Creatine: (Everything You Need To Know)

[WillBrink]

I came with a bunch of creatine questions, but found this sticky and it answered all my questions and then some. I just wanted to say thanks for putting this together!

Glad it helped! There's also a similar thread on whey I did if interested.

[etd66ss]

I'm 45 years old. I used Creatine from age 28 to 34. I saw some pretty great gains, and went from 24% BF to 9% BF while following a very strict high protein diet and modest workout routine. My before and after weight was only about a 5 lb difference, so I know that I made gains, maybe some of it was water retention.

Unfortunately life stuff happened and the bodybuilding dropped so far down on the priority list I have not lifted since about age 35, the nutrition went in the toilet as well. I'm pretty much starting over again, Dr's orders are to exercise daily to avoid cholesterol and blood pressure medicine. I have not measured BF, but I bet it is around 28% (6'0" 220 lbs) and I'm not sure I kept much of the muscle I gained. I'm a weekend warrior in terms of heavy bullwork on the weekends, but my day job is sitting at a desk. I feel pretty weak right now, I was so much stronger at age 35, the bullwork has taught me this.

My big fears are, family prostate cancer and hair loss. My hair started thinning in my early 30's and now my crown has thinned enough that the scalp is visible etc. I have a large family, extended etc, my hair is the thinnest, at the youngest age. I also have had severe cystic acne on my inner thighs pretty much since I stopped lifting. I'm not blaming all of this on creatine, I know that there is only one "bogus" rugby player study out there that claims to have seen a DHT increase.

I currently have just below normal testosterone levels, and I assume my DHT is quite high due to the hair loss + cystic acne (I should note I had severe acne as a teenager face and back, non-cystic). One of my brothers had prostate cancer surgery, he was only in his early 40's, which I'm told is rare.

I know that the OP will tell me that my fears are unfounded, but if I do decide this time around to lift and eat a high protein diet and avoid using creatine (I think I've pretty much decided to stay away from it this time around), am I just running in circles in terms of any gains at my age? Is there some kind of % differential someone can give me that a 45 year old male will miss out on in terms of gains without using creatine? If it is a small differential, then I think I can live without creatine. My goals are modest, mainly to avoid being medicated for high blood pressure etc.

I guess I would consider myself spooked, and I don't want to be on the operating table some day in the future reading an article about a new creatine study that states it does indeed cause a DHT increase blah blah blah.

[AdamCG2002]

OP was very informative. Sorry in advance if my questions have already been answered but should I be taking my age (16) into account at all? Cycling, dosages etc. Also, should I be more aware of my salt intake when on creatine? I read somewhere I should but want an expert to confirm. Also, I will be decreasing my training over the next few months due to exams. Should I bother with creatine now or just wait until exams are over?

Thanks

[WillBrink]

I guess I would consider myself spooked, and I don't want to be on the operating table some day in the future reading an article about a new creatine study that states it does indeed cause a DHT increase blah blah blah.

Then don't use it. Problem solved. The potential benefits so out weigh in risks it's ridiculous (see links supplied in OP), but your call.

OP was very informative. Sorry in advance if my questions have already been answered but should I be taking my age (16) into account at all? Cycling, dosages etc. Also, should I be more aware of my salt intake when on creatine? I read somewhere I should but want an expert to confirm. Also, I will be decreasing my training over the next few months due to exams. Should I bother with creatine now or just wait until exams are over?

Thanks

My take is this: It will only help your training regardless of age. The real issue is, teens should be focused on learning nutrition, training, and getting sleep, which very few teens do adequately before adding supplements. While there's no medical related reason teens should not use creatine, focusing on eating/training/sleeping is really where the focus should be.

[AdamCG2002]

My take is this: It will only help your training regardless of age. The real issue is, teens should be focused on learning nutrition, training, and getting sleep, which very few teens do adequately before adding supplements. While there's no medical related reason teens should not use creatine, focusing on eating/training/sleeping is really where the focus should be.

Thank you very much

[WillBrink]

Something I probably should have touched on in the OP: In a small but important segment of infants, creatine literally saves their lives. "GAMT deficiency, which can be tested for easily, has some researchers pushing for newborn screening that would use the same blood test that screens for 29 recommended disorders. Without early intervention, brain damage can be permanent, so it must be caught early."

See my write up on that:

https://brinkzone.com/creatine-saves-baby/

[WillBrink]

Use of creatine by older adults, a no brainer in my view:

The Additive Effects of Creatine Supplementation and Exercise Training in an Aging Population: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

J Geriatr Phys Ther. 2019 Feb 8.

Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

The role of creatine supplementation in young athletes and bodybuilders is well established including ergogenic properties of muscular hypertrophy, strength, power, and endurance. Whether the benefits of creatine supplementation translate to an aging population with moderate training stimulus remains unclear especially in regard to gender, creatine dose, and duration. This systematic review assessed whether creatine supplementation combined with exercise results in additive improvements in indices of skeletal muscle, bone, and mental health over exercise alone in healthy older adults.

METHODS:

PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases were utilized to identify randomized controlled trials of creatine supplementation combined with exercise in an aging population with additional predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently screened the titles and abstracts, reviewed full-text articles, and performed quality assessments using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Seventeen studies were comprehensively reviewed according to categories of strength, endurance, functional capacity, body composition, cognition, and safety. These studies suggest that any additive ergogenic creatine effects on upper and/or lower body strength, functional capacity, and lean mass in an older population would require a continuous and daily low-dose creatine supplementation combined with at least 12 weeks of resistance training. Potential creatine specific increases in regional bone mineral density of the femur are possible but may require at least 1 year of creatine supplementation combined with moderate resistance training, and additional long-term clinical trials are warranted. The limited data suggested no additive effects of creatine over exercise alone on indices of mental health. The beneficial effects of creatine supplementation are more consistent in older women than in men.

CONCLUSIONS:

Creatine monohydrate is safe to use in older adults. While creatine in conjunction with moderate- to high-intensity exercise in an aging population may improve skeletal muscle health, additional studies are needed to determine the effective dosing and duration paradigm for potential combined creatine and exercise effects on bone and cognition in older adults.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...qPP2uZvi0vgvcQ

[georgevictor07]

Creatine is a beast, it has a great safety profile and many beneffits. It should be called CREATe...new muscle...I would post 100 studies here about creatine but i can't post links yet. Creatine is KING

[Jamesdavide]

Thanks for providing us the detailed info about creatine.

[WillBrink]

Good article sir. But not much advance.

What kind of advance you looking for?

[SteveB41]

Hi. Sorry if this question has been answered but how can I tell if a product is using Creapure?

I'm researching which brand I want to go with and having trouble trying to determine if they use Creapure. Is there anywhere I can see a list of brands or how to tell?

[WillBrink]

Hi. Sorry if this question has been answered but how can I tell if a product is using Creapure?

I'm researching which brand I want to go with and having trouble trying to determine if they use Creapure. Is there anywhere I can see a list of brands or how to tell?

Simple, it will say on the bottle and the Creapure logo will be there. A search on BB.com store or Google will turn of brands using that as their source creatine. If it's hard to determine, than it means it's highly unlikely that's what they're using.

[Riizvii]

Tell me one thing, does ON creatine comes up with a scoop or not?. The one I bought around 3-4 month ago had a scoop in it however the one I bought a week ago had no scoop in it. When did I got the fake one?

[WillBrink]

Tell me one thing, does ON creatine comes up with a scoop or not?. The one I bought around 3-4 month ago had a scoop in it however the one I bought a week ago had no scoop in it. When did I got the fake one?

Fake ON products? Hmmm

[thomas1963]

What choose 5g Creatine per day or 10g?

[faipdeooiad]

What choose 5g Creatine per day or 10g?

5g per day

[Lukaszc97]

Thanks boss

[benx626]

Still don't know what brand to get. I'm standing here and all I see is Cell tech, MP, Universal nutrition and BPI Sports

Muscle Feast Creapure is one I been using.

[WillBrink]

Muscle Feast Creapure is one I been using.

Covered in the OP, covered in #311 above, covered all through the thread. Some just too lazy to look apparently.

[2reign0]

Hey everyone,

Had a blood test recently and was advised that creatinine levels in my kidneys are showing as that of a 60 year old. I'm 35. Have had to do piss tests and doc has told me to come off creatine for 2-3 weeks and get bloods retested. I have read that it can cause a false positive in blood tests when checking kidney function.

Anyone else had this issue?

[WillBrink]

Hey everyone,

Had a blood test recently and was advised that creatinine levels in my kidneys are showing as that of a 60 year old. I'm 35. Have had to do piss tests and doc has told me to come off creatine for 2-3 weeks and get bloods retested. I have read that it can cause a false positive in blood tests when checking kidney function.

Anyone else had this issue?

Nice to hear about a doc who has a clue. Just follow his/her advice and move on. In the few who experience that, 99% of them have normal creatinine levels on re testing, which lets the doc know there's nothing wrong with your kidneys. Take a few weeks off, hydrate well, re test. Good luck!

[2reign0]

Nice to hear about a doc who has a clue. Just follow his/her advice and move on. In the few who experience that, 99% of them have normal creatinine levels on re testing, which lets the doc know there's nothing wrong with your kidneys. Take a few weeks off, hydrate well, re test. Good luck!

Ok great, thank you

Am I likely to see a loss in size over 2-3 weeks even though I'll still be in the gym?

[Madmaster333]

frankly if this leads

to even one fewer "BEGINNER CREATINE QUESTION!?!?!??!?!?" thread it'll be worth it. Nice w
ork as always.

'

Agreed

[Madmaster333]

[QUOTE=2reign0;1576334631]Ok great, thank you

Am I likely to see a loss in size over 2-3 weeks even though I'll still be in the gym?[/QUOTE

Makes total sense

[WillBrink]

Ok great, thank you

Am I likely to see a loss in size over 2-3 weeks even though I'll still be in the gym?

Minimal to none. Takes approx 30 days for tissue levels to return to baseline.

[WillBrink]

Is creatine the next weight loss supplement?

That's a big maybe, but some interesting lines of evidence suggest it may be of value:

Creatine continues to demonstrate a wide range of potential benefits, but a recent study suggests it may have some value in weight loss. Scientists found that when they impaired creatine transportation into cells of mice, it blunted the metabolic effects the mice would normally have to a high fat diet (via thermogenesis), and when they fed the mice creatine, it restored it. When they gave the mice creatine, it actually prevented diet induced obesity and increased whole-body energy expenditure, leading the researchers to hypothesize that “…enhancing creatine uptake into adipocytes may offer an opportunity to combat obesity and obesity-associated metabolic dysfunction.” Do some people have impaired creatine uptake into cells leading to a reduced whole-body energy expenditure in response to food ingestion? That could be a missing link for some people that seem to gain weight easier than others? It’s unclear at this time due to lack of research, but it’s a very interesting and potentially valuable area of inquiry. It’s interesting to note also they found that in human fat cells, cell-surface creatine transporter (CrT) was was correlated with a lower body mass index and increased insulin sensitivity. So does increasing creatine tissue levels improve insulin sensitivity and improve metabolic responses to calories ingested in healthy humans? That has yet to be studied directly yet, but various lines of evidence suggests the answer is yes. How much of an impact it would actually have is also unclear.

Cont:

https://brinkzone.com/is-creatine-th...ss-supplement/

Source study:

Ablation of adipocyte creatine transport impairs thermogenesis and causes diet-induced obesity

[alexincabo]

Awesome post and very informative. Thanks so much!

[alexincabo]

The link you included it excellent as well! love the use of reliable sources

[WillBrink]

Hot off the presses, a great review on more general health/anti aging benefits of creatine:

J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(4), 488; doi: 10.3390/jcm8040488

Review

Effectiveness of Creatine Supplementation on Aging Muscle and Bone: Focus on Falls Prevention and Inflammation


Abstract:

Sarcopenia, defined as the age-related decrease in muscle mass, strength and physical performance, is associated with reduced bone mass and elevated low-grade inflammation. From a healthy aging perspective, interventions which overcome sarcopenia are clinically relevant. Accumulating evidence suggests that exogenous creatine supplementation has the potential to increase aging muscle mass, muscle performance, and decrease the risk of falls and possibly attenuate inflammation and loss of bone mineral. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to:

(1) summarize the effects of creatine supplementation, with and without resistance training, in aging adults and discuss possible mechanisms of action,
(2) examine the effects of creatine on bone biology and risk of falls,
(3) evaluate the potential anti-inflammatory effects of creatine and
(4) determine the safety of creatine supplementation in aging adults.

Source:

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/8/4/4...NAp0FHJij77bZ0

[WillBrink]

Creatine Saves Baby!

Yes, literally, and could save other children from a lifetime of ill health easily avoided. Genetic disorders effect millions of children, and there’s 29 currently screened for by simple blood test, but not the one this baby and others suffer from. Some children have been mistakenly diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (and likely other disorders) when in fact it was an easily treatable disorder known as GAMT deficiency or simply “creatine deficiency disorder.”

GAMT deficiency, which can be tested for easily, has some researchers pushing for newborn screening that would use the same blood test that screens for 29 recommended disorders. Without early intervention, brain damage can be permanent, so it must be caught early.

This recent story really brings home how this inexpensive non-toxic nutritional supplement could be a life saver for children with this easily testable genetic disorder:

Creatine deficiency among disorders underdiagnosed, researchers say

“…considering where his story began. At six-months-old, his mom Melissa Klor said he wasn’t even close to sitting up or meeting any of his milestones.

A developmental pediatrician diagnosed John with cerebral palsy.

‘It kind of took our world and flipped it upside down,’ Melissa said.

Then, when John was 13-months-old, a second opinion changed everything. A team at Duke University Medical Center diagnosed him with a creatine deficiency, known as GAMT deficiency.

‘Creatine is essential to the body storing and retrieving energy for normal function of muscle and brain,’ said Dr. Dwight D. Koeberl, MD and associate professor at Duke University Medical Center’s Division of Pediatrics.

John’s body wasn’t making any. Within a few months of his diet and adding supplements, John began to walk and talk.”


A more all encompassing term being used at the site linked above is, Cerebral Creatine Deficiency Syndromes (CCDS). CCDS “… are a group of inborn errors of creatine metabolism including AGAT, CTD, and GAMT. Symptoms may include: intellectual delays, expressive speech and language delay, autistic-like behavior, hyperactivity, seizures, projectile vomiting in infancy, failure to thrive, and movement disorders”

Bottom Line

As anyone who my stuff is well aware, I have been a big proponent of creatine (as monohydrate ) for decades, and studies continue to grow showing a wide variety of potential health benefits and that directly impact various diseases in a positive manner. I don’t think there’s anyone who would not benefit in some way from this supplement at this point, but it’s especially important that infants get tested for CCDS as they are for other inborn errors of metabolism.

Source:

https://brinkzone.com/creatine-saves-baby/