Creatine is a widely used nutritional supplement. A lot of sportsmen and those who are just generally into working out utilise it to gain muscle mass, get stronger, and perform better. Some people experience bloating during the loading period of creatine supplementation, despite the fact that creatine has a high safety profile.
What causes creatine bloating, and what you can do about it, are discussed in this article.
Creatine causes water retention to some level but creatine HCL and Hydrochloride tends to create less water retention.
Can you explain what creatine is?
- The body can’t function properly without amino acids, which also play a role in muscle development. Creatine is a byproduct of the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine in the human body.
- The body stores most of the 1-2 grammes produced daily by the liver, kidneys, and pancreas in skeletal muscle.
- It can also be obtained from supplementation and animal-based meals, especially meats and fish.
- Creatine has been explored for its role in numerous health advantages, including encouraging healthy ageing and cognitive function, but is best recognised for increasing exercise performance by delivering energy to your muscles.
- But to get enough creatine to reap the benefits, you’d have to eat a lot of meat and fish, so creatine pills are a more practical and economical option.
Here’s How It Operates?
- Creatine is effective because it restores the energy-transporting molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in your cells. The creatine phosphate system is utilised by the body during high-intensity, short-duration exercises such as weightlifting and sprinting.
- Muscles get their energy supply from creatine, which is quickly replenished by the body’s ATP system. However, with strenuous physical exercise, your body’s natural reserves will be swiftly depleted.
- Taking creatine supplements can boost muscular creatine concentration, which in turn enhances ATP’s ability to fuel muscle contractions.
- The standard of instruction could rise as a result. Example: taking 20 mg of creatine everyday for 5-7 days has been shown to boost strength and athletic performance by 5-15%.
- Consequently, it has become a standard supplement for those who regularly engage in physical activity.
Taking in a lot of food and getting bloated
- Creatine bloating is a common side effect, particularly during the loading period of supplementation.
- During the loading phase, you will consume 20–25 grammes of creatine daily for 5–7 days.
- After the initial loading period has ended, a maintenance dose of 3-5 grammes, or 0.01 grammes per pound 0.03 grammes per kg of body weight per day, is required to keep muscle reserves at an optimal level.
- There is a tendency for a person’s body weight to rise during the loading phase as a result of an increase in both muscle mass and water intake into the muscles, which can lead to bloating.
- A substantial increase in total body water has been found in many studies to occur during the loading period.
- Supplementing with 0.01 grammes per pound 0.3 grammes per kg of body weight per day for 7 days resulted in a considerable increase in total body water of 2.3 pounds 1 kg, as seen in a study involving 13 athletes.
- During the loading phase, it’s normal to gain 1-2% of total body mass, most of which is water.
- Increases in total body water owing to creatine supplementation are, however, temporary and usually disappear after the loading phase 11 has concluded.
- Not everyone gets gas, but if you do, you might be able to reduce it by bypassing the loading phase and going straight to the maintenance dose of 3 to 5 grammes per day.
When to take?
To reap the benefits of creatine as quickly as possible, the loading phase is designed to flood your muscles with the supplement. This is because there is no evidence that the supplement improves athletic performance right away. The change becomes noticeable only once the muscles are completely saturated.
Most people need between five and seven days of loading to feel the full effects. As long as you remember to take creatine every day, it doesn’t matter when you take it. This includes taking it before or after your workouts, in the morning, or at night.
The loading period is optional, and the maintenance dose of 3-5 grammes per day can be taken instead. By reducing the large doses administered during the loading phase, gastric distress may be mitigated.
Benefits often appear after three to four weeks, whereas loading typically takes only a week.
- Supplementing with lower doses for longer periods of time has been shown to improve athletic performance and muscular power output without the fast weight gain associated with loading.
- Supplementing with 0.01 grammes per pound 0.03 grammes per kg of body weight each day for 14 days significantly increased muscle power production compared to a placebo in a research involving 19 male athletes.
- No obvious weight gain was also seen among the sportsmen.
