Creatine and Your Body

Creatine:
What is Creatine?

Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid, synthesised naturally in the vertebrates. Creatine
helps supply the muscles with energy for contraction. Since creatine is synthesised
naturally in the body, it is not an essential amino acid. It is found in many of the ‘fresh’
meats we eat, mainly poultry, and fish.
The chemical formula for creatine is as follows : C4H9N3O2.
How is it synthesised?
That’s a great question, let this picture illustrate it for you:

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(Arg - Arginine) (GATM - Glycine amidinotransferase) (GAMT - Guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase) (Gly - Glycine; Met - Methionine) (SAH - S-adenosyl homocysteine) (SAM - S-adenosyl methionine)

How does it work?

Creatine is stored in human body as a compound know as "phosphocreatine", which
further works as a reservoir of phosphate. Phosphate produced from creatine is needed
for regenerating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules, which is the main fuel for the
enzyme motors of the muscle in initial high-intensity muscle activity.

During muscle contraction, ATP (adenosine tri phosphate) loses a phosphate molecule to create energy and gets converted to adenosine di phosphate (ADP). Now in order to produce more energy ADP must be converted back to ATP. Now when ATP is depleted, creatine acts as a source of phosphate and converts the ADP molecule to ATP molecule. The more creatine is available to the body, the more faster body can produce ATP molecules, so that more and more energy is available for the muscle contractions. This is how creatine acts as a great energy source for short bursts of exercise such as sprinting, bodybuilding and other athletic activities.

These increased amounts of creatine slow the possibility of fatigue. Creatine helps in the synthesis of protein as well, which further promotes muscle growth and development.

Because of the affect creatine has on your body during muscle contractions, it is used mostly in athletes who... [continues]

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