Creatine Review

[WillBrink]

Hot off the presses, an excellent review on creatine from the ISSN, which supports/confirms what I have been writing about for well over a decade:

International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine

Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition201714:18

Abstract

Creatine is one of the most popular nutritional ergogenic aids for athletes. Studies have consistently shown that creatine supplementation increases intramuscular creatine concentrations which may help explain the observed improvements in high intensity exercise performance leading to greater training adaptations. In addition to athletic and exercise improvement, research has shown that creatine supplementation may enhance post-exercise recovery, injury prevention, thermoregulation, rehabilitation, and concussion and/or spinal cord neuroprotection.

Additionally, a number of clinical applications of creatine supplementation have been studied involving neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease), diabetes, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, aging, brain and heart ischemia, adolescent depression, and pregnancy. These studies provide a large body of evidence that creatine can not only improve exercise performance, but can play a role in preventing and/or reducing the severity of injury, enhancing rehabilitation from injuries, and helping athletes tolerate heavy training loads.

Additionally, researchers have identified a number of potentially beneficial clinical uses of creatine supplementation. These studies show that short and long-term supplementation (up to 30 g/day for 5 years) is safe and well-tolerated in healthy individuals and in a number of patient populations ranging from infants to the elderly. Moreover, significant health benefits may be provided by ensuring habitual low dietary creatine ingestion (e.g., 3 g/day) throughout the lifespan.

The purpose of this review is to provide an update to the current literature regarding the role and safety of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine and to update the position stand of International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN).

Cont:

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z

[Ajackz]

30 grams a day? Holy Cow Ive been cheating myself by about 20 grams for the past few years.
think of all the lost gains :p.

[WillBrink]

30 grams a day? Holy Cow Ive been cheating myself by about 20 grams for the past few years.
think of all the lost gains :p.

5g per day will cover it. The higher doses more common in medical uses as a rule.

[Double3]

Been many years since I used any creatine.

May grab some.

[HCrum87hc]

5g a day for me for the past few months, and the foreseeable future. Good stuff Will. Thanks for the info.

[WillBrink]

Been many years since I used any creatine.

May grab some.

I have posted a butt load of creatine studies and related creatine intel here over the years, but this is an excellent overall summary. I wrote such a summary myself, as well as fairly recent articles (http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2014/7/Creatine-Reduces-Markers-Of-Aging/Page-01), etc. This new review most up to date however.

[Double3]

I have posted a butt load of creatine studies and related creatine intel here over the years, but this is an excellent overall summary. I wrote such a summary myself, as well as fairly recent articles (http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2014/7/Creatine-Reduces-Markers-Of-Aging/Page-01), etc. This new review most up to date however.

It's cheap and a supplement that actually works.

[Smurf]

It's cheap and a supplement that actually works.

I've been telling people for years. There are so many stories out there on how it doesn't work and isn't "safe". Now people are starting to open their eyes.

[joffe]

Just try taking it for a month, go off for a month, and then start taking it again. It really does make a difference, but it's subtle if you're not consciously trying to notice a difference.

My personal favorite feature of creatine is the glycogen accumulation, making me look and feel bigger than I actually am. Nice motivational boost!

[WillBrink]

Just try taking it for a month, go off for a month, and then start taking it again. It really does make a difference, but it's subtle if you're not consciously trying to notice a difference.

My personal favorite feature of creatine is the glycogen accumulation, making me look and feel bigger than I actually am. Nice motivational boost!

There's no reason to cycle creatine from a sci/med POV FYI.

[joffe]

There's no reason to cycle creatine from a sci/med POV FYI.

No, I don't mean as a general recommendation. I mean, if you want to see the effect with your own body, this is a way to do it.

[WillBrink]

No, I don't mean as a general recommendation. I mean, if you want to see the effect with your own body, this is a way to do it.

It takes approx 30 day for tissue levels from creatine supps returns to base line so the off time might should be longer than 30 days. 60 days probably makes more sense. Unless you load, it takes approx 30 days to reach tissue saturation, so 30/30 may not be the optimal schedule to test if it's working for people.

[JusticeM4]

That is a long read, but informative.

So per the article, 5-10g/day of creatine should be sufficient for supplementation with off the shelf creatine?

I've been taking whey 30-60g/day with weight lifting and cardio but seem to hit a plateau.

[WillBrink]

That is a long read, but informative.

So per the article, 5-10g/day of creatine should be sufficient for supplementation with off the shelf creatine?

I've been taking whey 30-60g/day with weight lifting and cardio but seem to hit a plateau.

If by off the shelf you mean CM sourced from CreaPure than yes. Other forms, no, non CreaPure, no.

[Grip]

Is there a Creatine that is better to take than others?

[Co-gnARR]

disregard

[BadDogPSD]

Is there a Creatine that is better to take than others?
I've been happy with Allmax Nutrition.

[joffe]

Is there a Creatine that is better to take than others?

No. Regular old creatine monohydrate is what you want. The other variations are just more expensive and less scientifically proven than good old CM.

[WillBrink]

No. Regular old creatine monohydrate is what you want. The other variations are just more expensive and less scientifically proven than good old CM.

Agreed, see #14, but not all CM is created equal. See also:

http://www.brinkzone.com/articles/whats-in-your-creatine/