Buff Brain. Mental Flex.
Trying to get swole? This is a story about creatine and how social and professional circle labeling can be wonderful if used in the correct manner, but if yielded incorrectly it can brand a product with what I like to call supTGF. In the supplement industry the owners and employees should be somewhat knowledgeable to recall at least enough to be of assistance in answer response to product data and fact recall when asked “do you know what that’s good for?” Most of the time the response should be science based, one or two answers so as to not become an immediate professor but not so vague to appear as furniture in the store either. Sadly most supplements with years of experiments & pages of data are reduced to cliff notes. This part of our profession is partially customer service and the other half being sales the goal is to keep it short. Time is valuable and some people can be on tight schedules but that’s when we as professionals in the industry need to be as accurate as we possibly can condensing all the important of an items full complexity into a sales pitch.. So I can’t truly fault those that keep a product to what sells and what works for it but what about the other effects that might be of interest and maybe we can operate better with the inclusion of new knowledge and let the results be the talking points of interest.
Ever since the word creatine had crossed my path trailing behind in its atmosphere was this is what you need to get them serious gains! After doing research to look into it there were studies and claims especially on creatine assisting in water retention for the health of the muscle along with stamina increases from ATP assistance.(I will probably do a blog on this in depth later)About a year or two ago I found out that creatine is really beneficial for the brain also through testimony at the health food store I co-managed. With my mind blown that moment made note of itself in my memory, the problem with that was that note was filed away in a mental cabinet consisting of I will definitely get to that on the front behind a bookshelf of things I need to read up on.Finding out important facts about products I already have information locked in my mind I’ve realized that I need to study the product or herb extensively to reshape how that memory is stored within my mind(probably a good idea to start that creatine now!). There’s a study I read in which it was found to be an increase of brain creatine levels from supplementation with creatine and its precursor GAA from a measured 7% to 14% at the conclusion of the study. Our neurons require certain levels that other major components of the body also require for fuel. Sometimes the overly dedicated to the gym what some call meatheads live up to the name: I had a brief experience when I went through a phase of high intensity workouts but lower intake of protein and overall nutrients where I could tell my mental processing power began lagging. Eventually I realized I needed to take a break and rest ,the two jobs and hard workout routine had gotten the best of me.
It’s really a game of supply and demand when it comes down to energy storage and usage for the human system. There’s not quite a competition between the body and the brain but more of a conversation or a prioritized chemical dance between the two for certain aspects. This back and forth sometimes has a specific order of prioritized ordering, but creatine is unique in that the body and the brain rely on separate sources. 90 to 95% of the bodies creatine stores are sourced externally and stored in our skeletal system, the rest being for the brain.Heres the incredible part, the brain can actually generate new creatine from the right raw ingredients. This could partially be the reason the results from most companies aren’t seeing effects for the brain could be product potency, the product is unable to cross the blood brain barrier or possibly its the approach.
Not long ago I read this article which I tagged below that spoke on a precursor to creatine by the name of GAA. This is supposed to be the real deal in which results are consistent and noticeable changes are documented. There’s also report of creatine assisting those with trauma to the head or faltering mental faculty so perhaps this could be something people can have their doctors check into as an alternative treatment.
Sometime I sit and ponder on how I could’ve saved myself a ton of time, physical strain, and mental anguish if I knew then what I know now, and yes we never can say the way that would’ve turned out better but as far as mental and physical pain relief I think that could’ve been eased at least a little. Due to its dual brain body boosting and recharging capacity, this in my opinion makes creatine monohydrate an efficient choice.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8912287/ Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Brain Function and HealthScott C Forbes 1,2, Dean M Cordingley 3,4, Stephen M Cornish 2,3,5, Bruno Gualano 6, Hamilton Roschel 6, Sergej M Ostojic 7,8, Eric S Rawson 9, Brian D Roy 10, Konstantinos Prokopidis 11, Panagiotis Giannos 12, Darren G Candow
