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Creatine improves physical function and body composition in older adults
- n8henrie 2y ago> The quality of evidence for all outcomes was low or very low because of a high risk of bias.
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- ekanes 2y agoCreatine seems acknowledged as working in the fitness community by both the bro-science and the science-based crowds. For me, it worked very well, but I noticed I was losing hair in the shower (eep!) and stopped using it. Seems that's a thing for people with male pattern baldness. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- nomilk 2y agoWonder if these were related or just happened to occur at the same time. If creatine helps you lift more, which increases testosterone levels, which speeds up balding, then it could be (at least part) causal.
- mgarfias 2y agoIm losing it without the creatine so why not get the benefits.
- bamboozled 2y agoCorrelation is not causation…
- OutOfHere 2y agoMake sure your fasting glucose and HbA1c are normal, not prediabetic. Avoid eating or drinking anything with added sugar. Also, avoid any supplement for now that strong raises testosterone and its resulting conversion to dihydrotestosterone. These supplements could include creatine, boron, tribulus, excessive zinc, etc. The workaround is a stack to sufficiently block the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone.
- mgarfias 2y agodude, my endocrine system is fucked. Im diabetic, have only one adrenal gland now, and have the T levels of a 90yro man unless i stick myself once a week.
- OutOfHere 2y agoIf you have a few hours to spare, you can search r/FoodNerds for endocrine, read through all linked abstracts in the search results, and affect your lifestyle accordingly. Obviously I don't know your specifics, but the considerations still apply.
- mgarfias 2y agoI had no idea, thanks. Checking it out now.
- eggy 2y agoI only use it when training hard, otherwise, you might as well flush it. Anecdotally, I feel I can squeeze out a bit more and I am not as fuzzy during the activity. I can't speak too much about how I feel during recovery or muscle growth. I do body weight, boxing, and range of motion and coordination drills with kettle bells and medicine balls.
- pcthrowaway 2y ago> I only use it when training hard, otherwise, you might as well flush it Creatine has benefits for brain function as well, people who weight train are not the only people who benefit from it.
- spydum 2y agoDefinitely this. I started for weight training but now keep a baseline 2.5g/day for the mental benefits.
- xhrpost 2y agoI'm recently hearing about benefits for bone density and even elderly women are taking it now.
- eggy 2y agoYes definitely helps me feel clear or on my mental game. That was why I mentioned fuzzy. I now think this is why a steak dinner does sort of the same for me mentally when I just have steak with no carbs, veggies, or sweetened drink.
- m463 2y agoYears ago I started lifting weights quite a bit. And my hairline started receeding sort of in the corners of my forehead. Stopped lifting and it stopped. I suspect the testosterone boost from strength training.
- yoyohello13 2y agoI lost my hair at 23 without exercising at all so damned if you do, damned if you don’t I guess.
- xhrpost 2y agoCurious, why does higher T cause hair loss if T is naturally higher in adolescence where there is less hair loss.
- bena 2y agoI don’t remember exactly, but it’s not testosterone itself that causes the hair loss, but what your body converts the testosterone into. And that process can ramp up as you get older depending on your genetics. So more testosterone, more byproducts, more hair loss.
- vinyl7 2y agoTestosterone gets converted into DHT, and DHT causes male pattern baldness. Maybe younger males don't convert as much testosterone into DHT as older guys do
- rpmisms 2y agoDHT also stimulates beard growth, so at least you get a return on investment.
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- tomjakubowski 2y agoFor one, it's also about the hair follicle's sensitivity to circulating androgens. Maybe that changes with age.
- OutOfHere 2y agoI think you can add supps that lower T to DHT conversion. I have just started on this journey.
- tg180 2y agoTaking creatine, RU58841 or CB0301 are even better than supplements.
- OutOfHere 2y ago> RU58841 or CB0301 Are these commercially available for topical use on the head? > better than supplements Supplements don't strongly target specific issues, but they work across the board to weakly target dozens of issues, including issues that one doesn't even known one has. As such, it often takes a lot of supplements together to begin to strongly target an issue.
- radar 2y agoJust be sure to cycle your creatine and be aware you need to have more water when you're taking it.
- taeric 2y agoI'm always harping back to this study: https://biolayne.com/reps/issue-5/creatine-so-effective-all-it-takes-is-a-belief-for-a-benefit/ https://biolayne.com/reps/issue-5/creatine-so-effective-all-... I think a lot of people jump straight to "placebo!" to explain this, but I am growing to think it is more that your body can also prime itself in ways that mimic creatine. That is, that it is akin to how your body will change hormone profiles on just the knowledge that you have an alarm that will wake you up in the morning. Regardless of the reason, I'm interested in reading more on this.
- Yusefmosiah 2y agoReplying to signal boost this. I too get hair loss from DHT-boosters such as creatine or the herb tribulus terrestris. I should note that I have a higher than average amount of body and facial hair, so likely have naturally elevated DHT levels. When I stopped taking creatine, I did lose a few reps in all my lifts; it does work.
- on_the_train 2y agoPeople keep posting studies dating it doesn't cause hair loss. But it absolutely causes hair loss.
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- ropable 2y agoIf you were losing hair, it probably wasn't the creatine causing it: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/creatine-hair-loss/ https://www.strongerbyscience.com/creatine-hair-loss/
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- anigbrowl 2y agoConclusion: Creatine supplementation improves sit-to-stand performance, muscle function, and lean tissue mass. It is crucial to conduct high-quality prospective RCTs to confirm these hypotheses (PROSPERO number, CRD42023354929). 'Give us funding pls' I use creatine myself and think it helps build muscle, but this is a pretty weak result. I do think it's worth researching because it's a cheap supplement and could help an ageing demographic as part of an exercise program. OTOH I'm not sure it's necessary if you're not exercising intensively or actively trying to build strength. Consistent regular light exercise and reducing sugar in your diet seems like the best way for most people to deal with ageing.
- justinator 2y agoYes absolutely: any supp. should only be reached for after an intervention to lifestyle through physical activity and diet.
- pedalpete 2y agoSmall improvements in balance and strength is valuable to the older population. One fall can significantly reduce their movements, and that becomes a slippery slope to being sedentary and then death.
- riversflow 2y agoI mean, I think it makes sense and deserves funding. Creatine has a mountain of evidence in sports nutrition, as you are likely aware, so much that it’s kinda mind boggling to me that there hasn’t been more research into treating it more like a Vitamin for the general population. The evidence is clear that your body simply can’t produce as much creatine as it can utilize. As an adamant vegetarian I admit that this is extremely good evidence that being vegetarian is unideal for our species. In athletics, creatine is basically the first thing after protein that gets recommended to supplement. As you get older muscle mass and strength become very critical indicators of vitality and independence. It also becomes harder to build and maintain muscle as you get older. The data is clear on this. During this stage of life, giving your body everything it needs is a no brainer.
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- ratg13 2y agoIf you’ve never tried adding a little bit of creatine in your diet, I would recommend trying it. You will definitely notice the positive effects. If you’re not training, don’t take weight lifting amounts, just 500-1000mg a day is more than enough.. more than that and your body will start to get larger because you will be retaining water.
- mattgreenrocks 2y agoI have creatine on my short list of supplements to try this summer. Anything you wished you knew when starting it? Do I need to worry about buying a specific brand known for being “clean”?
- miguelspizza 2y agoBuy Thorne if you are really concerned about quality. Otherwise bulk supplements is fine. Creatine monohydrate is cheap and easy to produce
- benced 2y agoBe prepared to up your water intake significantly. In particular, I started sleeping near a full bottle of water.
- FourierEnvy 2y agoStart now, don't overthink it. It's one of (if not the most) studied supplements on the market.
- silverquiet 2y agoI assume you're aware of the water weight gain. Otherwise, it's effects are fairly modest.
- soganess 2y agoI don't know the first thing about these authors or if this paper was funded by a supplement company... but apparently that is a myth[1]? You may gain some water weight for a week or two, but that seems to stop. [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/
- silverquiet 2y agoYou gain a few pounds of water weight during the "loading" phase (the entire idea is that it's drawing water and metabolic fuel into the muscles) and then it plateaus as long as you keep taking it. When you stop taking it, the water weight will come off. I workout seriously enough that people notice if that means anything, and I take creatine. It's one of those things with the most proven upsides and essentially no downsides. That said, the effects are nothing like serious PEDs - not that I can personally compare those things, but it's quite clear that gear is a whole other level.
- diob 2y agoI've worked out my whole life (since around age 14, now over 35) and had periods where I did a lot of supplements like creatine or pre-workout. I no longer bother with them, although creatine is one of the more well researched / "real" supplements, so you're better off with that than lots of others. To me though they've never really done anything (besides cost money). In my opinion the best bang for your buck is drinking a coffee before or during your workout. That and make sure you get enough sleep and eat nutritious food.
- mdorazio 2y agoIf we’re sharing anecdata, Creatine has very noticeable positive impact on recovery time for me. Without it, I basically have to take an extra rest day between workouts.
- diob 2y agoI'm at the point where I weight train about once every two weeks, over the course of two days (around 5 hrs each day, super focused on good form / slow movements). Cardio everyday though. Been doing this for almost two years at this point. Used to do the more normal splits, but this has resulted in the best results / workouts of my life. I don't recommend it necessarily, since I'm a sample size of one. I wish there were studies on this sort of thing.
- grecy 2y agoKeep in mind every body is different, and responds differently to inputs. Creatine may not have done much for your body, but that absolutely does not mean it won't be very beneficial for others. FWIW, coffee destroys me - I get the sweats, by heartbeat goes jittery and later in the day I crash HARD. It makes my stomach churn and grumble too. So for me, coffee is terrible advice.
- stemlord 2y agoTry tea instead of coffee, sounds like you're just taking too much caffeine
- Lerc 2y agoGiven the near de facto standard use of creatine for people working out, I would have expected there to be more conclusive results available.
- burritosnob 2y agoI'm rapidly approaching 50 and in the gym 7 days a week 2+ hours a day for heavy lifting and cardio. Creatine is one of the few supplements that I can say has noticeable immediate difference on or off. Without it, my recoveries take longer and I have to back down workouts to 4-5 days a week. 5mg a day... time doesn't seem to make a difference but I take pre workout. No hair loss or other side effects.
- oarfish 2y agoI am assuming mg is a typo? 5mg would be a dose you'd almost need lab equipment to correctly measure ^^
- sauwan 2y agoYeah, recommended daily doses appear to be closer to 5-20g per day.
- DidYaWipe 2y agoIs hair loss alleged to be a creatine side-effect?
- oarfish 2y agoIt is alleged, but not substantiated.
- ekanes 2y agoI've experienced this hair loss, and if you read the comments underneath most posts/videos about creatine, you'll find a lot of people chiming in with the same experience. If you don't have male pattern baldness though, seems you're fine.
- DidYaWipe 2y agoUnfortunately, then, I'm not fine.
- Perceval 2y ago
- whatjadat2 2y agoCreatine works exceptionally well for me (43m), I lift and do cardio, a couple of times a week. And if I take creatine, for a couple of weeks, I can see a noticeable improvement in energy, and body composition. It's so cheap, why would you not take it?
- thefz 2y agoThe only downside with a normal intake is the weight water gain, especially when doing cardio like running or biking. For the muscular benefits, yes, they are definitely there.