Creatine 3 Essay Research Paper INTRODUCTIONToday in

Creatine 3 Essay, Research Paper

INTRODUCTION

Today in society there is a lot of pressure on the perfect image. Image is the way that everything is judged in the world. So with that perspective in mind, the search for the “perfect body” is what everyone is looking for. But with all of the commotion that is happening, very few people want to put in a solid effort in order to achieve this “perfect body”. Others just simply don’t have the time to workout on a consistent basis. So the easy way out, as always, is searched for. Not that long ago, people were experimenting with anabolic steroids. They injected horse testosterone into their veins to increase the amount of muscle mass produced from weightlifting. The use of anabolic steroids came with many risks, which people at that time hardly knew of. Many didn’t know entirely what kind of effect it might have later in life. But after a while, some professional athletes and high profile people started showing the side effects that are associated with them. For example, Lyle Alzado, a popular star in the NFL, developed a brain tumor and died. Also one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time and famous actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, had to have an operation to repair an aortic valve in his heart. This scared a lot of people and the recreational uses of steroids decreased. With the dangers of steroids well-known people started looking for other substances to give them an edge. Bee pollen, carnitine and chromium picolinate, were among the things people tried. Of course none of these worked. But now there is a product on the market that has been proven to significantly enhance athletic performance in the areas of power, strength, and muscle mass. This substance is Creatine Phosphate.5

ABOUT CREATINE

When the body performs exercise or work, there is obviously an expense of energy that is burnt. There are many things involved in this process. The energy that the body burns is called Adenosine Triphosphate, ATP. This molecule has very high energy bonds between the phosphates and the rest of the molecule. The body breaks these bonds in order to release the high level energy bonds for us to expend through work. Through this process a phosphate of the molecule ATP is released thus changing the molecule to a reduced ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate). Since the body has a relatively low supply of ATP, it is constantly converting ADP back to ATP.5 Creatine helps to speed this process along. Creatine phosphate is similar in structure as ATP in the perspective that they both are made up of high-energy bonds. (APPENDIX A) Creatine phosphate’s primary function is to donate its phosphate back to ATP in order to produce more energy. So with higher levels of creatine in your body, ATP is regained faster and thus there is more energy available. Another benefit of creatine is also a proton buffer, which means that it helps keep the pH levels at a normal level. At the end of working out when the muscles are having a burning sensation, from over exertion, creatine helps prolong that feeling. By keeping the pH levels in check the muscles last longer without the burning sensation, thus prolonging the fatigue from working out. Creatine also adds water to cells. This extra volume in the cell signals a reactor within the cell and protein synthesis kicks in. This extra volume and extra work for protein synthesis creates more energy. Creatine is an amino acid made in your liver and stored in your muscles.4

In the diet it is found in milk, steak, and some fish. Although scientists have known about it for about 160 years, studies on it have just started to be done due to its fame.6

CREATINE SUPPLEMENTATION

After the publication of test results in 1990, the area of creatine supplementation has exploded. Now almost everyone knows what it is and someone who is using it. As was stated earlier, creatine helps speed up the process of converting ADP back into ATP. So it is logical that if the daily amount of creatine in the body is increased then it should be understood that the conversion rate of ADP to ATP would raise also.1 The daily requirement of creatine is about two grams. Most of the creatine supplement products recommend taking ten times that amount a day (four servings of five grams)for the first week or so to saturate the muscles, and five grams a day for the following three to five weeks to maintain it. In most published studies, this logical theory is correct; if you increase dietary creatine you increase stored creatine.1 But there are many questions when dealing with adding more creatine to the muscles in the body. There is the simple question of whether the organs can physically handle all of this change. Although the substance is “natural” does not mean that it should be taken in excessive amounts. Just like any dietary supplement, whenever there is excess in the system there is physical risk. The greatest one related to a specific organ, through the use of creatine, is the kidneys. It is known that continued extensive use of creatine could lead to kidney failure. Another side effect from the use of creatine is straining and cramping of muscles. Due to this fact, some professional sport teams and college teams have banned the use of creatine at their training camps in order to prevent later injuries.7

DOES IT WORK.

There have been many studies with the miracle supplement creatine. The result