Does Creatine Need Carbs to Work?

Creatine has been around since 1835 when a French researcher discovered it in meat. However, its use as a performance-enhancing substance is relatively recent.

Creatine is being touted as an ergogenic supplement, with claims of increased strength and power, reduced performance time, and increased muscle mass.

Creatine Explained

Creatine, a natural energy source that aids in the contraction of your skeletal muscle fibres, is an excellent, well proven supplement.

Creatinine, which is found primarily in skeletal muscles, is synthesized from the amino acids methionine, arginine, and glycine in the liver, kidneys and pancreas.

It creates a constant supply of energy for your muscles, so that they can continue to work even when you are exercising.

Creatine is mainly found in foods high in protein, such as meat, fish, eggs, and beans. You probably get around 1 to 2 grams of creatine per day from these food sources:

• Red meat (pork veal and beef)

• Seafood (fishes and shellfish)

• Animal milk is milk from cows, goats and sheeps.

The other half is produced by your body in your pancreas, liver and kidneys. They provide about 95% to your skeletal muscle to be used during physical activity. The rest is sent to your brain, heart and other tissues.

Some people use creatine supplements which are proven to be safe for long-term use.

People tend to use creatine supplements to increase skeletal muscle creatine levels in order to support their training regimes and because it is difficult to get enough from food sources alone.

Creatine supplements are available in a variety of formats, such as:

• Powders

• Tablets

• Capsules

• Liquids

• Energy bars

• Gummies

Is Creatine Safe to Take?

Many people can safely take creatine supplements, according to the available studies.

However, be aware that there is not enough evidence to determine if taking creatine supplements is safe for you if:

• Are you pregnant or breast-feeding

• You have diabetes or

• Kidney disease

• Liver disease

There may be evidence to support the idea that creatine may increase the risk of mania if you suffer from bipolar disorder.

To be safe, check with a medical professional to make sure that creatine is safe for you.

Does Creatine Increase Muscle?

There is plenty of research that shows regular creatine supplementation an increase muscle size when used in conjunction with weightlifting.

Here are some supporting studies:

A study published in 2003 by the Clinical Science Journal, London concludes that 6 weeks of continuous creatine supplementation increased fat-free body mass.

This meta-analysis from 2021 found positive indications that creatine plus resistance training is a method to prevent or reverse age-related muscle mass. However, the caveat is that supplementation should be over the long term.

The Nutrients Journal published a review in 2022 that concluded that creatine supplementation improves muscle growth. However, this needs to be in conjunction with training and is most beneficial amongst a younger population.

Furthermore, there is evidence that creatine is a useful ergogenic aid for treating muscle diseases whereby patients lose muscle mass and strength.

This 2007 review concluded that the evidence shows that creatine improves muscle strength in people affected by muscular diseases.

Why do People Take Creatine Supplements?

Many amateur and pro athletes use creatine supplements as a way to improve their recovery and exercise performance.

Creatine provides a "quick burst" of energy and strength that improves performance without negatively impacting your endurance (aerobic). It can be very beneficial towards the end of a long race whereby you need that final boost of energy to get over the line or beat your opponent.

The majority of athletes who use creatine supplements are power sports participants, such as:

• Bodybuilding

• Football

• Hockey

• Wrestling

• Rugby

However, there's more to creatine and it can benefit a much wider group of athletes and even the population.

Studies suggest that taking creatine supplements can also improve brain function for adults. This includes:

• Short-term memory.

• Reasoning.

• Neuroprotection is the protection of groups of nerve cells from damage or injury.

Researchers continue to study whether creatine supplements can help with cognitive (mental conditions), including dementia.

Do Athletes Need Creatine Supplements?

Many athletes use creatine supplementation, but is it necessary?

Creatine is beneficial to both men and women for the most part. One study notes that creatine generally improves force production significantly regardless of age, sex or sport.

It is especially useful for any athletes who need to perform repeated bouts of high-intensity physical activity such as the following:

• Sprinting

• Jumping

• Punching

• Cycling

• CrossFit-style exercises or events

• Weightlifting

However, some studies have noted that not everyone benefits from the supplement.

It seems that some individuals are considered non-responders to creatine supplementation, particularly those who already have naturally high muscular creatine levels.

Whereas those who respond well to supplementation tend to have less creatine stored, these people may have a predominantly plant-based diet.

What is The Most Popular Type of Creatine?

Creatine monohydrate is the most popular supplement form. The majority of the research has used this form.

As such, according to scientific evidence, the form of creatine monohydrate that is recommended is the most effective.

It has the strongest research behind it, and studies have shown that it increases your body's reserves and improves exercise performance.

There are many other forms of treatment, but most have little research to support their effectiveness.

Monohydrate is also relatively inexpensive, effective, and widely available.

It is clear that the majority of benefits, including improved upper- and lower-body exercise performance, are observed when creatine monohydrate is used.

It is the reason why we only sell creatine monohydrate in our convenient and tasty gummies.

Do Carbohydrates Help Creatine Absorption?

Athletes, and others who are physically active, are constantly looking for an edge. They may be searching for a new training program, a technique or an item of clothing that can help them improve their best times, gain the strength they need to compete at higher levels or speed up recovery following a tough training session.

Consuming carbohydrates when exercising for more than 60 minutes will ensure that your muscles get enough energy, particularly during the final stages of your competition or workout.

Current research continues to point out that carbohydrate is an essential energy source for high-intensity performance.

However, is it a key macronutrient that supports the muscular uptake of creatine monohydrate?

The Research

The American College of Sports Medicine reports that the ingestion of carbohydrates in conjunction with creatine can increase muscle uptake.

The act of combined creatine and carbohydrate loading increases the amount of muscular creatine absorption and minimises any differing response amongst individuals.

Recent research has shown that it is necessary to consume approximately 100g of simple carbohydrates per 5g creatine dose to stimulate insulin-mediated muscle creatine transport. This process is believed to contribute to enriched creatine accumulation.

However, the guidelines also note and appreciate that this could be difficult to achieve for athletes and it may not be practical to consume such a large amount of carbohydrates in a single setting.

Furthermore, there are also the implications of the calorie value of such large quantities of carbohydrates.

Conversely, a study published in 2017 looked at the effects of carbohydrates and creatine on anaerobic performance, ie sprinting.

However, in that particular test it didn't find any additional benefit of consuming creatine together with a carbohydrate drink than creatine by itself.

A caveat of this single study is that it only involved 20 male physical education students. Therefore, there are some limitations.

That implies they are already at a certain standard of physical fitness/health and as such being male-only, doesn't represent a wider range of the population or athletes. The total duration of the study only covered a few days.

As such, it may have a different effect on females, professional athletes, complete novices or by measuring the outcomes over a longer duration of time.

Conclusion

Oral creatine is used by many athletes, especially those who participate in sports that are based on strength and power. Especially when repeated, short bursts of intense activity are performed, the performance of exercise can be improved.

Research does show that combining creatine supplementation and carbohydrate intake with exercise will increase the uptake of creatine.

However, the amounts of carbohydrates required to maximise the muscular take-up of creatine are high, and could be considered impractical.