If you ask in the gym which supplement you should take in addition to sports, one answer comes up quite often: creatin. The molecule with an extensive research background not only brings benefits in (strength) sport, but can also influence cognitive performance. This endogenous substance is even recommended to astronauts for space travel. In this article, you can find out the benefits of creatine, how you can take it and how longevity research evaluates the molecule.
Where is creatine found in the body?
First of all, we need to clarify what creatine actually is. To do this, let's take a closer look at the molecule. Creatine consists of three amino acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. Our body produces the molecule itself from these three building blocks. It is mainly produced in the liver. It is also produced in smaller quantities in the kidneys and pancreas.
Creatine is then transported from the liver to its main site of action: The muscles. There it serves as an energy store in the form of creatine phosphate. You can think of it as a short-acting but very powerful battery. When we want to move our muscles, z.Bfor example when bench pressing in the gym, our muscles consume a large amount of energy in the form of ATP. After a few seconds, the ATP stores are empty and our muscle can no longer contract any further.
This is where creatine comes into play by donating its phosphate groups and regenerating ADP (two phosphate groups) back into ATP (three phosphate groups). Without this "battery boost", we would not be able to lift heavy weights as effectively or sprint quickly over short distances. Once creatine phosphate is used up, creatinine is produced as a "waste product".
Did you know The amino acid glycine is a true all-rounder in the human body. It is involved in many important metabolic processes. Some of these also have an effect on longevity. For example, glycine can act as a methyl group donor to improve DNA repair or, in combination with NAC, strengthen your mitochondria. The combination GlyNAC is also available as a supplement. If glycine is combined with hyaluron the molecule can also contribute to better skin health.
Creatine, creatinine, creatine monohydrate or creatine citrate - what's the difference?
Admittedly, there are many similar-sounding names and these can cause confusion. That's why we'll give you a brief overview of the most important molecules. This will also help us later with the question of whether creatine is harmful to the kidneys.
But one thing at a time:
- Creatine (spelled creatine in English) is our starting molecule. We can ingest this through food, take supplements and the body can produce it itself from the building blocks.
- Creatinine (spelled creatinine) is the breakdown product of creatine. It is excreted via the kidneys
- Creatine monohydrate : There are various options for supplementation. The best researched and most effective is creatine monohydrate. Here, the creatine molecules are linked to a water molecule. This combination is so suitable for dietary supplements because the bioavailability is over 99%.
- Creatine citrate : This is another option for supplementing creatine. In contrast to monohydrate, the creatine molecules are combined with citric acid (citrate). However, the creatine content is lower as a result and there are fewer studies.
The myth of kidney damage
Even long-term creatine intake was not associated with kidney damage in the studies. But why does this question come up so often
This is because the breakdown product, creatinine, is used in medicine to measure kidney function. Creatine supplementation leads to an increase in creatinine levels in the blood. This raised concerns that kidney function may be impaired. However, several studies (R,R,R) were able to show that no kidney damage occurs. The creatinine level is therefore elevated, but not due to kidney problems.
Power for your muscles - the supplement for more strength
The main effect of creatine as a supplement is seen during sport. The molecule can help, especially during fast, strength-intensive units, as strength increased in the studies compared to placebos. In addition, taking creatine reduces the body fat percentage in athletes.
The molecule is also able to increase the water content in the body. This "side effect" is particularly desirable in weight training, as this water is mainly stored in the muscles. You should expect to gain around 1-2 kilograms in weightif you take it regularly.
While the data is clear for strength sports, it is somewhat more mixed for endurance sports. Although the developed strength increased during sprints, creatine does not appear to have a directly measurable effect during longer runs. Nevertheless, it can be useful to supplement even as an endurance athlete, because taking it after a training session supports a shorter recovery phase.
Did you know Creatine is the most common and best-studied supplement among athletes. In addition, there are other molecules that promote longevity as well as performance. One of these is alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG).
In addition to research on animals, human studies have shown that the intake of AKG in the form of calcium alphaketoglutarate supports muscle renewal . In addition to this very interesting effect for athletes, this studymade another exciting discovery. After taking a supplement containing AKG for 7 months, the biological age of the test subjects was reduced by a whole 8 years!
More than just pure strength - creatine can help you not only in training
In addition to muscle cells, our brain cells need a lot of the energy they produce every day in the form of ATP. Due to the close connection between creatine and ATP it is reasonable to hypothesize that it could also improve cognitive performance . In fact, this has also been proven by studies. The greatest effects were observed in older people whose endogenous creatine production was reduced. The synthesis performance decreases with age, which leads some to believe that supplementation can be particularly useful in old age . Many well-known faces from the longevity scene, such as Dr. Peter Attia , Dr. Mark Hyman or Bryan Johnson take creatine daily.
Another area that is still being researched is the interaction with the immune system . It is now known from model studies that creatine can dampen pro-inflammatory processes in the body. For this reason, it was assumed that the molecule could curb the so-called cytokine storm after a Covid-19 infection. However, larger studies on this topic have not yet been published and we will certainly have to wait a little longer until we have more data.
Does creatine promote muscle growth? Yes. It ensures a higher water content in the muscle cells and some studies suggest that the inflammatory processes in the muscle after a hard workout are dampened by the molecule. Creatine therefore makes the muscle look plumper due to water retention - but it does not directly generate more muscle mass in the form of fibers .
There is also another molecule that acts on the muscle. Betaine, also a derivative of the amino acid glycine, stimulates protein synthesis and the formation of new muscle cells. Betaine also increases the biosynthesis and availability of creatine. Betaine and creatine are therefore ideal partners for building strength!
Creatine in the diet - is that enough?
Creatine is mainly found in meat products . Here is some data on the creatine content of various foods:
- Beef meat: approx. 4.5g per kilogram
- Chicken meat: approx. 3.4g per kilogram
- Pork hearts: approx. 1.5g per kilogram
Creatine is practically not found in vegetarian products . Instead, it contains the amino acids that our body needs to produce the molecule. In total, our creatine stores in the body have a capacity of around 120g.
We lose about 1.6-1.7% of this daily in the form of creatinine. This means that we need to produce around 2g of creatine every day to compensate for this loss . A large proportion of this is synthesized by our body itself, but firstly, performance decreases with age and secondly, the loss can be even greater during sport. It is difficult to compensate for this purely through food due to the limited amount of food available, which is why needs-based supplementation makes perfect sense.
Creatine supplementation - not only useful for men
Most studies with creatine were carried out on men - male athletes in particular, whose main goal was to improve athletic performance, were examined more closely. As is so often the case in medicine, this results in a rather one-sided picture.
In this study , however, women were explicitly examined. In addition to the already known benefits, it was shown that women after the menopause in particular had improved bone mineralization thanks to the combination of creatine and strength training. Falls and fractures in old age are common and can often have serious consequences for those affected. Taking creatine can help prevent this
Creatine and longevity - what does the research say?
In addition to its role in sports, studies have shown that creatine may be helpful for depression. In one study taking the drug alone led to a reduction in depressive symptoms, while in the other studies the uptake/effect of antidepressants was increased. As a stable psyche is important for longevity, creatine could offer an advantage here. However, one should not expect too great an effect.
Another area of research is neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. In mouse studies , researchers observed that the daily intake of creatine protected against the development of neurodegenerative diseases . In addition, a larger number of older mice were examined in this study. Here, one group was given the molecule daily and the mice in this population lived a median of 9% longer. They also showed improved brain function and their cells contained less lipofuscin, which is also known as "age pigment".
These promising results have not yet been reproduced in human studies. So it remains exciting to see what the future holds. We hope that you now know more about this exciting molecule. Whether as a supplement to sport or for better cognitive performance, creatine is an ideal and, above all, evidence-based everyday companion.
