Nutritional supplements can improve sports performance, but it is important to know the effects of each substance. Understanding whether creatine makes you fat or lose weight, for example, is an essential factor in defining its use according to your training goals.
With use regulated by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), creatine is one of the most used supplements today.
To get an idea, the substance was at the top of the ranking of best-selling products on the Free Market in 2022.
The results of supplementation can be positive, but the indication for use varies according to each person’s goals, needs and organism.
Therefore, it is essential to seek medical advice before starting any nutritional supplementation.
To find out if creatine makes you fat, you need to understand its effects on the body. Understand how the substance acts in the body and how it can influence the practice of physical exercises.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a substance naturally present in the human body and in foods of animal origin, such as fish and red meat, used in nutritional supplements with the aim of improving performance in the practice of physical exercises.
In the body, the substance is synthesized by the liver, pancreas and kidneys, and is stored in skeletal muscles – a muscle group with voluntary movement.
After all, does taking creatine gain weight or lose weight?
Creatine can help in the process of gaining muscle mass, as it is stored in the muscles and also contributes to an increase in water in the region.
Second study carried out by the Department of Food and Experimental Nutrition at USP (University of São Paulo), it is a gain in body mass motivated by the increase in lean mass.
In this context, creatine tends to increase the body’s muscle weight, which may reflect on the scale. However, this does not necessarily mean an increase in body fat.
This is because the substance used in nutritional supplements has a minimum caloric value, having an effect associated with increased muscle mass.
“Creatine helps with weight loss, but what makes you lose weight or gain weight is your diet”, explains personal trainer Rafael Castro.
What are the effects of creatine on the body?
The main function of the substance in the body is to provide energy to the body during the practice of physical activities, but it is important to pay attention to the dosage in supplementation.
In an interview with CNN, nutritionist Isabella Lacerda said that the supplement is safe, but the need for use varies from person to person and excess can be harmful.
“There are people who take 20 grams a day thinking that the more the better, and the daily dose is 3 to 5g a day. Excess creatine, combined with a lack of water intake, can overload the kidneys, which is a danger”, explained the specialist.
Understand the main effects of creatine on the body.
Reduces fatigue
The improvement in physical performance is one of the effects cited by studies such as the published by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, which analyzes the action of the substance during anaerobic exercises.
Anaerobic exercises are practices of short duration and greater intensity, modality with more effective response to the use of supplementation to reduce fatigue, according to the research.
Another relation, made by the USP research cited above, is about the increase in hydrogen ions as one of the factors responsible for “delaying” the feeling of fatigue during high-intensity practices.
Increase lean mass
Creatine is one of the supplements most used by those looking to gain muscle mass and is one of the effects of the substance on the body, a result of a number of factors.
One of these factors is the inhibition of myostatin, responsible for regulating muscle growth, which favors muscle gain, as described in article published by the Journal of Sports Medicine.
However, nutritionist Isabella clarifies that the indication of supplementation for hypertrophy is not an absolute rule.
“For mass gain, it may be interesting to use supplements, but it varies from case to case. I have several patients in the office for mass gain and there is no supplement for them because they don’t need it.”, clarified the specialist.
Individuals who have a high concentration of creatine in their muscles, for example, have a less effective response to supplementation.
This was what the study carried out by the Department of Food and Experimental Nutrition at USP showed, which analyzed the existence of a limit for the uptake of the substance by the organism.
builds muscle strength
According to study published by the Brazilian Journal of Sports Medicine, creatine has a beneficial effect on muscle strength due to a number of factors, such as:
- increase in muscle glycogen;
- increase in intramuscular phosphorylcreatine;
- agility in regenerating phosphorylcreatine during exercise;
- reduction in relaxation time in the process of muscle contraction.
The article highlighted that supplementation combined with strength training can provide more effective results in relation to strength capacity.
fluid retention
According to the USP article, creatine has high osmotic power – that is, water attraction and retention in muscle cells. As a result, there is an increase in the volume of water in the body.
Therefore, one of the effects of the substance in the body may be water retention, related by some specialists to muscle mass gain, according to the article.
The study released by the Brazilian Journal of Sports Medicine, highlighted in the previous item, also evaluates the relationship of this osmotic capacity in the protein synthesis carried out by the body.
Does creatine make you fat if you don’t work out?
After all, is creatine fattening when supplementation is not combined with physical training?
According to the USP study, what can happen is weight gain related to muscle mass, justified by the hypothesis of water retention.
As a result of the substance’s osmotic potential, water retention within the muscles can lead to an increase in muscle volume and, therefore, weight gain.
The substance itself is not a caloric supplement and therefore does not tend to generate body fat accumulation.
“What it can do is liquid retention, but it is intracellular. That’s why it gives the appearance of swelling, but it’s because it takes more nutrients into the cells”, explains specialist Rafael Castro.
However, the combination of training and supplementation presents better results in the hypertrophy process than supplementation or training performed alone, according to the article in the Brazilian Journal of Sports Medicine.
The use of supplementation should be carried out under nutritional guidance, after assessing the individual needs and goals of each individual.
Who wants to lose weight can take creatine?
Creatine does not have a direct role in weight loss, but it can help in gaining lean mass, acting in the healthy process of weight loss.
In addition, the substance has low caloric value and can enhance the training performed with the aim of reducing body weight.
In this context, creatine can contribute to the performance of physical activities from its ability to provide energy to the body.
“Creatine helps to lose weight in the sense of improving muscle capacity, which generates more hypertrophy and muscle mass gain. The more muscle mass, the greater the caloric expenditure, so it can help in that way too”, clarifies Rafael Castro.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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