Good Info on Creatine Supplementation

[moush]

Supplementation with creatine is difficult to evaluate, since there is lack of good controlled trials. However, it does appear that supplementation (5 grams per day) does increase the level of creatine by a small amount in subjects who start with a relatively low level. Benefits are even more difficult to demonstrate (esp since subjects knew what to expect) but again, there is some evidence that the time to regenerate Creatine Phosphate after contraction may be a little faster. Who would benefit from this? People doing fast reps, weight lifters, etc. Not much good to sprinters who dont need to run another sprint within 30 seconds of finishing the last one, and of no obvious value to thos engaged in aerobic exercise. However, one possible benefit may be that as creatine is tkaen into the muscle it will drag in water to ensure that the cell is well hydrated. It is well established that hydration of muscle cells is required for optimum performance. An interesting idea regarding creatine supplementation is only indirectly related to its use in sports nutrition. One question never really addressed by creatine supplementation proponents is, does exogenous creatine suppress endogenous creatine synthesis? It probably does. However, as we saw above creatine synthesis requires methylation and actually the vast bulk of methylations in body are for creatine synthesis. The other product of methylation by the adomet system is homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine in the circulation correlate with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack. There is currently a great deal of work going on to try to lower homocysteine levels by taking supplemental B6 and folate, which are believed to speed up the removal of homocysteine. However, a novel approach would be not to make the homocysteine in the first place. If creatine supplementation suppresses the need for methylations, then less homocysteine will be produced and this could possibly be of benefit in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.


**I got this info from my teachers lecture notes from my Advanced Nutrition class this semester.

[Jantzen4k]

thanks bro!

[moush]

bump

[moush]

bumpity bump bump