Creatine Monohydrate

If one had to guess the single most popular sports supplement of all time, creatine monohydrate would be it. Creatine has become one of the staples used in many athletes' and bodybuilders' diets to help optimize strength and performance, as well as, increasing muscular size. Creatine supplementation and its role as an ergogenic aid is one of the most studied topics in today's society. In the United States alone, creatine monohydrate sales and its derivatives exceed $400 million dollars in sales annually. (1)

The average American consumes one gram of creatine through diet daily, as well as, producing one gram a day. Creatine monohydrate occurs naturally in the body and consists of three amino acids, glycine, methionine and arginine. Creatine is involved with the resynthesis of ATP, which stands for adenosine triphosphate. Adenosine triphosphate is an immediate source of energy that drives many reactions in the body, including muscle contractions. To fuel a muscular contraction, ATP must be split, which then becomes ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and an organic phosphate. (1) An enzyme called ATPase caused the bond to break, which causes energy to be released, which then leads to a muscular contraction. The following diagram illustrates this chemical reaction.

ATP ------> ADP + P1 + ENERGY

When ATP stores are depleted, the body has several options via metabolic pathways, in helping resynthesize it. The quickest way to replenish ATP, is through the formation of ATP by phosphocreatine (PC) breakdown. (2) What happens is the phosphate group splits, which then *donates* a phosphate to ADP, thereby forming more ATP. (2) When phosphocreatine (PC) stores are fully depleted, the body has other metabolic pathways to produce more ATP. That reaction can be easier to understand through this diagram.

PC + ADP --------> ATP + C

The above reaction, called the ATP-PC system, is where creatine supplementation helps with enhanced performance. Supplementing with creatine helps increase creatine and PC stores in the muscles, which help replenish ATP stores more readily. The ATP-PC system only supplies energy for muscular contraction for short, intense bouts of exercise (less than 5 seconds), which consequently lends itself greatly to weight lifters, sprinters, football players, etc. The studies suggest that creatine increases work output during short, intense bouts of exercise and also helps recover quicker between bouts of exercise.

A welcomed effect to taking creatine monohydrate is the water retention that is gained intracellularly. Cell volume is vital regarding cell function, where an increase in cell swelling leads to protein synthesis, as well as, inhibiting proteolysis. (3) A study performed on young, healthy males and females, marked an anti-catabolic effect when administered creatine monohydrate. The study further explained that the anabolic action was caused by the hyper hydration that occurred during creatine administration. Another interesting study documented creatine's role in preventing oxidative stress, via two possible pathways. The first pathway is creatine's role in stabilizing cellular membranes, and the second pathway involves the maintenance of ATP, which is explained above. (4)

Most experts recommend a dosing protocol for creatine, where five grams of creatine monohydrate are taken spread out evenly throughout the day for a week, followed by a *maintenance* dose between two and five grams per day. (5) A study performed by (Terjung et al., 2000), demonstrated that after two days of creatine loading, intramuscular creatine content had reached its full potential, proving that a loading phase any longer would not be beneficial. (6) Creatine absorption can be enhanced when it is taken with a simple sugar, such as dextrose, because of the subsequent insulin spike that *drives* the creatine into the muscles. This cocktail however, should be taken at times when the body can readily deal with this surge of insulin, such as, in the morning, and specifically, after a weight training session.

Works Cited