When most people hear the word creatine they think it's an illegal substance, banned or a steroid, but that could not be closer to the truth. In fact creatine is the most researched supplement that is on the market and has a number of health benefits that you should be taking advantage of.
First off, what is creatine?
It is a peptide or amino acid ( arginine, glycine, and methionine), it is naturally produced in our body and naturally occurring in nature. So for those out there will pre notions of it being bad or a synthetic you got your information from a poor source. The human body can synthesize it throughout the day, we produce about 1 gram a day from the amino acid pool in our body.
Creatine has many effects in the body, it has anti-aging muscle loss effects, it helps improve testosterone, heart health, strength, endurance, muscle mass. It has been known for a long time as a performance enhancer and athletic supplement. But not anymore the average person should be consuming creatine daily to take advantage of the benefits.
Big Benefits
The biggest benefits from using creatine are the anti-oxidant and nootropic effects. Yes you read that correctly, it can increase and help protect the brain, as well as act. We have all heard of antioxidants and how they are beneficial for the body and help increase health but many people do not know why. With cell respiration and activity the body creates radicals that can cause harm to cells and damage the cell structures and at times cause diseases and dysfunction. Consuming things that have antioxidant properties help protect the cells and prevent the damage and destruction of them.
Creatine is a carrier of phosphate which is utilized to resynthesize ATP and is utilized in the mitochondria, the mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells where the energy is produced. The ability for our mitochondria to function properly is key to health, and with intake of creatine it increases the mitochondrial integrity and causes mitochondrial genesis (the making of new mitochondria) and DNA of the mitochondria. The more we have the better our body is at clearing free radicals (oxidants) from the system. Creating increases the antioxidant activity in cells.
The other major effect that creatine has is it helps protect the brain, and even increase cognition. The brain is made up of the same powerhouses as the rest of the body and goes through metabolism and with metabolism we get toxins and radicals and especially in the brain we want to clear these out so we do not get neurodegenerative issues or diseases.
The brain gets tired and burned out just like a muscle does and when it starts to run low on energy or energy turnover we feel tired and sleepy. Sleep clears the brain, the build up of adenosine is the cause of this as ATP is broken down. Creatine prevents the decrease of ATP in the brain and can increase brain high energy compounds and protects against energy compromise by toxins. We are talking about neuroprotective effects.
Optimize your Health
So you have this information with a supplement that is badass as can be, what do you do next? Well it's quite simple, creatine is found in meat products, remember it is three amino acids that combine together. Beef is a great source of creatine, so high quality beef (grass finished) you cannot go wrong with. The other option is supplements, the basic creatine monohydrate is the way to go, take it in the morning in your coffee, tea or mix it with warm water, or you can put it in a shake or smoothie. Creatine is flavorless so you will never even know it's there. Take 5 grams a day, you do not need to load or cycle it as many will tell you to.
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