In this latest vid in the creatine series, I answer the common Q regarding the impact of caffeine on creatine:
Is creatine safe for Teens? A common question I get often, from both parents and teens, via email etc. The answer may not be what you are expecting!
A common question I get is creatine timing. Before workouts? After? Other? I cover that topic in the latest vid in the creatine series.
The Institutes Of Medicine – commissioned by The DOD – just put out a paper of interest I found very interesting looking at the impact of Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury. The paper was called:
“The Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury Improving Acute and Subacute Health Outcomes in Military Personnel”
The report outlines key nutritional interventions that may be of value to TBI. Below is the summery with link to download summery report as PDF file. What I found particularly interesting was the identification of creatine (among others) as a possible nutrient of benefit. I have written about creatine as a possible Neurological Protection to brain injury and other insults:
A growing number of studies have found that creatine can protect the brain from neurotoxic agents, certain forms of injury and other insults.
Several in vitro studies found that neurons exposed to either glutamate or beta-amyloid (both highly toxic to neurons and involved in various neurological diseases) were protected when exposed to creatine.3 The researchers hypothesized that,
“… cells supplemented with the precursor creatine make more phosphocreatine (PCr) and create larger energy reserves with consequent neuroprotection against stressors.”
“Back in the day” as they say, I exposed the fact that not all creatine is created equal (yet, many still don’t know it…), by showing test results from different manufacturers. The first article:
This article, as expected, got a lot of attention: very positive from consumers with some not so happy sellers. The article had major effects on the creatine industry at the time. My follow up article, with additional testing, was refused by the magazine who published the first, due to the amount of (unexpected I suspect) heat they received from advertisers, etc. Follow up was:
“What’s Really in Your Supplements? – An Update on Creatine Purity”
So, fast forward to late 2010. The creatine industry has changed considerably since writing the two above articles. I’m planning to do a new version for 2011, but I’ll add this study below, that found a few sample tested had AAS in them, probably added. The study below is interesting, and a breakthrough in terms of how one creatine can be tested for its origin using IRMS looking at different ratios of isotopes. I recommend reading the full paper if the topic is of real interest, as the abstract gives little details. Warning: the full paper is one mind bender of a paper that will challenge all neurons. 
Analytical Methods Authenticity control and identification of origin of synthetic creatine-monohydrate by isotope ratio mass spectrometry
Food Chemistry Volume 125, Issue 2 , 15 March 2011, Pages 767-772
Frank Hülsemann. et al. a Institute of Biochemistry, German Sport University Cologne, Germany b The German Research Centre of Elite Sport, German Sport University Cologne, Germany
Abstract
Synthetic creatine-monohydrate is consumed as a dietary supplement (DS) worldwide. Up to now no analytical technique for authenticity control or identification of origin of creatine-monohydrate products has been reported. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) of different creatine-monohydrate samples was performed allowing to differentiate between production sites located either in Germany or China. The results obtained indicate that the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of industrially synthesised creatine-monohydrate depends on the isotopic composition of the raw materials rather than on different production processes. Statistical pattern recognition of isotope data allowed for classification of most of the creatine-monohydrates sold as DS into German and non-German origin, respectively. Four DS, cross-contaminated with anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), could not be allocated to a single producer. This suggests that contamination with AAS did not occur during synthesis, but during handling by the distributors.
Stay tuned…
CEE Converts to Creatinine and Should be Avoided
Not long ago I wrote a blog called the “Creatine Graveyard” where I took a look at the various “high tech” forms of creatine (see list in the Graveyard blog) with a specific focus on Creatine Ethyl Ester (CEE) as a study had just been published putting CEE in a less than positive light.
The study found found CEE to be inferior to creatine monohydrate (CM) and so, CEE was dumped into he graveyard along with a bunch of others. No big shock to yours truly, additional research appears to confirm CEE is a poor choice for a replacement for CM, and now we have this latest study that finds CEE converts to creatinine (which has no ergogenic effects), which = people using CEE are throwing their hard earned $$$ away as far as I am concerned.
This study concludes “creatine ethyl ester is a pronutrient for creatinine rather than creatine under all physiological conditions encountered during transit through the various tissues, thus no ergogenic effect is to be expected from supplementation.”
In other words, as I’ve been saying for a long time now , stop wasting your money…
What Will Brink Uses For Supplements
I’m often asked what I use personally for supplements, or what brands I personally use, and other questions regarding supplements I prefer. So, instead of writing out a long list of supplements and other info, I thought I would take people for a video tour of my personal supplement stash which will (hopefully!) answer most questions I get about which supplements I personally use. Now, what I use may or may not be what YOU should use, so this is not a video endorsing or recommending anything beyond what I have in my personal supplement intake. Enjoy!
Strength and muscle mass are two of the most important components of healthy living in older men and women. If you don’t have strength, every activity is going to be harder than it should be. Fortunately, you can prepare for your later years by building strength and muscle with the help of two nutritional supplements.
Readers of the March 2003 issue of Life Extension magazine should recall the long list of potential medical, performance and anti-aging effects of creatine. The article outlined the substantial body of research that found creatine may help with diseases effecting the neuro muscular system, such as muscular dystrophy and may have therapeutic applications in aging populations, wasting syndromes, muscle atrophy, fatigue, myopathies, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and other mitochondrial cytopathies. Several studies have shown it may reduce cholesterol by up to 15% and has been used to correct certain inborn errors of metabolism, such as people born without the enzyme(s) responsible for making creatine.
Although creatine offers an array of benefits, most people think of it simply as a supplement that bodybuilders and other athletes use to gain strength and muscle mass. Nothing could be further from the truth…
A substantial body of research has found that creatine may have a wide variety of uses. In fact, creatine is being studied as a supplement that may help with diseases affecting the neuromuscular system, such as muscular dystrophy (MD). Recent studies suggest creatine may have therapeutic applications in aging populations for wasting syndromes, muscle atrophy, fatigue, gyrate atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and other brain pathologies. Several studies have shown creatine can reduce cholesterol by up to 15% and it has been used to correct certain inborn errors of metabolism, such as in people born without the enzyme(s) responsible for making creatine. Some studies have found that creatine may increase growth hormone production.
