Creatine is a supplement with remarkable abilities to boost performance, improve body composition and increase strength levels in both trained athletes and bodybuilding novices. Scientific research has proven in multiple occasions that creatine supplementation can help you build muscle and strength, increase bone mineral density, reduce oxidative stress and even improve brain performance. And that’s not nearly all.
For example, did you know that creatine supplementation can help treat diabetes? One research published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found that creatine can improve glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes. Every year, scientists work on uncovering new ways in which this supplement can better our lives, and here are the results from their latest effort.
Creatine improves nutrition partitioning
One of the latest studies on creatine was focused on investigating its link with carb metabolism and nutrient partitioning. Nutrient partitioning is the process by which the body decides what to do with the energy derived from the food you consume. Anytime you eat something, the nutrients either get transformed into energy and burned in the process of keeping you alive or performing certain physical activities, or get stored for future use in the shape of body fat. Of course, in bodybuilding we all want to encourage our bodies to send nutrients into the muscles instead of the pockets of body fat.
Pretty unsurprisingly, this study found that creatine improves carbohydrate absorption and can positively influence the process of nutrient partitioning, which essentially means that creatine helps deliver the carbs we consume into the muscles where they are to be used for fuel and tissue recovery, instead of storing them for later.
The researchers have suggested that the most likely reason behind this is the ability of creatine to stimulate certain biological reactions on the cellular level, such as increasing the activity of the GLUT 4 receptors, which have the function of gate keepers to the carbs and amino acids in the blood. By improving their sensitivity, creatine can help you drive more muscle building nutrients into muscle cells and thereby accelerate muscle growth even further. These findings are yet another proof that creatine is one of the best post-workout supplements that can boost your performance and physique on almost every level.
What do you think about this? What’s your experience with creatine supplementation? Do you have any personal suggestions about optimal creatine intake? Feel free to let us know how you feel about this subject in the section below!
Soud good. But what happens once you stop taking it, are there muscles to its original shape ??
I personally make a loading phase with a hundred gramms of creatin, over one or two weaks. This means 10g or 20g per day, separated in 5g portions. After this loading phase, I consume 4-5g per day. As recent studies have shown, cyceling the creatin doesn’t have any positif effect (meaning not cycling it hasn’t any negatif effect either).
My experience concerning creatin is mostly my strengh. As long as I supplement with creatin I’m able to work with 5-10kg more in the big exercises (Squat, Deadlift) and 2.5-5kg in the small, isolating exersices. I’m even able to do 2-3 times more repeats with the higher weight than I could without creatin (even though the weight is 2.5-10kg higher). I consider creatin the most important supplement for me (I don’t use anything else besides sometimes some whey protein).