Creatine supplements are making its path in the gym world. Gymgoers want stamina and strength for their muscle growth. For that, they follow the science of diet and supplements and powders that boost and pump up their muscles for strength and stamina. Today, we are talking about the most important thing in the workout industry: creatine supplements.
Favor by many athletes, WWE, and celebrities use the Creatine powder to enhance their muscle energy and help in muscle building. Creatine powder is a high-energy pack powder that has become a popular ergogenic aid among the sports fraternity.
The surplus demand for creatine powder among the people makes it highly popular globally.
Before discussing creatine powder and its benefits for the body, we should determine when this energy powder existed and why.
Creatine Supplements Origin Story
If we look into history creatine could be used by German scientists in the World War on soldiers to reduce fatigue in combat
But later it became globally popular after the Barcelona Olympic games in 1990. It was used by athletes to improve their stamina and used as an ergogenic aid or drug till then it became a main trend in the workout industry and now every single athlete and bodybuilder can’t resist its energy power-horse impact inside the body.
What are Creatine Supplements?
Creatine is a natural source of energy that helps your skeletal muscles flex. It produces energy in your muscles, improving your working efficiency and powering up your muscles for functioning.
Many sports enthusiasts use it to power up the muscles for anaerobic activities like fast running, sprinting, skipping, and cycling. Overall, it boosts the athletic abilities of the athletes.
It is extremely popular among athletes that many of the top performers Michael Johnson, Chad Curtis, Brady Anderson, Mark McGwire, etc used these energy supplements to boost their performances.
Does Your Body Produce Enough Creatine or is Diet Necessary?
If you know that creatine is not found naturally inside your body, but it is produced through chemical reactions inside your body through the kidneys, liver, and pancreas. The other half of the creatine your body will take via protein-rich food.
Foods that provide creatine are -:
- Red Meat – Goat and Beef
- Pork
- Seafood
- Animal Milk ( Like Cow, Goat, and Sheep Milk)
Know the Benefits of Creatine in Your Body
Most of the creatine goes to the skeletal muscle, where it can connect with the phosphate to produce more energy called phosphocreatine. Phosphocreatine then produces Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP, to energize the muscle, so they function very well.
Creatine works as an energy booster for the muscle during the exercise and lifting.
How That Muscle Pump-up Molecules Creatine Work in Favour of Athletes: Know the Creatine Benefit
A. Help To Energise Your Muscle Cells
Creatine is produced in the kidney and liver cells and mostly accumulates in the skeletal muscle cells. Creatine in the muscle cells reacted with the phosphocreatine, that could store in the skeletal muscle cells.
So whenever you exercise or do athletic activities your body needs extra energy. Phosphocreatine aids in the formation of Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP production so that your muscles pump during intense exercise.
Your body needs extra energy, but ATP resynthesis slows down your ability to perform at the high-intensity level. However, creatine supplements are a savior for your muscle energy and growth.
B. Improve Muscle Strength and Growth
The International Society of Sports Nutrition researched athletes taking creatine. In a six-week study period training regimen, which is followed by a 3-week detraining period, participants who are taking creatine supplements gain 4.4 muscle pounds on average than the control group, who did not take any supplements.
The reason behind the increased muscle mass is after taking creatine supplements
- The muscle mass could be gained through the water content
- Over a long period, it also aids in muscle fiber growth and boosts gym performances
It has become a popular supplement on the market because it doubles a sportsperson’s athletic abilities, its advantage being completely verified athletic abilities. It is inexpensive and has been verified safe compared with many other sports supplements.
C. Empower Your Muscle for High-Intensity Exercise
Creatine increases the muscle storage of phosphocreatine and leads to the formation of ATP, which enhances the muscle’s ability to function.
When you do high-intensity exercise, your body uses the storage of ATP a lot, and resynthesis slows down your muscle’s ergogenic abilities. However, creatine supplements balance both the synthesis and breakdown of ATP and fasten the production of ATP in muscle.
It improves various factors of athletic abilities -:
- Muscle mass and strength
- Sprint activities
- Brain performances
- Resistance to fatigue
Creatine is not only for sportspeople; a normal person can also gain muscle strength after taking creatine supplements.
D. May Reduce Fatigue and Tiredness
Creatine supplements may reduce fatigue and tiredness. In a six-month study, people with traumatic brain injury who took creatine supplements experienced a 50% reduction in dizziness compared with those who did not.
Creatine supplements reduce fatigue in athletes doing intense exercise in high heat.
E. Enhances Brain Function
Creatine supplements play an important role in brain health and function. Your brain requires enough ATP to do a difficult task.
Supplements can increase the phospho-creatine stores in your brain. Creatine may also aid brain function by increasing dopamine and mitochondria functions.
Meat is the main source of creatine and can improve the brain’s cognitive skills and memory.
F. May Lower Blood Sugar Levels and Fight Diabetes
Creatine supplements help control diabetes by regulating blood sugar levels inside the body. They can lower blood sugar levels by increasing the function of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT-4), a type of protein transporter that brings glucose molecules into your muscles.
A 12-week study examined how creatine affects blood sugar levels after a high-carb meal. It showed that creatine supplements and exercise were associated with lower blood glucose levels than exercise alone after a high-carb meal.
The results are good but more research is required to prove its impact on diabetes.
The Side-Effects of the Creatine
Although in an optimum amount, creatine is safe to use, if you feel any of these side- effects is best possible you should take the advice of your medical- care.
- Weight Gain
- Dizziness
- Nausea and Diarrhea
- Excessive Sweating
Bottom Line
Creatine’s popularity is splurging high and high in the sports market. The trend become a norm among athletes and sports personalities. Creatine supplements boost your muscle energy storage so it will speed up your intense exercise process by producing quick bursts of energy. It strengthens your muscles and increases muscle mass. Its perks in the muscle build-up increase its market value reach to the size of $US 501 million in 2023. If you’re tired of gaining muscle mass creatine supplements are the best source. Don’t forget to add this energy supercharger to your diet.
FAQs –
Q – Should I take creatine supplements daily, and what is the required dosage?
Ans – Before taking the supplements you should understand your body first, if you have no medical complications it is safe for you to take the creatine supplement.
But if you are having medical complications then you should take the advice of your local health care practitioner.
Dosage
25 grams for up to 14 days is safe
Lower doses of 4-5 grams daily for up to 18 months is safe to use
Q – Is there any negative effects of the creatine supplements
If you take it in high dosage to get more benefits to supercharge your muscle. But caution cause it can lead to kidney damage and liver disease too.
Q – What happens when we stop taking creatine supplements immediately
Ans – Sudden stoppage of creatine supplements may lead to side effects as your body adjusts to the lower creatine levels. This may include -:
- Fatigue
- Muscle Mass Loss
- Short – Term decrease in natural creatine production as the body becomes habitual of outside creatine supplement
