Creatine

Chemical structure

Ball and stick structure

Creatine is a naturally occuring compound, which is used by our body for fast generation of energy. Part of it is provided by our diet, mainly from meat, and the rest is synthesized in the liver and the kidney from three amino-acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. Creatine is stored in the muscles and in the brain, where it is converted to phosphocreatine. Phosphocreatine can be used to quickly produce adenosine triphosphate, ATP, the main energy sources in the human body and in all other living systems. ATP is made, normally, in our cells by oxidation of food. It can be made faster, but less efficiently, by non-oxidative degradation of sugars. But the fastest way to generate ATP is by using phosphocreatine. In this way our body can generate a lot of energy for a short period of time, in cases when explosive strength is needed, such as weight lifting, or short distance sprinting.

Effects on the human body

Consumed, or synthesized creatine is stored mainly in the muscles. This leads to increase the size of the muscles. The increase comes from water retention of cells that store creatine. Increased amount of creatine in the muscles improves our performance, especially in maximum strength, short duration exercises. There are indications that creatine can help with the recovery of muscles after intensive exercises. Creatine is, aslo, taken up by the brain, where it can improve brain cognitive function.

Most of the creatine production will be stored in the skeletal muscle because these muscles need a lot of energy and sometime they need it quickly. Daily about 5% to 10% of the creatine in our body is degraded, therefore, the body constantly produces it - about two grams of creatine per day. This amount can increase after periods of intensive exercises or if not enough creative is present in the food.

Creatine in considered to be safe as a dietary supplement to be taken by adults, children of elderly for up to 5 years.