Creatine and the Muscle Bump.

Creatine as we know today is one of the most important and sought after supplement in the body building industry. But most of the people involved either do not know what it does or what it is at all.
Certain people know that it is involved in body building.
 
So what actually is Creatine?
In simple words, it is simply a nitrogen-containing compound stored mainly as phospho-creatine in muscle tissue and the rest can be found as free creatine. It occurs naturally in meats and fish and is synthesized by the liver, pancreas and kidney.
It's also called metylguanidine-acetic acid and is produced from three amino acids: methionine, arginine and glycine.(Too biological Eh!)
Every day the body breaks down about 1-2% of the creatine pool, approximately 2 grams, into creatinine, which is excreted in urine. So to say, it forms in our body itself.

What does it do?
In body building, creatine is known for its ability to boost strength and power. Athletes like Sprinters take it to help them explode out of the blocks, football and soccer players take it to bulk up and bodybuilders use it to build strength and size and work harder in the gym. Creatine is one of the best supplements an athlete can take. The most commonly used creatine supplement has been creatine monohydrate and it has been a long-standing legal supplement in the sports nutrition industry for years, mainly because nothing else has been shown to deliver better results.

   Yet creatine has a reputation about controversies in the supplement industry ever since its introduction nearly 2 decades ago.

The Confusion
The main confusion is that some people involved in body building and such or the sports industry claim that Creatine is a steroid. They claim that it ruins your body and ruins your health. Confusion mainly arises due to long standing beliefs and misinterpretation that creatine intake as a supplement is not necessary as the orthodox belief crops up that since it is found naturally found in food. Also physicians acknowledge that there aren't studies measuring the effects of long-term creatine supplementation, so it would be a waste to thrive on creatine supplementation.
Even most blogs about body building or similar do not post about Creatine because it is just too controversial to deal with.

For our help, modern day science and research has stepped into the confusion and has vividly laid ahead certain facts about creatine supplementation.

Clearing up the confusion cloud
As for the case of steroids, science has given a simple answer, it is not. And regarding destruction of kidneys and whatsoever, it should be consumed as directed alongwith lot of water for solubility like all other supplements.
Studies show that creatine supplementation effectively helped gain weight to a very good extent.
Combining creatine with whey protein also leads to greater gains in lean muscle mass than just whey protein alone possibly by improving protein synthesis. It also aids in strength building and weight lifting. Creatine may also benefit work capacity by improving the ability to store carbohydrates, which could have positive performance implications for athletes of most sports. Coincidently consuming creatine and carbohydrates tends to optimize the absorption of both. The biggest problem with creatine to date has been the high doses required for efficacy. Recent studies have proven that the number one factor for creatine supplement efficacy is aqueous solubility, meaning the creatine must be in solution to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Contribution to Body Building and Other Benefits-The Real Deal
Its contribution in body building is worth mentioning. Creatine can help you build a great physique. That is considered the most noted benefit from consuming this supplement.
It can help you work harder in the gym by providing a substrate necessary for the production of energy. Creatine aids in building strength, size and power. But, creatine does more than just help build a strong body. It may help many people who suffer from debilitating diseases. One study found that it helped decrease total cholesterol and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the worst kind). Hopefully future research will examine changes in blood lipids with creatine supplementation. Studies indicate that creatine monohydrate is safe when taken in appropriate doses daily for a period of 1-5 years. It doesn't make sense to take it in high doses, above what your body needs, because the rest is excreted after skeletal muscle stores are saturated. There are no studies that have found it causes dehydration or other detrimental side effects in otherwise healthy people.

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