Creatine: What is it and Why it is Beneficial

Creatine is one of the most popular fitness supplements in existence. With human trials dating as far back as the 1970s and 1980s, it’s easily one of the best-researched compounds with countless proven benefits.

But what exactly is creatine? Is it safe to take? What can we expect to reap from it? 

Let’s discuss.

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is an organic acid, which the body naturally produces in small amounts. We primarily store it in our muscles but also carry small amounts in the liver, brain, and kidneys. Certain foods, such as meat, also contain small amounts of creatine. The issue is, foods provide trace amounts of creatine, most of which gets lost during the cooking process.

As a supplement, creatine provides a sizeable concentrated dose of the organic acid, which allows our muscles to become saturated. Once saturated in our body, creatine begins to offer benefits for us. Speaking of that, let’s see what they are.

Creatine’s Benefits For Active Adults

To understand how creatine benefits us, we first have to look at how it works in the body.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules are the energy currency of life. On any given day, your body breaks down and produces countless ATP molecules, allowing you to think, walk, pick your child up, train, and do pretty much everything you can think of.

As we train, our demand for ATP molecules increases rapidly. We eventually reach a bottleneck (i.e., exhaustion) when ATP breakdown exceeds ATP production. Then, by taking a break, the body produces an ATP reserve, and we can do another round or set.

Creatine steps in and helps us by speeding up ATP regeneration, thus providing our body with more immediate energy. This is because the majority of creatine in the body is stored as phosphocreatine. 

When an ATP molecule gets broken down, it releases energy and becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP). So, creatine donates its phosphate group, thus accelerating the production of ATP from ADP. As a result, our performance improves, we recover a bit quicker, and we feel stronger. Thanks to these direct benefits, we can train harder, do more work, and make slightly quicker progress in the gym. 

Creatine also appears essential for our brain and cognitive function because ATP is vital there, too. According to research, creatine supplementation can raise levels of the compound in the brain by up to ten percent. Given the significant energy demands of the brain, more creatine means quicker ATP production, which aids brain processes and cognitive function.

But Is Creatine Beneficial For Women?

Of course it is. Men and women differ in some ways but not as far as ATP is concerned. We function pretty similarly as far as energy metabolism is concerned. Because of that, women also need a constant supply of ATP to function, play sports, train, think, and do mentally demanding tasks.

Plus, human trials show that women who supplement with creatine make better fitness progress, feel good, and recover quicker.

So, if you’re a woman who’s wondering if you should supplement with creatine, don’t think about it. The compound has been studied in countless papers, its effects are well-established, and the benefits are notable and reliable.