Creatine is the most used and researched nutritional supplement in the world, bar none. We all know that creatine can help us relieve fatigue, improve athletic performance, build muscle and other benefits? But are there any side effects of creatine?
The effect of creatine on our athletic ability?
Creatine can quickly supply a large amount of exogenous creatine to the body, and creatine is converted into phosphocreatine, thereby providing sufficient substrate for the synthesis of ATP. A number of studies have confirmed that the timely supplementation of creatine by athletes can significantly reduce the amount of ATP loss in muscles, and the athletic performance of athletes can be significantly improved. In addition, creatine supplementation can significantly reduce body fat, increase muscle mass, and improve body fat ratio without adverse reactions. In vitro experiments have confirmed that embryonic skeletal muscle cells can promote the synthesis of myosin heavy chain, actin, etc. under the stimulation of high concentrations of creatine; the latest research suggests that creatine supplementation can affect the expression of transcription factor MRF4 protein in muscle to regulate muscle fiber growth. Size and muscle protein homeostasis, thereby increasing muscle size and strength.
Supplementing exogenous creatine can effectively increase the level of creatine in the body's muscles, thereby improving people's high-intensity exercise performance and improving exercise adaptability. Creatine is recognized as a powerful booster, especially for short-duration, high-intensity periodic exercise. The EMG data and vertical distribution map of the ground reaction force of high-intensity interval training of football players by some researchers show that after supplementing creatine, the athletes' muscle activation and impact control ability are significantly improved; for female football players supplementation After creatine, it was found that athletes' performance in repetitive sprinting, jumping and other performance tests improved significantly, indicating that creatine supplementation is beneficial to improve people's endurance, maximum strength and other performance.
Some scholars have found that after supplementing exogenous creatine phosphate for 20 days, football players have different degrees of improvement in their aerobic endurance performance (12-minute running performance). To the largest extent, the study believes that the improvement of creatine phosphate in aerobic endurance exercise is achieved by promoting cell membrane stability, improving tissue microcirculation, and providing energy for muscle cells and cardiomyocyte metabolism.
Creatine has antioxidant properties. The study found that after creatine supplementation, the anaerobic state of people did not change significantly, but the lactic acid level was significantly reduced. The acidification of the body caused by lactic acid will weaken the sensitivity of various organs to the external environment and reaction impulses, and reduce calcium ions. It binds to troponin, reduces muscle contraction ability, and causes fatigue. Therefore, supplementing creatine can reduce lactic acid accumulation to relieve exercise fatigue. The improvement of creatine's ability to repair sports injuries is closely related to the special physiological role of creatine, and creatine can play different physiological functions in different tissues and organs. For example, creatine can stimulate the differentiation of neural precursor cells, buffer cell energy fluctuations, etc. to protect neuronal cells; creatine supplementation can effectively maintain the bone mineral density of the femoral neck of postmenopausal women participating in resistance training, and increase the outer diameter of the bone, thereby Improve bone health; as an alkaline molecule, creatine phosphate can bind to the polar head end of phospholipids on the cell membrane to enhance the density and stability of the cell membrane, which can greatly reduce the risk of muscle cell damage.
Are there any side effects of creatine?
Supplementation of creatine is not the more the better. Excessive use of creatine will increase the burden of muscle metabolism, muscle spasm, etc., and it is not economical. It is generally believed that there is a negative correlation between skeletal muscle creatine reserves and the effect of supplementation, that is, creatine supplementation can achieve significant effects when the body is deficient in creatine, while supplementation after the body is saturated with creatine, is not beneficial to the increase in the total amount of creatine.
After creatine supplementation, muscle stiffness, tightness, spasm and other undesirable phenomena may occur. This is related to the increase of creatine concentration in cells to maintain internal and external osmotic pressure balance and promote the transfer of water molecules into cells, which increases the water volume in muscle cells. . Therefore, during the period of creatine supplementation, special attention should be paid to water supplementation to provide sufficient water to ensure cell hydration and prevent muscle strain and spasm.
In addition, it should also be noted that creatine sports nutrition food such as powder and block can not be brewed with boiled water, and cannot be taken with orange juice drinks, so as not to change the structure of creatine hydrate due to high temperature and acidic substances, nor can it be mixed with orange juice. Concomitant with caffeinated beverages to prevent the dehydration of caffeine from affecting the cellular hydration process.
All in all, creatine has been proven safe and effective in long-term use and research with no obvious side effects on the human body. We only need to use it according to the doctors or professional advice! If you would like to know more about creatine, please contact us at medical@ysgcn.com
