Summary Creatine for Maximum Results: Not Just for Gym Bros! (Youtube) www.youtube.com
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Lisa Hey. It's Lisa with Healthline. Today, we're gonna talk about creatine. And if hearing about creatine makes you think of bodybuilding gym bros, you may want to think again. I actually learned a lot about creatine while doing research for this video.
Lisa It is 1 of the most well researched supplements out there, and taking creatine may have benefits for muscle strength and performance, help reduce your risk of injury, and even has some brain health benefits. Creatine is a compound that's found in our muscles and it helps your muscles produce energy during high intensity exercise. You can get creatine in your body in 3 ways. First, your body makes creatine with your liver, kidneys, and pancreas. 2nd, you can consume foods that contain creatine like beef and chicken and fish and pork.
Lisa And lastly, you can get creatine by supplementing in your diet. Now I'm usually, get your nutrients from food first person, but in order to get enough to see true benefits, you're gonna wanna supplement with creatine in order to get all of those research backed benefits. Eating it is not enough. Creatine is stored in our muscles and our muscles use that to create ATP when we're putting our muscles under stress. So in a high intensity exercise session or lifting a really heavy weight.
Lisa Creatine has been shown to help reduce the amount of muscle breaking down, increase muscle growth, and reduce injury risk. However, just taking creatine is not gonna get you big and strong. You still need to put in the work in the gym. So you gotta do that exercise. You don't just get to take the supplement, but creatine has been shown to help improve muscle strength and performance.
Lisa We deplete our ATP stores really quickly which is why if you're picking up something really heavy, you can only do it for a short amount of time. Creatine helps make it so that you have just a little more a t p and that energy source is depleted a little bit slowly. Creatine may also help your brain. So there's research linking creatine to improved mood and lower risk of depression as well as improved memory. On top of that, researchers Think that creatine may play a beneficial role in certain neurological diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and creatine supplementation may help you recover from traumatic brain injuries faster like concussions.
Lisa Researchers have also addict brain injuries faster like concussions. Researchers have also found that vegetarians and vegans who are likely consuming less creatine in their diet are more likely lead to benefit from creatine supplementation. Even though creatine comes from animal sources, creatine supplements are typically synthesized as which means they don't come from animals. So check your labels to be sure, but most of them would be considered vegan or vegetarian. With all those benefits, you may be wondering creatine is safe to take or if there are any downsides.
Lisa So some people report GI distress, some bloating, but we really don't see it in research as far as long term negative effects. The research has reported there are basically none from creatine supplementation. You may gain a little bit of weight when you start taking creatine because as your muscles get to those optimal creatine levels, they also pull in some water. So the weight that you're gaining is water weight. You're gonna wanna also make sure as you start supplementing with creatine that you're drinking enough water so that your body has a place to pull that water in from.
Lisa What are some of the results you can expect to see with creatine supplementation? Again, Once your muscles have optimal amounts of creatine, you may see gains in your strength and power in your muscles by 5 to 15%. And in terms of improved performance during high intensity exercise, your power may improve by 10 to 20%. Again, once your muscles are have those optimal creatine stores. You also wanna know what to Look for in your supplement though.
Lisa We recommend choosing mostly single ingredient creatine supplements so you're not getting anything else along with your creatine and check those labels to make sure that they're 3rd party tested, which is especially important for athletes who need to make sure that they're not getting anything else in their supplements and that their supplements are clean. If you're ready to try creatine supplements, We'll drop a link in the description down below to some of our favorite creatine supplements to buy. Supplementing with creatine has a lot of benefits for both your body and your brain, but taking it on its own won't give you results. You still have to put in the work. So if you're just starting to take creatine and you wanna see results the astest, what you're gonna wanna do is called a loading phase.
Lisa That means taking a lot more creatine for about a week so you can optimize the creatine stores in your muscles. So it's recommended for a loading phase is taking 5 grams 4 times per day. So 20 grams per day for about 5 to 7 days to see that saturation of creatine in your muscles. Doing a loading phase to introduce your body to creatine just helps your body saturate your muscle stores of creatine faster. So again, you're getting a lot in about a week instead of a small amount over the course of a month.
Lisa So to see those maximum creatine stores in your muscles faster, you'll want to do a loading phase. And even though during the loading phase more is better, you really only need to do it for 5 to 7 days. You may be wondering if you should take creatine before or after a workout or with food or not with food. There's not as much research on this, but in order to uptake the creatine that you're consuming, you do need insulin in your body, so you wanna consume creatine with food. People used to think you had to take creatine with a quick source of hydrates like a glass of juice or some sugar, but many experts now recommend taking creatine with your post workout meal, which is gonna be a mix of protein and carbohydrates.
Lisa This helps your body release that insulin that you need for your muscles take in creatine, and it also gives you protein to help your muscles recover in other ways. If you dissolve your creatine powder in liquid, with, be sure to drink it relatively quickly as creatine will start to degrade in liquid. So again, in order to see those maximum Results. If you're starting it in liquid, be sure to drink it quickly. If you are a vegan or vegetarian or someone who's not getting a lot of creatine in your diet from animal versus you may actually see a bigger impact from creatine supplementation.
Lisa So while it's not key to do that, start a vegan or vegetarian diet to get maximum Results, you may actually see a bigger impact because you naturally have less creatine in your body if you're a vegan or vegetarian. Creatine monohydrate is the form of creatine that is most studied and very well absorbed. Some creatine supplements may have additional marketing claims on them, but stick to creatine monohydrate. Again, it's very well absorbed and that's where most of the research has shown benefits. The type of exercise that you do is important whether you're taking creatine or not, but in terms of your muscles ability to store creatine, the type of exercise you're doing does not have an impact.
Lisa If you're excited about taking creatine supplements now that you know all about how to take for maximum results? Check out the link down below to our article on what to look for in our supplements including how to choose the as creatine supplements and get some of our favorite picks. In general, you wanna make sure you're looking for a supplement that's just creatine hydrate, and is third party tested so you know what you're taking is safe. If you have other questions about creatine or what to eat if you're an athlete? Let us know down in the comments below, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that bell for more from me and Healthline.