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What Is creatine?

Creatine is the most popular and commonly used sports supplement available today. It is not a herb, mineral, vitamin nor is it a hormonal supplement like steroids or prohormones and is formed naturally in our bodies from amino acids from foods such as beef and many types of fish and is stored as creatine phosphate. About 120 grams are stored in an average human body.

As a dietary supplement creatine is relatively new but as a scientific discovery it dates back to the 1830’s when it was discovered as a component of skeletal muscle. Contrary to what some media reports in recent years have eluded to, creatine has never been shown to be harmfully toxic.

Creatine is directly involved in ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is the building block of our cells. Increases of oxidative stress and our cells inability to produce enough energy molecules such as ATP is a characteristic of the aging cell and may be found in many disease conditions. In fighting off the aging process, it may be helpful to maintain high levels of antioxines and ATP.

How does creatine work?

Creatine works by giving our muscles the ability to refuel quickly and generate more energy. The ATP in our bodies will lose phosphate molecules and become adenosine diphosphate (ADP), but to produce energy again it must be converted back to ATP. When tthe ATP is in this depleted state it can be recharged by creatine phosphate, which is the creatine that is stored in our cells. So, larger amounts of creatine phosphate gives the ATP a bigger and faster charge which translates into more performance time for you. This is good news for short duration sports like sprinting, football, baseball, and weightlifting.

Proven benefits of creatine.



increases strength

increases lean body mass

increases endurance

improves cognitive brain function & reduces mental fatigue

increases anti oxidant status in your body

helps fight sarcopenia (anti-aging)



Creatine research.

In recent years creatine has become one of the most researched and safe supplements offering much promise in a wide range of uses. Mainstream media reports have favored poorly substantiated scare stories in favor of it’s proven research in mental health, physical fitness, and anti aging atributes.

Research has proven that creatine can dramaticaly increase muscle growth in the human body. Not only that, newer research is showing that creatine supplementation is helping to:



reduce fatigue

modulate inflamation

improve funtionality of the brain

improve scarcopenia (aging muscle loss)

improve Huntington’s disease

improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease



There was a study done involving 266 people with muscular dystrophy where they were given creatine supplements both long-term and short-term to see if any positive results could be made. The findings were muscle strength improved by an average of 8.5%. Also, the creatine users gained an average of 1.4 pounds of lean body mass whereas patients talking a placebo gained none.



By: john ferreira

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