USN Creatine Anabolic all in One Creatine Amino Muscle Building Stack, Cherry, 900 g (Pack of 1)

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Volek JS, Ratamess NA, Rubin MR, Gomez AL, French DN, McGuigan MM, Scheett TP, Sharman MJ, Hakkinen K, Kraemer WJ. The effects of creatine supplementation on muscular performance and body composition responses to short-term resistance training overreaching. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2004;91:628–37.

King B, Spikesman A, Emery AE. The effect of pregnancy on serum levels of creatine kinase. Clin. Chim. Acta. 1972;36:267–9. Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Antonio J. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2007;4:6–6. Chang CT, Wu CH, Yang CW, Huang JY, Wu MS. Creatine monohydrate treatment alleviates muscle cramps associated with haemodialysis. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 2002;17:1978–81.Op 't Eijnde, B.; Urso, B.; Richter, E. A.; Greenhaff, P. L.; Hespel, P. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on human muscle GLUT4 protein content after immobilization. Diabetes 2001, 50, 18-23. Bongiovanni T, Genovesi F, Nemmer M, Carling C, Alberti G, Howatson G. Nutritional interventions for reducing the signs and symptoms of exercise-induced muscle damage and accelerate recovery in athletes: current knowledge, practical application and future perspectives. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2020;120:1965–96.

BG has received research grants, creatine donation for scientific studies, travel support for participation in scientific conferences (includes the ISSN) and honorarium for speaking at lectures from AlzChem (a company which manufactures creatine). In addition, BG serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Alzchem (a company that manufactures creatine). Gotshalk LA, Volek JS, Staron RS, Denegar CR, Hagerman FC, Kraemer WJ. Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older men. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2002;34:537–43. A number of different forms of creatine (e.g., creatine salts, creatine complexed with other nutrients, creatine dipeptides, etc.) have been marketed as more effective sources of creatine than creatine monohydrate [ 187]. However, there are no peer-reviewed published papers showing that the ingestion of equal amounts of creatine salts [ 188, 189, 190, 191] or other forms of creatine like effervescent creatine [ 128], creatine ethyl ester [ 43, 192, 193], buffered creatine [ 41], creatine nitrate [ 194, 195], creatine dipeptides, or the micro amounts of creatine contained in creatine serum [ 196] and beverages (e.g., 25–50 mg) increases creatine storage in muscle to a greater degree than creatine monohydrate [ 187]. In fact, most studies show that ingestion of these other forms have less physiological impact than creatine monohydrate on intramuscular creatine stores and/or performance and that any performance differences were more related to other nutrients that creatine is bound to or co-ingested with in supplement formulations. This makes sense given that these other forms contain less creatine per gram than creatine monohydrate and that 99% of ingested creatine monohydrate is absorbed into the blood, then taken up into muscle, or excreted in urine [ 187]. Vatani DS, Faraji H, Soori R, Mogharnasi M. The effects of creatine supplementation on performance and hormonal response in amateur swimmers. Science and Sports. 2011;26:272–7.

Smash your way through the toughest workouts – here’s all you need to know about creatine and choosing your ideal supplement

Gualano B, de Salles Painelli V, Roschel H, Lugaresi R, Dorea E, Artioli GG, Lima FR, da Silva ME, Cunha MR, Seguro AC, Shimizu MH, Otaduy MC, Sapienza MT, da Costa Leite C, Bonfa E, Lancha Junior AH. Creatine supplementation does not impair kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 2011;111:749–56.

Ustuner ET. Cause of androgenic alopecia: crux of the matter. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. Glob Open. 2013;1:e64. Creatine monohydrate crystallizes from water as monoclinic prisms that hold one molecule of water of crystallization per molecule of creatine [ 187]. Subsequent drying of creatine monohydrate at about 100°C removes the water of crystallization yielding anhydrous creatine (100% creatine) [ 187]. Creatine is considered a weak base (pKb 11.02 at 25°C) that can only form salts with strong acids (i.e., pKa < 3.98). Creatine can also serve as a complexing agent with other compounds via ionic binding. Creatine monohydrate powder contains the highest percentage of creatine (87.9%) other than creatine anhydrous [ 187]. Creatine monohydrate manufactured in Germany involves adding acetic acid to sodium sarconsinate, heating, adding cyanamide, cooling to promote crystallization, separation and filtration, and drying has been reported to produce 99.9% pure creatine monohydrate with no contaminants. Meanwhile, other sources of creatine monohydrate that have different starting materials (e.g., sarcosinates and O-alkylisourea, sarcosinates and S-alkylisothiourea) and methods of creatine synthesis, particularly from sources produced in China, have been found to contain up to 5.4% dicyandiamide, 0.09% dihydrotriazine, 1.3% creatinine, dimethyl sulphate, thiourea, and/or higher concentrations of heavy metals like mercury and lead due to use of different chemical precursors, poorly controlled synthesis processes, and/or inadequate filtration methods that more readily produce these contaminants [ 197]. While the effects of ingesting these compounds on health are unknown, contamination with dihydrotriazine has been suggested to be of greatest concern since it is structurally related to carcinogenic compounds [ 197]. For this reason, German sourced creatine monohydrate has been primarily used in research to establish safety and efficacy and is therefore the recommended source of creatine monohydrate to use in dietary supplements [ 2, 187]. It depends on your exercise routine. But some studies show that people who take creatine supplements may gain an extra two to four pounds of muscle mass during four to 12 weeks of regular exercise than people who don’t take creatine. Are creatine gains permanent? Hunter A. Monographs on biochemistry: creatine and creatinine. London: Longmans, Green and Co; 1928. p. 1.

Creatine

Creatine supplementation appears to be generally safe and potentially beneficial for children and adolescents. Sales LP, Pinto AJ, Rodrigues SF, Alvarenga JC, Goncalves N, Sampaio-Barros MM, Benatti FB, Gualano B, Rodrigues Pereira RM. Creatine Supplementation (3 g/d) and Bone Health in Older Women: A 2-Year, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2020;75:931–8. Davani-Davari D, Karimzadeh I, Sagheb MM, Khalili H. The Renal Safety of L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, and Glutamine in Athletes and Bodybuilders. J. Ren. Nutr. 2019;29:221–34. Brosnan JT, Brosnan ME. Creatine: endogenous metabolite, dietary, and therapeutic supplement. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 2007;27:241–61. Silva AJ, Machado Reis V, Guidetti L, Bessone Alves F, Mota P, Freitas J, Baldari C. Effect of creatine on swimming velocity, body composition and hydrodynamic variables. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness. 2007;47:58–64.

Tarnopolsky MA. Potential benefits of creatine monohydrate supplementation in the elderly. Curr. Opin. Clin. Nutr. Metab. Care. 2000;3:497–502. Greenwood M, Kreider RB, Melton C, Rasmussen C, Lancaster S, Cantler E, Milnor P, Almada A. Creatine supplementation during college football training does not increase the incidence of cramping or injury. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 2003;244:83–8. Lobo DM, Tritto AC, da Silva LR, de Oliveira PB, Benatti FB, Roschel H, Niess B, Gualano B, Pereira RM. Effects of long-term low-dose dietary creatine supplementation in older women. Exp. Gerontol. 2015;70:97–104.Poortmans JR, Francaux M. Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction? Sports Med. 2000;30:155–70. In 1998, a case study of a young male with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and relapsing nephrotic syndrome was reported [ 51]. The young male, who had kidney disease for 8 years and was treated with cyclosporine (i.e., immunosuppressant) for 5 years, had recently begun ingesting creatine supplementation (15 g/day for 7 days; followed by 2 g/day for 7 weeks). Based on increased blood levels of creatinine and subsequent estimate of calculated creatinine clearance, his kidney health was presumed to be deteriorating, although he was otherwise in good health. The patient was encouraged to discontinue creatine supplementation. At this time, it was already known that blood and urine creatinine levels can increase following ingestion of creatine containing food products, including creatine supplements [ 35]. This was ignored by the authors of this case study, as was the inclusion of two investigations which demonstrated that creatine supplementation did not negatively impact renal function [ 52, 53]. The dosage of creatine during the maintenance phase, which was also ignored, was only slightly higher than the daily creatine intake of a typical omnivore’s dietary intake, or in terms of food, a large hamburger or steak per day (meat contains about 0.7 g of creatine / 6 oz. serving; see [ 54]). In response to this case study, two separate teams of experts in creatine metabolism wrote letters to the editor of Lancet [ 53, 55]. However, the notion that creatine supplementation leads to kidney damage and/or renal dysfunction gained traction and momentum.