Creatine

[Eddy Edson]

So I've decided to jump on the creatine bandwagon as a possible help for the stuff discussed here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/pad-and-muscle-wastage.111405/

(Calf muscle wastage despite 18K+ steps brisk walking per day, probably due to some of the obscure effects of peripheral artery disease.)

Many of the real nutrition & fitness people I pay attention to take it - "only effective supplement" etc etc & the research I've looked at is neutral to supportive, generally suggesting that there is a big diofference between responders & nonresponders for reasons that are not well understood. There seems to be no downside for somebody without kidney problems and the powder is fairly inoffensive.

Anyway, a little experiment.

Simon Hill, a real guy, on some of the recent research:

 

[Colin g]

So I've decided to jump on the creatine bandwagon as a possible help for the stuff discussed here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/pad-and-muscle-wastage.111405/

(Calf muscle wastage despite 18K+ steps brisk walking per day, probably due to some of the obscure effects of peripheral artery disease.)

Many of the real nutrition & fitness people I pay attention to take it - "only effective supplement" etc etc & the research I've looked at is neutral to supportive, generally suggesting that there is a big diofference between responders & nonresponders for reasons that are not well understood. There seems to be no downside for somebody without kidney problems and the powder is fairly inoffensive.

Anyway, a little experiment.

Simon Hill, a real guy, on some of the recent research:

I take 6 capsules a day . Obviously with now turning 60 was starting to get less power.Legs used to give me problems after a walk .You do put some weight on with the water retention but that's it .I'm type 1 and no side effects .You do feel a bit more stronger.See what you think

 

[Eddy Edson]

Well this seems to be working ....

 

[Eddy Edson]

Just published journal article on common questions & misconceptions: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15502783.2024.2441760

Based on our scientific evaluation of the literature, we conclude that:

1. CrM [creatine monophosphate] may provide benefits to skeletal muscle without exercise. Populations with lower baseline creatine levels, such as vegans and vegetarians, may experience a greater response to CrM.
2. The timing of CrM does not appear to be a limiting factor on the ergogenic effects of exercise training adaptations. Consistent CrM during an exercise training program is likely the most important variable.
3. The co-ingestion of CrM with other compounds (i.e. carbohydrates, protein) may accelerate the increase in muscle creatine levels and improve exercise performance.
4. Short-term creatine and caffeine ingestion (<5 mg/kg/day) likely do not cause opposing effects. Consider acute caffeine intake after CrM loading for potential performance benefits. Chronic caffeine use, combined with CrM does not result in greater exercise effects. This combined strategy may increase gastrointestinal distress and may indirectly interfere with performance.
5. CrM does not increase the rates of muscle protein synthesis. However, there is some existing evidence to support the anti-catabolic effects of CrM in men).
6. CrM changes some inflammatory markers following long-duration aerobic type exercise.
7. CrM has the potential to enhance the recovery following injury, surgery or immobilization.
8. Evidence-based research does not support that CrM in humans (3–5 grams/day) increases the formation of carcinogenic compounds or cancer risk (primary or metastasis). CrM is likely to be beneficial to help protect and/or recover from the skeletal muscle and body composition issues associated with cancer per se and/or the effects of chemotherapy.
9. CrM does not increase urine production.
10. There is no evidence that CrM adversely affects blood pressure parameters.
11. Animal research suggests that CrM during pregnancy does not negatively impact the mother or offspring. However, there are no well-designed or executed randomized controlled clinical trials on the safety and tolerability of CrM during human pregnancy.
12. In adolescents, CrM can improve measures of sports-specific activities in addition to improving power or sprint speed in adolescents.
13. CrM does not negatively impact male fertility.
14. It is unclear whether the brain requires more CrM than skeletal muscle to increase creatine levels.
15. CrM may positively affect cognition and memory during periods of sleep deprivation in young adults, but not for those with adequate sleep.
16. CrM has the potential to reduce the severity of and/or improve recovery from [traumatic brain injury].

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Interesting experiment @Eddy Edson

Interested to hear how you get on, and whether you perceive any benefits

I'm gonna have to go and look at the differences between creatine and creatinine!

 

[Eddy Edson]

So the possible effects so far, after ~10 days of this stuff ...

I closed out December with my highest avg daily step count, by a bit, despite having a low first half of the month and a low Xmas day. Anyway, a small signal but enough to keep going with it for a while.


Maybe coincidence, but over this period I've been getting about 7 hours sleep versus my long term average of 5 1/2. If that keeps going I'll call it a big win!

Finally, I've put on ~ a kg. Creatine apparently can increase water weight so maybe that's what's going on, plus maybe a little bit from extra Christmas consumption. Not a big deal but something to keep an eye on.

 

[Eddy Edson]

I stopped taking it for a week, because my cardio wanted me to have a CK test as part of my 12 month follow-up & creatine can mess with the reading, apparently.

At the end of the week my weight was back down to my normal range; now I've re-started, weight is going up again. I think this pretty much confirms that creatine causes some fluid retention for me, which apparently is common.

The benefits in terms of a bit of extra strength & less muscle pain have become pretty obvious. I think the latter might have something to do with better sleep, which slipped when I was off it for the week and has now returned back to around 7 hours per night. I get build up of lactate (or really, I guess it's H+ ions) like you do from anaerobic exercise and which gives that burning sensation, but with my PAD, anaerobic comes on faster & the crap takes much much longer to clear, particularly when lying down.

One of the reasons for the experiment was that my sketchy understanding of the biochemistry Ied me to think that creatine could improve this situation, and it does indeed seem to have an effect, assuming it's not just placebo.

A downside is that it seems to make my exercise sweat pretty acrid - very unlike my usual mildly nutty aroma with highlights of citrus (j/k). Oh well, no such thing as a free lunch.