The problem is that many of the alternative forms of creatine have never been tested in independent, peer-reviewed, scientific studies. In lieu of these, however, we are left with the claims of the manufacturers, which may, or may not, be substantiated. With a clear conscious I cannot simply repeat the words of a given creatine producer (no matter how compelling) and divorce myself of responsibility. This is my dilemma.

One thing I can say for sure, however, is that good “old fashioned” creatine monohydrate contains more creatine per gram of powder than all these other formulations. You therefore need to take less creatine monohydrate powder and drink less of its mixture, as smaller amounts will dissolve in smaller volumes of liquid. A better dissolved creatine solution will also translate into more creatine ultimately getting into your muscles and conversely, less of it running straight through your system and then being discarded (unused) in your stools. Because of this potential drawback, the marketing strategy of many newer forms of creatine is to proclaim greater solubility and bioavailability.

At room temperature (20 degrees Celcius, more or less) five grams of creatine monohydrate dissolves in about 350 mls (12 ounces) of water. This value, however, can be increased with heat; warmer temperatures increases creatine monohydrate’s solubility. That is, a given quantity of creatine monohydrate will fully dissolve in a smaller volume of water, if warmed:

Temperature-Dependence of Solubility of Creatine Monohydrate
5 gms creatine monohydrate dissolves in 833 ml (28 ounces) at 4°C
5 gms creatine monohydrate dissolves in 357 ml (12 ounces) at 20°C
5 gms creatine monohydrate dissolves in 147 ml (5 ounces) at 50°C
5 gms creatine monohydrate dissolves in 111 ml (3 3/4 ounces) at 60°C

It is ok to warm your creatine monohydrate solution a bit as long as you drink it soon afterwards, as to avoid any degradation of creatine into creatinine.

This last point is explained in more detail in this post: “What is creatinine and why should I care?”:
http://creatine-blog.com/what-is-creatinine-and-why-should-i-care-part-3/

In subsequent posts I will discuss other methods to increase creatine’s solubility and bioavailability as well as help interpret scientific studies examining the efficacy of alternative creatine forms. Stay tuned…

Until then, check out these other valuable pages analyzing other creatine forms.

Increasing Creatine’s Bioavailability: An Interview of Dr. Ralf Jäger
http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine_newsletter_37.html

Creatine: Powder or Serum?:
http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine_newsletter_27.html

Is serum a hoax?:
http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine_newsletter_28.html

Last post, I wrote about the virtues of a form of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), commonly referred to as MGF, short for MechanoGrowth Factor. MGF, could very well also be coined EGF, for Exercise Growth Factor, as the mechanical stimulus that activates its expression and is inherent in its name (MGF) is simply EXERCISE. I ended the post with the speculation that the expression of MGF might be augmented in response to creatine supplementation. Although, yet unproven in scientific studies, the possibility has profound clinical possibilities. This would mean that creatine supplementation per se might produce some of the benefits of exercise – but without exercise. Creatine supplementation would then have great promise for use in the elderly and the injured. This is just speculation at the moment, but nonetheless very provocative…

This page describes how creatine use might be used to promote rehabilitation of a muscle injury: Creatine, Injury and Rehabilitation

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Have you ever really thought about why it is so adamantly preached that exercise must be followed by sufficient rest for maximal muscle growth? Training a muscle group too frequently and/or resting insufficiently are the roots of an insidious condition known as Overtraining Syndrome (OTS). Overtraining is an easy trap for any overzealous athlete to fall into and can be truly frustrating as gains in strength and muscle mass become harder to achieve despite (and because of) increasing one’s training efforts… Most of us have been warned of the dangers of overtraining and in practical terms, it makes sense to us. But, what is really going on at the molecular level, inside the muscle cell, to make it so sensitive to training density and what is within our reach to placate the drawbacks of overtraining and hence, maximize muscle regeneration? This week we’ll look into the genetic and molecular basis of one extremely important aspect of overtraining that can rob you of gains, if proactive measures are NOT taken to effectively counteract it.

This post gives easy to implement advice as to avoid overtraining syndrome: 3 Simple Tips to Overcoming Overtraining Syndrome

According to some scientific studies MGF and canonical IGF-1 work in cohorts. Both MGF and IGF-1 must act in the correct order and balance for muscle development to occur. Precisely, exercise awakens the muscle stem cell pool by producing MGF, whereas IGF-1E is called into action following a delay, once exercise has terminated and after the myoblast pool has expanded sufficiently. IGF-1’s job is to then induce a change in motivation of the muscle stem cells after a day (or so) to cease dividing and instead, to physically fuse with existing muscles to augment their size, and possibly the quantity of muscle fibers. The process of fortifying muscle fibers consumes most of the muscle stem cells produced because of MGF. In essence, IGF-1 depletes the muscle stem cell pool, whereas MGF replenishes it, which has important implications for regenerative and geriatric medicines though, both are necessary for muscle development.

If it were not for MGF that provokes muscle stem cells to increase in number after each bout of exercise, the existing stem cell pool would become depleted after just a few consecutive rounds of muscle growth. Unfortunately, as we grow older exercise is less effective at releasing MGF, which leads to a steady loss of muscle mass with time. Fortunately, living an active lifestyle, getting plenty of good quality rest and eating well extends one’s ability to produce MGF (in response to exercise) later in life.

Important: Muscles must metabolically primed to produce the most MGF, fastest. If MGF levels are not sufficiently elevated by exercise, for whatever reason, the muscle stem cell pool would not increase in number sufficiently and the muscle that is subsequently produced by IGF-1 would be feeble. It is therefore imperative that MGF levels rise as high as possible after exercise and then recede sufficiently for IGF-1 expression to have the greatest effect. It is my belief that part of the catabolic consequences of Overtraining Syndrome can be attributed to an upset in the balance of MGF and IGF-1.

I my next post I will explain how to use creatine supplementation to strengthen the ability of MGF and IGF-1 to promote muscle regeneration. Until then...

Last post, I explained how certain studies have suggested that creatine supplementation stimulates muscle cells to express the Insulin-like Growth Factors Type 1, IGF-1s. This is potentially a very important effect, clinically as well as athletically, as these essential anabolic factors are responsible for the development of muscle, bones, heart, and blood vessels. In reality, the growth of most of our body mass is under the control of the IGF-1s. These findings give creatine supplementation an entirely new dimension.

Go here for more information about the Insulin-Like Growth Factors Type 1: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine_newsletter_33.html

In reality, several different versions of IGF-1 (isoforms) are produced from the same strand of DNA (gene) depending on the needs of the organism; one IGF-1 isoform awakens the muscle stem cell pool (phase 1), whereas another isoform facilitates the transformation of these now activated stem cells into contractile (force generating) muscle fibers (phase 2).

Intriguingly, one particularly rare isoform of IGF-1 appears to be specifically activated by physical activity; that is, by exercise. This isoform has become known as Mechano-Growth Factor, or MGF, as it is recruited by the “mechanical” stimulation that is exercise. On the mechanistic level, MGF awakens the muscle stem cell pool (phase 1). On the other hand, a more commonly expressed isoform of IGF-1 is the one reputed to promote the maturation of muscle stem cells (phase 2), yet is relatively insensitive to mechanical stimulation. It remains to be shown which IFG-1 isoform(s) is(are) put into play by creatine.

Read about all the latest creatine research here: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatineguide

The implication is that when one is unable to exercise, because of old age, disease, injury, etc., MGF levels would drop and muscle regeneration would be inhibited at the very onset of the process, phase 1, the activation of the muscle stem cell pool. This is one reason we lose so much muscle mass when a limb is immobilized with a cast, for example. This condition is known as immobilization atrophy.

Most intriguingly, as creatine was shown to exert this positive effect over IGF-1s expression (MGF?) in isolated muscle cells in tissue culture (not within an animal), that is, in muscle cells that were not subjected to movement, the possibility exists that creatine supplementation might be able to mimic the molecular response of exercise (MGF expression) in individuals that are unable to exercise. That is, creatine supplementation might partially bypass the need for exercise (to maintain muscle mass) in persons with restricted mobility, for whatever reason…

This would truly be an exciting result. Obviously, the clinical implications of this potential benefit of creatine supplementation would be huge!

We are now on Facebook! Let us know what you think and how we can make it even better. Through this new interface we will continue bringing you the most recent and relevant fitness and nutrition tips based on scientific studies, not hearsay: http://www.facebook.com/NutritionalSupplementsNewsletters

In subsequent posts, I will explain how to optimize your creatine use to extract this potential anabolic benefit; that is, how to best combine creatine use with exercise to enhance the expression of the IGF-1s.

Exercise stimulates muscle growth; hardly anyone would argue with this assertion. In essence, muscle adapts to the additional load you are placing on it by growing. Think of this developmental process as a type of memory. Muscle is anticipating the new heights in physical activity (exercise) that you will be imposing on it. But, as most things in life, this is only a temporary response. And, just as in mental terms, where one can forget a memory if not reminded, muscles will become smaller (memory lost) if not worked (reminded). Admittedly, sort of a strange way of thinking about it but, welcome to my world…

So, train your brain and train your body. Test both on a regular basis and they will stay stronger for longer.

Now, back to the point at hand. One of the most fundamental ways that muscle enhances its potential for growth is by producing and locally releasing IGF-1. In response to exercise (mechanical stimulation) the IGF-1 gene is read (transcribed), converted into protein (translated) and locally released into the community of surrounding muscle. IGF-1 then acts as a trigger to stimulate muscle development. How this is actually achieved is still not fully understood, though I have my ideas. This will be the topic of a future post. The important point to remember for now, however, is that muscle activity produces IGF-1 – for the local use by muscle – that then acts to stimulate muscle development.

Go here for more information about the IGF-1s: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine_newsletter_33.html

It was thus somewhat surprising that IGF-1 expression could also be induced in response to a simple nutritional intervention even in the absence of mechanical input. I purposefully use the term “mechanical input” in this instance because these results were obtained in muscle cells outside an animal and maintained in artificial conditions known as tissue culture… In this made-made environment you can stretch muscle cells as well as provoke them to contract with electrical signals - but one cannot accurately call this form of cellular activity exercise…

The simple nutrition maneuver I alluded to earlier, the one that instigates IGF-1 production without “mechanical” stimulation, is nothing other than creatine monohydrate added to the solution (media) bathing the cells. This was a rather exciting result in the field.

Obviously, the hope was that creatine would do the same in an intact human being. That is, that creatine could stimulate IGF-1 production in a person despite being incapable of training for whatever reason, injury, illness, old age…

The story continues….

Read about the latest creatine research here: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatineguide

In previous posts I have stressed the importance of the IGF-1s (Insulin-like growth factors, type 1) in promoting body growth. To reiterate the main message of my last (post): the IGF-1s are likely to be our most important growth promoters, particularly with reference to all types of muscle, bone and connective tissues. Importantly, these are the tissues an athlete must fortify in order to continue making gains.

Not too long ago, however, it was believed (wrongly) that the only way to produce IGF-1 was in response to another hormone called Growth Hormone; it is by no coincidence that “growth” is explicitly stated in this important hormone’s name. This story has recently been revised, which has very important implications for how an athlete trains, rests and eats...

Go here for more information about the IGF-1s: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine_newsletter_33.html

There are Two Pathways that Produce IGF-1:

Pathway 1 (traditionally recognized): Growth Hormone Stimulates IGF-1 Production for Systemic Distribution

Particularly, while we sleep, IGF-1 is produced from the liver in response to Growth Hormone (GH) that in turn, is released from a gland at the base of the brain called the anterior pituitary. Thus, the old dogma states that GH (released from the brain) stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1 distally, that then enters the blood stream to stimulate muscle and bone growth systemically; that is, delivered via the blood derived fluids that baths all our muscles and bones. This was known as the GH axis.

Importantly, the GH-mediated rise in IGF-1 is most pronounced while we sleep, declines in advanced age and is attenuated by heavy alcohol consumption, helping to explain the anabolic effects of rest and alcohol moderation…

See this link for more information about Growth Hormone: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/growth_hormone.html

Pathway 2: Muscle Makes its Own IGF-1 for Local Use

We’ll it turns out that muscle does not (more precisely, cannot) simply wait for the brain “to decide” when it needs IGF-1. Muscle has thus evolved a way of producing its own supply of IGF-1 on demand, when challenged by a physical stress. That is, exercise. Exercise is one of the most potent stimulators of local IGF-1 production by muscle.  Nonetheless, the IGF-1 produced by muscle can also reach neighboring tissues such as bone, to assist in their development as well.

Exercise-induced IGF-1 production makes practical sense and “feels right” for must of us as our practical experience has shown us that exercise causes muscle growth and increases our strength. Even more, not exercising causes our muscles to shrink, or atrophy. Why do you think?

A Trick to Optimize Muscular IGF-1 Production

An unexpected nutritional intervention has been recently shown to augment the expression of IGF-1 in isolated muscle cells grown outside the animal, independently of exercise. That is, though muscle cells in a plastic dish can’t undertake training, they respond to this nutritional intervention just the same.  Obviously, this has important implications for the athlete or clinician trying to promote muscle or bone development. How to put this into play in “real” terms will be the topic of subsequent posts.

If you are in a hurry for the answer click here: http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/creatine guide