Creatine is likely one of the hottest dietary dietary supplements in the marketplace.
It’s usually utilized by athletes and health fans to enhance muscle measurement, power, energy, and efficiency.
Although creatine has a robust security profile, some customers expertise bloating to start with phases of supplementing with it — often known as the loading section.
This text explains what causes creatine bloating and steps you’ll be able to take to keep away from it.
What’s creatine?
Amino acids are compounds required for important capabilities — together with constructing your muscle mass. Creatine is a substance that your physique produces naturally from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine.
On common, your liver, kidneys, and pancreas make 1–2 grams per day, which is saved principally in skeletal muscle mass (1).
It could actually additionally come from animal-based meals — primarily meats and fish — and from dietary supplements (2).
Creatine is finest identified for enhancing train efficiency by offering vitality to your muscle mass however has additionally been studied for its function in different well being advantages, resembling selling wholesome growing old and mind perform (3, 4).
Nevertheless, to expertise potential advantages, you would want to devour giant quantities of meat and fish to acquire sufficient creatine, making dietary supplements a extra environment friendly and cost-effective approach to enhance ranges.
The way it works
Creatine works by replenishing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that carries vitality in your physique’s cells.
With high-intensity, short-duration actions like weight lifting or sprinting, your physique makes use of what’s generally known as the creatine phosphate system.
This technique quickly replenishes your physique’s ATP shops through the use of creatine to supply vitality to your muscle mass.
However as a result of your pure shops are restricted, they’re rapidly used up throughout high-intensity exercise (5).
Supplementing with creatine will increase its focus in your muscle mass — offering extra vitality to energy ATP.
This will translate to enhancements within the general high quality of coaching. For instance, analysis exhibits that supplementing with 20 grams of creatine each day for five–7 days can result in a 5–15% enhance in power and athletic efficiency (6).
In consequence, it’s a preferred complement amongst athletes and exercise fans.
Loading and bloating
Creatine bloating is a phenomenon that almost all usually happens in the course of the loading section when starting to complement with creatine.
The loading section consists of taking 20–25 grams of creatine for five–7 consecutive days (7).
Following the loading section, a upkeep dose of three–5 grams or 0.01 grams per pound (0.03 grams per kg) of physique weight per day thereafter is important to keep up optimum muscle shops.
Nevertheless, in the course of the loading section, there tends to be a rise in physique weight attributable to a rise in each muscle mass and water consumption into your muscle mass, which can trigger bloating (8, 9).
Many research discover that the loading section can lead to a big acquire in whole physique water.
For instance, a examine in 13 athletes noticed that supplementing with 0.01 grams per pound (0.3 grams per kg) of physique weight per day for 7 days led to a big enhance in whole physique water of two.3 kilos (1 kg) (10).
On common, you could count on to achieve 1–2% of physique mass in the course of the loading section — which is partially water weight (8).
Nonetheless, will increase in whole physique water attributable to supplementing with creatine is brief time period and sometimes resolves a number of weeks after the loading section (11).
Whereas not everybody experiences bloating, you could possibly restrict or keep away from it by skipping the loading section altogether and taking the upkeep dose of three–5 grams per day.
When to take
The aim of the loading section is to saturate your muscle mass with creatine so that you could expertise its advantages sooner.
It is because the complement has no rapid impact on train efficiency. Solely as soon as your muscle mass are absolutely saturated do you expertise a distinction (12).
The time it takes to note full advantages sometimes takes 5–7 days of loading (7).
Due to this fact, the time during which you are taking creatine — whether or not round exercises, within the morning, or at evening — isn’t vital so long as you keep in mind to take it each day.
In the event you choose, you’ll be able to skip the loading section and simply take the upkeep dose of three–5 grams each day.
Doing so could assist restrict bloating that’s usually related to the excessive doses taken in the course of the loading section.
That is simply as efficient as loading, however it is going to take longer so that you can expertise advantages — sometimes 3–4 weeks versus just one week with loading (13).
In truth, research present that supplementing with low doses over longer intervals are efficient in bettering athletic efficiency and muscle energy output with out inflicting the speedy weight acquire linked to loading.
A examine in 19 male athletes demonstrated that supplementing with 0.01 grams per pound (0.03 grams per kg) of physique weight per day for 14 days led to important will increase in muscle energy output in comparison with a placebo.
What’s extra, the athletes confirmed no important enhance in physique weight (14).
The very best complement type
With the various types of creatine accessible, you could marvel which is finest. The very best-studied and simplest type is creatine monohydrate (12, 13).
Entrepreneurs of different types — resembling buffered creatine (Kre-Alkalyn), creatine hydrochloride (HCL), or creatine nitrate — declare that they’re higher absorbed and extra effectively utilized by your physique in comparison with creatine monohydrate.
But, analysis exhibits that the absorption charge of creatine monohydrate is sort of 100% (15, 16).
Since different types are marketed as being superior to creatine monohydrate, they’re additionally rather more costly.
Creatine monohydrate is probably going probably the most economical and efficient type in the marketplace.
Yow will discover creatine monohydrate as a powder, both alone or in pre-workouts, that are merchandise you are taking earlier than your exercises that comprise different energizing components like caffeine.
Although creatine monohydrate is commonly included as an ingredient in pre-workout merchandise, it’s finest to purchase creatine as a single product so that you could dose it accordingly — particularly if you happen to plan on loading.
Combine the powder with water or juice utilizing a spoon to stir. For simpler mixing, you should utilize creatine monohydrate in micronized type.
Micronized creatine is smaller than regular creatine and mixes higher with liquids so that you simply gained’t have clumps within the backside of your drink.
Security and precautions
Creatine is remarkably secure as a complement.
Although its robust security profile has been skewed by media studies claiming that creatine harms your kidneys and causes dehydration, proof to assist these claims is missing (12).
Research involving a wide range of individuals have discovered no dangerous results on kidney well being in doses starting from 5–20 grams per day for 10 months as much as 5 years (17, 18, 19, 20).
Creatine has additionally not been proven to trigger dehydration or enhance its danger — one other widespread false impression — even when utilized by individuals exercising within the warmth (21, 22, 23, 24).
The overwhelming scientific consensus is that the short- or long-term use of the complement is secure and poses little to no well being danger in in any other case wholesome individuals (12).
Nonetheless, individuals with impaired kidney perform or these taking drugs ought to test with their healthcare supplier earlier than starting a creatine routine to make sure security.
The underside line – “can creatine cause constipation”
Creatine is a well-liked complement used to enhance train and athletic efficiency.
Creatine bloating could happen in the course of the loading section — once you take 20–25 grams of creatine for five–7 days — attributable to a rise in muscle mass and water consumption into your muscle mass.
It might be averted by skipping the loading section and taking the upkeep dose of three–5 grams each day as an alternative.
Of the various accessible types, creatine monohydrate is the very best studied, most secure, and simplest.
“can creatine cause constipation”