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Creatine, Kre-Alkalyn Everything You Need to Know!
Creatine is one of the most widely utilized sports supplements for one key reason - it works.
Overview/Background:
Let's start off with a little background information about creatine before talking about its many benefits (which have been clinically proven, by the way) as well as the best form - Kre-Alkalyn (the most readily absorbed form).Did you know that creatine is naturally produced in your body? That's right. Your body synthesizes creatine from arginine, glycine and methionine. And, 95% of all the creatine in your body is found in your skeletal muscle cells.
You may have heard that certain foods, such as fish or meat contain creatine - this is true - however, cooking generally destroys most of the creatine - so, the only reliable way for you to increase creatine in your body is through supplementation - not food sources.
So, how was creatine discovered?
Creatine's history goes back many years - it's believed to have been discovered in the 1830s by a French scientist analyzing the organic constituents of meat. Much later, in the 1970s, Russian scientists conducted extensive research on creatine and were the first to report creatine supplementation could improve athletic performance. But, it wasn't until the 1990s that creatine gained wide-spread popularity as a natural way to boost athletic performance and build lean muscle mass - this surge in popularity also led to more research.
Today, over 2-dozen controlled, clinical studies support the benefits of creatine supplementation for improving athletic performance - specifically for higher intensity, repeated activities - such as weight lifting, sprinting, and jumping.
Benefits/Results:
How does it work & what can it do for you? OK, so how exactly does creatine enhance performance - what does it offer you? As mentioned above, over 2-dozen studies support creatine's beneficial effects in enhancing athletic performance.
Specifically, creatine plays a critical role in boosting cellular energy as it helps to regenerate ATP in muscle cells - ATP is one of the key sources of cellular energy. What this means is that your muscle cells have more "power/energy" available for contraction.
With more creatine in your muscles you can now train harder and thus increase your strength and muscle size beyond what you otherwise could achieve!
Additionally, creatine increases the amount of water each muscle cell holds - thus increasing the size of the cell along with its functionality. In general, about 70% of a muscle cell's volume is water.
It's for these reasons that creatine is most often marketed as a bodybuilding or "strength/muscle enhancing" supplement - because it's very useful for stimulating muscle growth and enhancing muscle power. Let's talk specifics about results - the results are what we're after, right? Several studies indicate that creatine supplementation can increase total body mass, lean body mass (muscle mass) and also strength. These results appear consistent in men and women. One such study conducted in 2003 at Northern State University titled, "The Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Body Composition, Muscular Strength and Power", tracked 36 athletes for 10 weeks. Half of the test group was given a placebo and the other half given creatine - all 36 participated in a weight training program for the 10 week trial.
Keep in mind these results were achieved with regular weight training (three days/week in the study) - it's doubtful that a sedentary person would realize much benefit from creatine supplementation due to its mechanism of action - you have to workout/lift to get the benefits!
Safety/Side Effects:
No obvious, serious adverse effects have been linked to prolonged use of creatine - prolonged meaning periods exceeding 5 years. However, some users have reported stomach upset and water retention/bloating. Both of these issues are associated with "regular" or creatine monohydrate - but not Kre-Alkalyn - and are due to creatine monohydrate's relatively poor ability to be absorbed by muscle cells.
The stomach upset some experience is likely due to the creatine monohydrate not completely dissolving prior to ingestion. As a result, the body seeks to dissolve the creatine by "pulling" water from other cells - when undissolved, unabsorbed creatine reaches your stomach, the effect is thus stomach upset - elsewhere it's generalized water retention/bloating. Again, both of these issues stem from creatine monohydrate's relatively poor ability to be absorbed by muscle cells. Kre-Alkalyn, however, offers all the benefits discussed above, but without the stomach upset and water retention some users experience.
Kre-Alkalyn - What is it?
To fully appreciate why Kre-Alkalyn is the best form of creatine available, you need a bit of background / history on creatine supplementation. In the past, creatine supplementation was only possible with "regular" creatine - in monohydrate form. The problem with creatine monohydrate is that once ingested, most of it very quickly converts to toxic creatinine. A variety of unfavorable side effects can result from increased creatinine levels, among them are stomach cramps and bloating, diarrhea, water retention and dehydration. These side effects are caused by your body's attempt to reduce the effect of the toxic creatinine, by diluting it with water.
Kre-Alkalyn is superior (and by the way was awarded a patent - # 6,399,661 ) because it's creatine in a form which is buffered during the manufacturing process to pH12 or greater. This means that it remains completely stable when mixed with water - or ingested - no breakdown into creatinine! In short, the patented process that results in Kre-Alkalyn provides you with the ONLY form of creatine that passes intact into your blood stream. And, by the way, because of this efficiency only a fraction of the dosage of creatine (when compared to creatine monohydrate) is required to get fantastic results!
The bottom line is that with Kre-Alkalyn you can consume less (save money!) and get greater benefits!
Of course, many supplement companies have now caught on to the value of Kre-Alkalyn, and there are now many different brands to choose from. So, which is best?
Top Recommendation for Kre-Alkalyn (click!)
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