More Benefits of Creatine

Can You Get Something for Nothing?

We are probably all on the same page as far as acknowledging the importance of holding on to as much muscle mass as possible as we age. Retained muscle mass is the best single predictor of healthy aging. And, having more muscle means we can stay active and reduce fall risk longer. All good stuff.

Here's some good news. You can add to that muscle by supplementing with creatine. You read that right – in addition to your usual workouts, whether aerobic or resistance – adding some creatine to your daily diet will help build muscle (hypertrophy in the exercise physiology jargon).

Here’s why. The energy that moves our muscles is held in a substance called ATP. (Yes, it originally came from food, but is transferred to ATP, mainly by our amazing mitochondria, where it is available for use. If you want an analogy, think about your car. If you have an internal combustion engine, you put the gas in the tank i.e. food intake, but the fuel injector – or in my case the carburetor - actually puts the energy where it is used.

The ATP stored in a cell is usually depleted by a muscle effort that lasts less than two seconds. However, you can get another 2-7 seconds of muscle contractions from creatine stored in the muscle. Together, the ATP + Creatine provides energy to fuel short-term explosive exercise.

Increasing creatine in muscle gives you an energy reserve to increase anaerobic energy needs. This gives you more bang for your buck, and your muscle responds by growing. Recent studies show this additional energy source is also helpful to muscles that are injured or suffering from ischemia – a lack of oxygen brought on by cardiac failure or blockage.

Weight lifters and exercise physiologists have known about this effect of creatine for decades. Consequently there are 30+ years of data on the safety and efficacy of the stuff which is cheap and readily available, though, as with all supplements, you want to get it from a reputable source which provides 3^rd party QC.

I’ve recently found some new information that I want to pass along because I think creatine is a valuable supplement for the aging crowd.

First, about dose. Weight lifters discovered the value of a ‘loading dose’. Meaning they started with a much higher dose for the first week than subsequently. This could be 10-20 gm, depending on your body size. Or you could skip this and just start taking a daily dose.

In the research I did for my book, it seemed like it was enough to take a supplemental dose of about 5 gm within a few hours of working out, either before or after. But newer studies suggest higher doses are more effective,  and may actually cross the blood-brain barrier and provide protection to aging brains as well.

Now I’m taking 5 gm twice a day. It’s a like the idea of spreading your protein intake out over the course of a day to maximize uptake. And, I’m taking it with a little food.

A few recent studies reported that 35 gm (about 2 oz) of carbohydrate with each dose of creatine may provide better results than creatine alone. Combining 35-95 gm of carbohydrate with 50 gm protein (50g) also improved creatine retention in muscle. This may be because insulin triggers glucose (from carbs) uptake into muscle and the creatine tags along. I do have to give you a caveat about this finding – it was based on a 3 day study; so grain of salt. But personally, when I take creatine after a workout I’m usually hungry so eat anyway!

Finally, in a review of studies involving a total of 357 older adults, creatine along with resistance training increased total body mass and fat-free mass (this would mainly be muscle) with compared with training alone.

Although the majority of studies on the benefits of creatine focused on resistance, or anaerobic training, newer work is also showing a gain associated with aerobic, or endurance exercise. And in 30+ years of data collection, no evidence of toxicity even at really high doses.