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Creatine Found to Boost Brainpower
Eric Ass Raymond writes "According to this BBC article, researchers from the University of Sydney and Macquarie University in Australia have found that the dietary supplement creatine - a natural compound found in muscle tissue - can improve not only your athletic performance, but also your intelligence and memory. One of the side effects, however, is an unpleasant body odour."
A much cheaper way to boost your brain power is to take Niacin (not Niacinamide). Many people notice that their mental clarity is remarkably better when they have had 500 milligrams of Niacin.
Take Niacin only after meals to avoid skin flushing (redness and tingling which lasts about 15 minutes), and only with an equal quantity of Vitamin C.
There are flush-free Niacin compounds and timed-release versions on the market of varying quality in their ability to prevent flushing.
Niacin is a vitamin, so it is completely safe.
"Reports of gastrointestinal distress, stomach cramps, nausea and diarrhea are also frequently reported, especially during the loading phase when greater amounts of creatine are being ingested daily." (creatinemonohydrate.net)
ugh, double the odor issues.
Creatine's just an amino acid.
Not one of the vital ones to life: ie, if you don't have it, your protiens will not all mis-fold / you will not degenerate into a corpse.
Having WAYYY too much Creatine will help fuel bacterial growth & whatnot. Still, Creatine is a neat fuel, the body likes having it in muscle to fuel short-term bursts of energy.
Interested in more about amino acids/proteins and what they can mean to you? Check out Folding@Home as mentioned on Slash_ _dot
And fold for team #93
I assert that my comment is only my opinion, not that of any employer, past, present or future.
According to this article, about 4 grams of creatine is found per kilogram of meat. So to get the same level of creatine you'd get from taking a supplement, you'd need to eat about 1-2 kilos of meat or fish a day.
See:
Shopper's Drug Mart herbal info on Creatine
Some snippets from this link:
I read something similar to this in Muscle and Fitness about a year ago, but the note there pertained to increased mental function in elderly men.
As a personal note, I've used creatine monohydrate powder off and on for about a year. I noticed somewhat increased lifting performance, but along with it a somewhat increased thirst. Be sure to drink *lots* of water if you take creatine. I didn't notice any difference between a creatine/glycogen stack (CELL-TECH) versus using a plain creatine monohydrate powder mixed in water, execpt the stacked product was much more expensive.
One thing to remember that merely taking a supplement (other than anabolic steriods) is not going to make you look like this guy. Athletic use of creatine delays the onset of muscle fatigue by enhancing the resynthesis of ATP from ADP and creatine phosphate. In other words, it allows you to do a little more work, a little faster than you could without it. It's a subtle, but measureable effect.
I used creatine for about six months with the recommended 'break' periods in between doses.
One side effect that I remember was increased agitation. Of course, the inferior boobs surrounding me at work could have caused that.
You're retarded.
Anyone who told you they got those side effects from "using creatine" was bullshitting you. They were using some serious gear, not just creatine. In case you didn't know, it's actually quite difficult for most people to "look like a juicer" without some form of anabolic steroids or possibly a keen stack of prohormones. Natural body builders don't generally look like body builders, and they rarely compete, because they simply cannot pack on the muscle with the same ease of a hormonally-enhanced body builder. Creatine, while it does work, does not pack on the muscle like steriods do. If it did, it would be a controlled substance. Here comes the cluestick!
I agree. The side-effects he mentioned are historically associated with juicing (taking anabolic steriods), not with creatine.
Can't test for creatine- it's in the body naturally. There was some talk a few years ago of testing for elevated levels of creatine in athletic competitions, but it just wouldn't work. The levels fluctuate too much naturally for any test to provide good data.
Besides, people have been experimenting with the various "smart drugs" for years and years, and the various academic testing boards couldn't care less. I don't think amount or type of chemical assitance could realiably provide an increase in the reasoning skills these exams test.
--Use this space for notes--
One of the side effects, however, is an unpleasant body odour
To counteract the foul stench caused by metabolizing creatine, take chlorophyll which is available at your local health food store. Chlorophyll is a natural internal deodorant that assists in destroying the stinky metabolites produced in our bodies, including bad breath. It does this through the chemistry of porphyrins, which are known to be very reactive when they are de-metalated (removing magnesium or copper from the porphyrin metal center in the case of chlorophyll).
On a somewhat related note, when you bruise your skin and observe yellow/brown/blue colorations in the area of the injury site, the hemoglobin (a porphyrin with iron in the metal center) is being broken down into the components of bile, which are those colors mentioned. In fact, some medications have porphyrins in them, so don't get exposed to direct sunlight when taking these meds, as de-metalated porphyrins break down into radicals upon exposure to UV radiation. This is why they are also used as insecticides.
This study seems weak. And the body odor side effect raises a red flag.
Among the thousands of creatine monohydrate studies, this is the first time I hear something about body odor.
By the way, I have been using creatine monohydrate since 2000.
Some side effects of creatine, mentioned in other posts, like stomach cramps, and diarrea, are not really creatine monohydrate side effects. If you buy a good brand of creatine, like the German one CREAPURE, you won't have any problem. If you have stomach cramps, that means you are using a crap suplement. A lot of cheap "creatine" supplements in the market are full of impurities, like Na, creatinine, Dihydrotriazine, Dicyandiamide, and some companies add baking soda to rip you off (verified with a lab test) and only half real creatine.
In conclusion, most side effects attributed to creatine are not caused by the creatine, are caused by impurities in cheap products. Just don't buy cheap creatine.
No, no, and no.
"People who use creatine have problems with losing hair..."
I used creatine for a while. I have a lot of hair.... and it's still on my head.... and I grew it myself.
"...enlarged foreheads and impotence."
No. That does not occur from creatine.
"Basically, you can expect a number of the side affects that you would from using steroids-- you start to look like a "juicer"."
The only way you can look like a juicer is if you become a juicer. I don't know where you got your information, but I can assure you it's not the boyscouts.
Having used creatine on and off for the past 5 or so years, I can say that none of what this dude says is correct or accurate in any way. If anything, creatine can make you bloated IF you don't work out while using it. Also, some studies are linking creatine to increased rates of diabetes, and are finding that creatine might be taxing on the liver. And while using it, you have to drink more water (go to any nutrtion store and look at ANY of the creatine supplements and it will always say to drink moer water). Anyway, get a fucking clue.
I have seen studies linking creatine to DECREASED risk of diabetes, because it helps to regulate blood sugar.
A lot of studies show that creatine, in your post workout meal, increases the transport of glucose to your muscles, increasing glycogen retention in your muscles. Translation: good for you, stronger, faster recovery, decreased diabetes.
I believe Creatine also increases the amount of cellular water retention, but that once you stop taking it everything goes back to "normal". I also used Cell-Tech's Creatine mix, and concur with your statement that you should drink extra water.
People should understand that taking supplements doesn't gives you muscles. The only thing that increases muscle mass is your body repairing damaged muscle tissue. That's why you lift weights. If you've ever done bar-dips, you probably know the tingling feeling of micro-muscle tears. Supplements, steroids, it's all for the same purpose: to enable you to better wear out your muscles. Of course, people are always looking for shortcuts, often to their detriment (in the case of steroids), yet overlook some of the most basic and essential needs the body requires.
This is why sleep and diet are so crucial to muscle development. A proper diet, particularly one rich in protein, not only gives you the right building blocks for new muscle material, but also gives you energy when you're working out. Sleep is just as important, because it is during sleep (not during exercise) that your body repairs itself and rebuilds muscle. I've seen too many people work out every day, and then stay up late into the evening, complaining that they aren't seeing any results. They simply never give their body a chance to heal before they're breaking it down again in the gym.
Sorry for the fitness diatrabe, I just thought I'd add my two cents for anyone interested.
I've been using creatine to study since I went to college, I find it not only helps your memory, but also gives you a little extra energy to make it though the night. Couple that with a dose of ephedra (ephedrine) and some vitamins, and you have what it takes to pull 3 days straight of all nighters with out naps. I even suggested it to a roommate; he found he preferred throwing a little ginko into the mix with it.
Are there any other study tools besides aderol that any one knows of?
IMPORTANT: as the article states, people who eat red meat already get creatine from that source. Creatine supplementation is most interesting for people who exercise regularly and don't eat red meat.
It's interesting that the sub-headline of the article says "The dietary supplement creatine - known to improve athletic performance..."
I seem to recall seeing in the 1990s reports of studies showing that creatine did indeed improve athletic performance. My own experience was different.
In the mid-1990s, I was basically following the recommendations of the US government: loads of carbohydrates, reasonable quantities of protein, and very, very little fat. I avoided red meat and ate a lot more chicken and turkey breast meat.
I would go to the gym twice per week and train with high intensity. I discovered that even with the massive quantities of food I was eating and the decent amount of sleep I was getting (being a grad student at the time, I had a very flexible schedule... as a result, it was almost always possible to correct any sleep deficit with a nap), my body simply could not recuperate in less time.
The personal trainers at the gym had, I'm sure, the best intentions when they designed workout programs for me, but the problem is that the programs they designed would have been good for two types of person: the genetically gifted and users of 'roids (I don't think it's a coincidence that many personal trainers fit into one of these two categories). For a normal human being, it just isn't possible for the body to recover from three days of exercise in one day (they typically designed programs of the type "three days of training and one day of rest").
Anyway, since I wasn't eating red meat, I thought I could benefit from creatine supplementation. What did I find? Well, I can summarize it like this: if creatine were as effective as a bodybuilding supplement as it is as a laxative, I would be as big now as the next Governor of California.
In my experience, creatine just made my poop (much) softer and gave it a funny color. No, I don't make a habit of checking out the contents of the toilet, but the color was so weird it caught my eye and I started paying attention. I know this is disgusting, but I am simply telling a true story.
I eventually quit creatine and designed a workout program based on the book "Brawn," i.e., on lots of squats as the main exercise and on increasing the weight lifted each time at the gym, and focused on building strength, not size. I got a lot stronger, and I gained a significant amount of muscle weight.
In my experience, a good workout program that did not force overtraining (unlike most that personal trainers at gyms will create for you) and done with sufficient intensity (gawd how my thighs used to burn toward the end of a set of 20 squats with a bar 1.5 times the weight of my body) had a much greater effect on my strength than my use or non-use of creatine did.
In 2000, I came to the conclusion that it was kind of stupid for me to put so much effort into fighting nature. If my body were meant to be larger and more muscular, it would be that way naturally, without me having to destroy it every 3 or 4 days. I haven't done any weightlifting in years, and I haven't even thought about wasting money on creatine in several years.
FWIW, I don't remember feeling smarter during my experimentation with creatine. My immediate guess is that creatine is as effective as a "smart drug" as it is as a bodybuilding supplement, i.e., not very.
YMMV.
--Mark
"It is nice to know that the computer understands the problem. But I would like to understand it too." --Eugene Wigner
Back in the 1950s, chlorophyll was a fad food, and supposedly had the power to make you and your breath smell better. They put it in everything: toothpaste, candy, all sorts of stuff. Even dog food, so that your pooch would smell better. I think Clorets is the sole survivor from that time.
The fad ended when it was pointed out that goats practically live on chlorophyll, but they still stink.
Agreed. Creatine can be dangerous too. If some loser decides to take alot of this stuff and fails to hydrate themselves...kidney and liver problems will occur. I was one of those losers. You need LOTS of hydration as it basically uses water to make your muscles bigger. I was pissing blood at one point, and that was the last of that. This is just more sensationalism.
Der Tod ist der einzige Weg hier raus!
You're kidding right? And you call yourself a geek.
(shakes head)
OK, Go here.
Apparently Lecithen has the same effects in that it promotes neuro-transmitter production and enables better cell membrane transfer. However, as a side-effect, it also apparently increases libido [a lot].
Mad cow doesn't come from cow's pineal glands.
Hrmmm. Disclaimer: yes, I am a neuroscientist.
Spongeoform encephalopathies (including Mad Cow disease) result, it is thought, from prions which, when present, can be found in large concentrations in nervous tissue (including the pineal gland which is located in the center of the mammalian brain). The problem with prion disorders is that they spread via contact (via touch and transfection or consumption of tissue containing them) and it is very hard to "disenfect" things with prions in/on them. Prions are small, notoriously resilient to heat, detergents and other methods of disenfection.
So, by consuming melatonin extracted from bovine pineal glands certainly could be seen to increase your risk (given the supplements industries poor controls and lack of product composition controls) of contracting a prion disease if those pineal glands came from infected cows.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
I don't want to insult anyone, but for me it's far more likely that lack of creatine (= vegetarian diet) is causing redused brain abilities than Creatine boosting brain power.
Doubtful. I've been a strict vegetarian since 1986, and a quasi-vegetarian for several years before that. I did not notice any coincident deterioration in memory function; I'd say if you want to preserve your memory function, the important thing is to avoid smoking too much weed - not take some weird, overpriced pills.
It's also interesting to note that India, a largely vegetarian nation, appears to be relatively geek-rich.
Oh, and there are plenty of brilliant vegetarians to hold up as examples, from Pythagoras and Plato to Tolstoy and Einstein.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!
This is a perfect example of lunacy in science reporting.
A test is performed. One group has creatine in their diet, the other has none in their diet (vegetarians)
The result shows that "creatine good, no creatine bad."
The reporter then reports "more creatine better."
Besides the fact that there is absolutly no evidence whatsoever to back up that claim, the reporter also extrapolates the affect on vegetarians to non vegitarians. On top of that, a single study is taken as gospel.
What's the difference between a preliminary study and an old wive's tale? The old wive's tale has history behind it.
It's an allusion to a recent thread on LKML, where Jasper Spaans offered a controversial patch to change the European spelling "flavour" to the American spelling "flavor." Only on Slashdot could this get a +2 Funny.
Litigious bastards
Most people can make their own creatine from other amino acids in the diet; creatine is non-essential. So, it is not really possible to be creatine-deficient unless you have an absorption/anabolism deficiency in respect to creatine. If you don't consume enough creatine over a period of time, normal people will make their own.
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.