Properties of creatine: a nutritional supplement with benefits for the muscles. Discover foods rich in creatine, but also its side effects, and the recommended amount and dose.
There is no doubt that sports supplements are on the rise in recent years, especially because the increase in young people who want to develop their muscle mass, or who practice sports and physical exercise is, in fact, increasing.
And it is that as we knew in our note on arginine, currently we can find a wide variety of sports nutrition supplements especially useful for the development of muscle mass.
In fact, creatine is a derivative of the amino acids arginine, methionine, and glycine. The body basically manufactures it in organs such as the liver, pancreas and kidneys, although it can also be obtained through foods such as meat or fish, or by purchasing nutritional supplements in stores.
This is what happens, for example, with creatine, one of the most popular supplements that we can find in sports nutrition stores, and one of the most consumed among athletes and bodybuilders.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid, which is found naturally in vertebrates, and helps supply energy to all cells in our body, especially muscles.
It was discovered and identified in 1832 by Michel Eugene Chervil, who was able to discover an existing component in skeletal muscles.
This accumulates precisely in skeletal muscles in the form of free creatine, which binds to a phosphate molecule (PR). This PR serves as an immediate source of energy.
Creatine benefits
Although one of its main benefits is the contribution of rapid energy to our body, and to our muscles, the truth is that for years many neurologists have been using it in elderly people, because it becomes a nutritional supplement of enormous value in patients with the following diseases:
- Huntington’s disease: neurodegenerative disorder of genetic origin, which affects muscle coordination and leads to dementia and cognitive decline.
- Lou Gehrig’s disease: it consists in that the muscles lose their source of nutrition, so that they become weak and small.
People with these diseases have been shown to respond favorably to therapy that includes moderate muscle exercise and the use of creatine supplements.
Be that as it may, here are the main properties of creatine:
- Adds volume and strength to growing muscles.
- Add water to dehydrated muscle cells.
Creatine rich foods
Although the most common is to buy supplements with creatine, the truth is that by following a balanced diet, and consuming two servings of meat and fish each week, we can provide our body with the amount of creatine we want.
Thus, for example, we can find 5 grams of creatine for every kilo of meat.
Creatine as a nutritional supplement
Creatine is widely known for being one of the nutritional supplements that athletes and bodybuilders tend to consume the most. In fact, it is common to find large cans of creatine in many of these stores, due to its benefits for the muscles.
Recommended amount of creatine
We can talk about a recommended amount of creatinine or an ideal dose of creatinine, without exceeding – of course – an excessive consumption that can be dangerous for our body.
We must bear in mind that creatinine consumption is based on two phases: an initial loading phase, followed finally by a maintenance phase:
- Initial loading phase: generally between 25 to 30 grams are ingested. Daily creatine monohydrate for one week (which means a dose of 0.3 to 0.4 grams per kilo of body weight).
- Maintenance phase: doses of 5 – 10 gr are ingested. Newspapers.
Creatine side effects
One of its most well-known side effects is weight gain, although there are other medical data that indicate that creatine can predispose you to muscle pulls or cramps.
We must also bear in mind that its long-term consumption can be very dangerous, since with this supplement we are over-hydrating muscle cells, which in the long run can be dangerous.
And what are its effects on athletes?
It is useful for professional athletes as long as it is consumed in moderation and never in the long term, since with this supplement are we over-hydrating muscle cells, which in the long run can be dangerous.
Among the effects of creatine in the most important athletes we find:
- Add volume to growing muscles.
- Provides strength to the muscles.
- Provides water to dehydrated muscle cells during physical exercise.
- Provides greater resistance to exercises that require more effort.
- Provides greater resistance to lactic acid.
- Improves physical recovery between series, much faster.
In addition to acquiring creatine as a nutritional sports supplement, remember that there are also foods that will provide you with creatine. The meat stands out above all, which provides around 5 grams of creatine for every kilo of meat.
