Creatine supplementation, in liquid or powder form, is used to provide extra energy to your muscles during a workout while aiding in gains of strength and size, post-workout, or simply in muscle recovery and regeneration. Athletes who use creatine have shown improvement in athletic tests of performance ranging from amount of weight pushed, number of repetitions before failure, and exercise capacity pertaining to distance and speed.
What is Creatine?
Creatine occurs naturally in the body. Most of it is found in skeletal muscle and is made of essential amino acids. Consumption of flesh-based proteins or protein supplements encourages muscular growth, thanks to an abundance of creatine. Creatine supplementation may increase the process of muscular growth and recovery time during physical activities.
Liquid Creatine
Claims for liquid creatine include that it is more easily absorbed by the body's systems, making it effective in the crucial moments after a workout. However, as its powdered counterpart is usually dissolved in a liquid, this may not provide additional benefit of liquid over powder. A negative side effect of liquid creatine is when the creatine is being processed into liquid form, chemical reactions degrade nearly half of the creatine into creatinine, an unusable byproduct of the amino acid, which is simply known as an indicator for renal and kidney functions. Due to its short existence in the market, compared to the powder form, little is truly known about liquid creatine supplementation at this point in time.
Powdered Creatine
Creatine powder has long been used as a supplement by athletes and bodybuilders, and is often added to a diet as a method of gaining weight. Not only are the same benefits as described above provided with the powdered version, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, clinical studies report that those receiving supplementation also benefit from positive effects on brain function. However, according to MayoClinic.com, these clinical studies on creatine's benefits for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological disorders still need to be thoroughly evaluated.
Dosage
It is recommended that you follow strict advice on your supplement dosage to obtain full benefits. Each product recommends a specific dosage. Some examples of dosages are 2 scoops of creatine powder per day or 6 creatine liquid pills per day. Too much creatine puts added stress on the kidneys, and not enough does not produce results, thus resulting in a waste of time, money and your caloric intake. There is much information about dosage available as it pertains to powdered, pure creatine. Should you choose to supplement with other forms, or powders that include other substances -- sugar, flavoring, etc. -- trial and error may be necessary to determine the correct dosage.
Warnings
Consult your doctor before taking creatine or any other supplement. Creatine supplementation has been shown to intensify asthma, cause allergic reactions and interfere with insulin function. Liver malfunction is a possible side effect as well. Though most of the population would simply benefit from using creatine, various people could be harmed, especially those with liver disease or diabetes.
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