Question for Bryan

[Fausto]

Hi Bryan

I have just been asked a question regarding the above.

This guy was a provincial champion before and has been off for a while, well he started again recently and decided to take up HST and is apparently very happy with it.

Anyway he asked me whether he could take creatine whilst having low blood sugar levels, whilst I don't know that much biochemistry I answered that there shouldn't be problems as creatine should be taken with a carbohydrate and seeing that he has low BS levels then he could even take more sugar to try and counter that as when yopu train you deplete carbs in a big way.And creatine really speeds up protein synthesis by lending a phosphate to the atp to adp reaction from one carbohydrate to another in say for instance glycogenesis, isn't that right, please enlighten me as my biochem is really rusty!

However I am not too happy with my answer and would like a more scientific approach and who can better answer this than you???

One thing that has been in my mind for a while is that HST might take oof like wildfire here in South Africa, have you any promoters down here? How would you go about doing this (on a part time basis)?


Cheers

Fausto

 

[Fausto]

Bryan or anybody else for that matter!!!

I'd really like to hear some opinions on this matter,guys, pleeeease!

Without sounding like a pain in the ....!!!


Fausto

 

[Aaron_F]

Why does he have low blood sugar? Dietary induced or other?

Creatine can be taken anytime, sure there may be increased absorbtion with carbs, but it matters little. Overtime the levels will get to their maximum wether you load, take it with carbs or anything.

 

[Fausto]

Aaron

I think it is some kind of Blood sugar condition, silmilar to diabetes albeit the other way around.

That is why I asked, I must confess I am still not clear.

Hey I didn't know that about creatine I thought that if you don't take the carbs it doesn't absorb readily, thanks man.

Cheers

Fausto

 

[Fausto]

Bryan

I'd still like to hear your scientific approach to this!

Can you feedback please??

Fausto

 

[Yanik]

I might be a little rusty, but creatine and blood sugar levels have no effect on each other. Creatine phosphate bonds with ADP to make ATP, thus providing you with more energy, glycogen has nothing to do with it. Also, you are not required to ingest creatine with carbs. Muscle creatine saturation can be achieved by taking 5g 5x/day with meals, the meals will produce a sufficient rise in insulin to shuttle to the creatine into the muscles. Imagine inducing 5 insulin spikes during the day, by the end of the week you'll become the pillsbury doughboy. In short Hypoglycemia has nothing do to with creatine loading/maintaining.

 

[Bryan Haycock]

Creatine is taken up into cells by the creatine transporter. It is a sodium (Na+) dependant transporter. It is estimated that 2Na+ are transported with each Cr molecule.

The transporter is saturable. Meaning, it can only go so fast no matter how much creatine is present around the cell.

The creatine transporter is NOT directly effected by glucose, insulin, or caffeine. However, when insulin reaches very high levels, it has been shown to increase the amount of creatine that is taken up into cells. There is no evidence that it increases the total amount that the cell can hold.

Caffeine does not inhibit the uptake of creatine into cells.

There is no evidence that "low blood sugar" will be effected by creatine supplementation.

 

[Fausto]

Ha...thanks Bryan and Yanick

A real answer after all this, as I had thought, I was half way there, albeit a little rusty.

There is another question though, slight change, someone I know took creatine and a protein powder as recommended by his trainer (some nut with a degree in exercise physiology or something like it&#33, he is into professional cricket and he's gymming now to bulk up strenghten his batting power etc, it turns out he started getting cramps, so he was recommended to drop it, just like that!  

I told his girlfriend when asked that, he was probably not drinking enough water, I believe creatine is known to use up some water, quite a bit in fact, and to store it in your muscles, that is why one's is recommended to take twice the water while on creatine, is that right?  

Anyway, I think that his trainer is rather silly not to investigate further before dropping the whole issue, this type of thing happens so often when people with degrees, specially in this field, recommend this and that and at the end of the day use people like "lab rats", and when the results do not work according to whatever theory they have believed in....they tell people to just drop it!  

Shame, I think craetine is a good product, specially to build up one's strength and somewhat the build itself, but it must be taken in with the right amounts of water and within a certain period of time...am I right?  

Anyway, I took a form of creatine before with built in carbs etc and it worked well...I never got cramps and I buit up my strentgh considerably.


Any thoughts?  

Fausto

 

[Fausto]

Bryan

Can you follow up on the last question??

Just some good advice, not that I haven't already given it, but I also like to substanciate!

Fausto

 

[Fausto]

Bryan? Anyone?

I don't like to be a nuisance, but would like something else to add here!

Fausto