bigger size as it is mostly water.

Increase in ATP production - ATP stands for adenosine tri-phosphate. ATP is a very quick acting energy source created by the body. When you're working out the ATP gets broken down into two more simplified chemicals, adenosine di-phosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate. When the ATP turns into ADP it gives you a sudden burst of energy in order to lift those weight or jog some more. This process only lasts for about 10-15 seconds. In a nutshell, creatine allows us to take the "used' ADP and turn it back into ATP and start the whole cycle over more quickly.

Source: http://www.anabolic-evolution.com

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