Creatine Expert: Creatine Is The Secret To Weight Loss

A healthy brain likely doesn't need any. creatine. But what if you're stressed? What about sleep deprivation? Night. shift workers, university students. cramming for a midterm, then all of a. sudden the healthy brain becomes a. metabolically stressed brain. And most. people fall into the stressed. environment, and that's where creatine. comes to the rescue. And we'll talk. about how much, but the more stressed it. is, the higher the dose seems to come. into play. >> And is there anyone that shouldn't take. creatine? >> Well, I published over 120 papers just. on creatine alone. We've done at least. 30 to 40 studies in our lab, and I can't.

find anybody that can't or shouldn't. take creatine. So, for example, at. recommended dosages, creatine can not. only have potential anti-cancer. properties, it really speed up. rehabilitation, and there's a lot of. hope, especially around Alzheimer's. >> And what about kids? >> The current body of evidence suggests. they want to get at least 1 g per day. because in children they want to have. optimization for bone health as well as. muscle development. And so, I'm. fascinated that this nutrient, discovered in 1832, like boring for the. longest time as having these profound. benefits we never even thought would. happen. And [music] so, your viewers.

today will be surprised about some of. the things I'm going to talk about, including microdosing. >> And we've got this thing here in front. of us. This is the dosing dilemma. You. know, I want to talk about how much I. need to take for all these [music]. things. And I want to talk about. nutrition, protein, weight training, etc. But before that, you've got five. myths in front of you. Can you reveal. one by one what they are? >> So, this is Oh, I can't believe you did. this one to me. Creatine causes hair. loss. I was going bald before I started. taking creatine. Myth number two. Oh, so. this is by far the biggest myth, and. that is.

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to hit that subscribe button and to. double check if you've hit it. Only. thing I'll ever ask of you. Do we have a deal? If you do it, I'll tell you what I'll. do. I'll make sure. every single week, every single month, we fight harder and harder and harder. and harder to bring you the guests and. conversations that you want to hear. I've stayed true to that promise since. the very beginning of The Diary of a. CEO, and I will not let you down. Please. help us. Really appreciate it. Let's get. on with the show. >> [music]. >> Dr. Darren. Candow. >> What is the mission that you're on in.

your life? >> I think right now would be to promote. health and make people live longer free. of disease. It's fascinating how we've. transcended our understanding of weight. training, and now weight training is. seeming to have these profound effects. that cardiovascular exercise has, and it. gives you a bit more. So, really. focusing now on the benefits of lifting. things around the house and how exercise. and then, of course, nutrition, we're. going to talk about creatine, but also. how other macronutrients, especially. protein, come into play. And then when.

you combine those two, are we doing. enough to optimize longevity? And we. hope that we are. Yeah. >> And so, what are the reference points. you're drawing on? How do you know the. things you know? Are you doing your own. research? >> Yeah. So, I did my graduate school in. Canada, cell biology degree, and then I. moved into my master's and PhD looking. in kinesiology. So, it's interesting. that I fell into creatine. supplementation research by accident. I. was doing my master's on an amino acid. called glutamine, and at the time, about. 20-30 years ago, glutamine was the. biggest rage. Everybody was taking this.

non-essential amino acid and hoping that. it would have body composition. improvements. Uh and I sort of. determined it was worthless in young. healthy individuals from a body. composition uh standpoint. And at the. same time, a good colleague of mine was. doing creatine. And I started to notice these young. biological males were getting bigger, stronger, faster. And then another. study, bigger, stronger, faster. And then when you go to the research on. creatine, it was very stimulating in a. sense that we're now improving things. that we know with aging go down. So then.

I turn my focus completely to healthy. aging and trying to get, you know, grandparents and great-grandparents and. your parents to live longer free of. disease. But wait, let's start young. Start as early as you can and move. forward, yeah. >> And so you got really compelled by. creatine. I want to talk about all these. things, um nutrition, protein, weight. training, etc. But on the subject of. creatine, what was it that compelled you. so much to start you did start doing. your own research on creatine. >> I did and I started to take creatine. So, you know, it was this natural. metabolite that we're synthesizing in.

the liver and brain. If you take a. little bit more, not a lot, just a. little bit more than what we're probably. taking in from the food uh sources such. as red meat and seafood, can it have. benefits and sure enough it's now the. most researched supplement out there. It's overtaken protein and caffeine uh. from an ergogenic perspective. And it's. gone global, not just for males, but of. course uh females and centenarians and. elderly. So, it's very fascinating the. explosion in this research part. >> What is the sort of um I don't. evolutionary backdrop, but I guess.

physiological backdrop of why humans. need creatine, but also why they might. not be getting optimal amounts. >> Yeah, that's a great question. So, uh. adenosine triphosphate or ATP is the. energy currency of all our cells and. think of your muscle doing work or. shoveling the driveway or walking, you're using your muscles and you need. to maintain that level of energy to to. maintain exercise. Well, creatine comes. to the rescue to help maintain your. energy currency. So, if Batman, which. gets all the press, is ATP, Robin is.

creatine. Creatine comes to the rescue, it's his best friend to help maintain. these levels. Now, when you exercise at. a high intensity, you know, sprinting, weightlifting, those ATP stores do. become jeopardized and that's why. creatine sort of sacrifices itself uh to. come to the rescue. So, that's why. anaerobic sports The World Cup just. started. These individuals will be using. a lot of creatine stores in their. muscle. The question is, do they have. enough? And if they had more, could they. play better? >> And so, do our body makes creatine. naturally?

>> That's correct. It is making about 1 to. 3 g a day, but only in two areas. So, this will be quite shocking for people. We're only actually making it in the. liver and the brain. We don't make it in. skeletal muscle, but you store 95% in. our muscle. So, when it's being made in. the liver or brain, the brain will keep. it there, but in the liver it will get. transported in the blood up to your uh. skeletal muscle. The question is, well, what if we need more? And that's where. dietary creatine from red meat or. seafood or supplementation comes into. play.

>> So, are we deficient in creatine? >> There are small populations with, unfortunately, they were born with the. inability to synthesize creatine. Uh, they would have a deficiency, and they. are required to take supplementation. The other unique population is vegans. and vegetarians. So, vegan and. vegetarian diet is extremely healthy. The downfall though is they're not. getting any dietary creatine, cuz. creatine is only found in animal-based. flesh. So, red meat, seafood, and. poultry. They're naturally synthesizing. about 1 to 2, maybe even 3 g a day.

through amino acids in their food, but. vegans and vegetarians respond literally. the best on the planet, because now. they're taking in a supplement to allow. that in. >> And is it thought that historically we. would naturally have consumed more. creatine? >> That's a good point. So, back, you know, hunter and gatherer age, a lot of meat, they were consuming quite a bit through. dietary products. Just say if you only. wanted to get 3 g of creatine through. food, you'd have to eat quite a bit of. meat to do that. And then it comes into. the dilemma of what if you don't eat. meat, or you just can't afford it, you.

know. >> [clears throat]. >> Creatine has exploded over the recent. last couple of years. I I I saw a stat. that said, I think in women it had gone up to about. 3% of women take the creatine, and um, in men it's slightly higher. It's still a little bit lower in terms. of consumption in women from the stats. that I saw. And I think that in part is. because there's still some prevailing. myths about creatine. When I when I. speak to some of my friend people know. that I interview a lot of health experts. and scientists and PhDs on that have. done research on supplements. They ask. me the first question I get asked a lot.

is what are the supplements should I. definitely take? >> Yes. >> And when I mention creatine, it's always. met with a certain set of rebuttals. because there's some prevailing myths. You've got some myths. >> Yes. >> About creatine on the cards in front of. you. Can you reveal one by one what they. are? >> So, this is definitely the number one. myth. Creatine damages your kidneys. So, when you take in creatine to the body, it gets stored as creatine, but when you. metabolize it, sort of sort of thinking. leaking from the muscle, it gets leaked. out as creatinine. And most people. watching is like, oh, that was on my.

blood requisition form. And right below. creatinine was something called eGFR. So, glomerular filtration rate is an. estimation of your kidney health. So, the problem is when individuals on. creatine supplementation, they go to. their doctor for their annual blood. work, their creatinine might be a little. bit elevated, and that's only from the. breakdown of the the compound. And then, unfortunately, their filtration rate is. lower. So, then their doctor gets really. surprised, and they're like, stop taking. creatine because it's hurting your. kidneys. What typically happens they go back or.

stopping creatine, and then they check. their kidneys again, and it's fine. So, I would say 99 [snorts]. out of 100 times. that it's a false positive. So, this is. by far the biggest myth. And there's. been randomized control trials for. several years showing that creatine. causes no detrimental effects to the. kidneys. >> I had exactly that twice on my blood. tests. >> Yes. And if you're also creatinine could. be elevated if you're on a high meat. diet, a little bit dehydrated. So, those. that are exercising is very very. elevated. So, always tell your doctor. you're on creatine supplementation. because your creatinine could be a.

little bit higher. >> Okay. >> Yep. Myth number two. Creatine makes you. retain water. So, this is really. important. And I think this is one of. the main reasons females were really. hesitant to take creatine. If you take. too much too soon, it can lead to an. increase in water retention. So, you've probably heard of the. creatine loading phase. This is where. supplement companies want you to take. about 20 or 30 g a day for about 5 or 7. days. That has been shown to increase. water retention acutely. So, maybe it'll. reside there for about 3 to 5 days, but.

after that, when you go on a maintenance. phase of about 3 to 5 g a day, uh that. water retention goes away. So, in the initial stages, if done. improperly or too much, it can cause a. little bit of water retention. The good. news for everybody watching is after. about the first week, that water's. inside our muscle. So, now we're. volumizing the size of our muscle, sort. of like a balloon here is full of water. Now, after a while, the water's now. going into our muscle, it's a lot bigger. compared to a deflated balloon or muscle.

that didn't have any water. So, creatine. is osmotic. Water likes to follow. creatine, so by taking it into the. muscle, it gets a lot bigger, and that's. good because a swollen muscle stimulates. protein synthesis to get bigger and. stronger. >> Oh, really? A swollen muscle stimulates. protein synthesis? >> Synthesis, yeah. So, when you have water. coming in, that's a really good thing. And creatine does that, and that's one. of the main mechanisms why it works. >> So, what does that mean? Does that mean. that if I have creatine in my muscle, I'm more likely to gain muscle? >> That is potentially the the factor.

because when you're having or trapping. water, it turns on all these signaling. pathways that are involved in protein. synthesis. And And one of the biggest. robust evidence is that creatine. increases lean tissue mass and regional. muscle thickness with weight training. over time. >> Oh, wow. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, cuz a lot of people are concerned. that they're going to put on lots of. weight and be bloated with creatine. >> The interesting there is if you take. smaller more microdosing, there's hardly. any effect. And this might come. surprising, but if you did a 6-week. study, pre and post after creatine, you only. increase mass by 0.86 kg.

>> Oh, wow. >> And the majority of that is lean mass. So, at the end of the day, you know, a. pound and a half is not a lot. >> Lean mass. >> Lean mass, yeah. >> Which is. >> We think of lean mass, most people think. of it as muscle, but lean mass in our. body that includes water, connective. tissue, organs, as well as skeletal. muscle. And about 50% of our lean mass. is muscle. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Great. >> Okay, myth number three. Creatine is only for men. Uh this is. 100% false. When you go through the. totality of all the evidence, uh females.

respond extremely robustly to creatine. supplementation. They get profound. benefits in strength, endurance, and. performance. They lose a little bit of. body fat. So, there's another idea that. people thought water retention was. causing an increase in in fat mass. We've done some meta-analysis now. showing that creatine reduces fat mass. Uh females [snorts] get an increase in. lean mass as well. Uh and um happy this. one came up because from our lab with. bone health, females do respond very. favorably with creatine and bone. And we. can talk about that as well.

Myth number four. Oh, I can't believe you did this one to. me. Creatine causes hair loss. So, obviously looking at me and uh I'm a. prolific uh creatine researcher and. taking creatine religiously for like the. last two and a half decades, people. would look at me and say, "Well, obviously looking at him, creatine. caused this." And I was going bald. before I started taking creatine. This. myth came from a study in rugby players. decades ago uh where creatine about 20. 25 g a day for 7 days increased a.

hormone called DHT. It's a precursor for. testosterone, which unfortunately has. been linked to hair follicle loss and. thinning. Uh. but the ironic thing is when creatine. was given to these young males, the. hormone went up, but it was still within. the biological range, and no measure of. hair follicle thinning or loss uh was. done. The cool thing is just a few years. ago, they decided to put this uh theory. to the test, and 5 g in young males for. about 6 to 8 weeks of training caused no. uh detrimental effect from hair.

thinning, follicle loss. So, my. appearance was probably based on. something else. So, there's no evidence. to that as well. Myth number five, creatine causes muscle cramps. No, I. think this is so over played. When. creatine is taken into the body and. water will follow it, now you're super. hydrating the muscle. So, one of the. main issues with muscle cramps is it. could be, you know, dehydration in the. muscle. Some people have heard of sodium. potassium, that's why Gatorade was. invented. But if anything, sodium. decreases muscle cramps and it super.

hydrates. So, in the hotter. environments, June, July, August, creatine is going to be one of your best. friends. >> So, those are the five myths we took. there about weight training. What is. this very curious graph? It seems to. show that creatine. helped gain muscle mass through. a training regime? >> Oh, yes. So, this is actually showing. now that when you take creatine. supplementation, you're actually gaining. an improvement in training volume. So, when you go in the weight room, you look. at the load you're lifting by the reps.

by the sets. So, it actually goes up. And then when you don't, obviously it. would go down over time as well. So, the. cool thing here is that one of the main. reasons you get an enhancement in. performance is that creatine seems to. enhance training capacity. So, a lot of. people say I've taken creatine, now I. got an increase in the number of reps or. sets that I can perform. That probably. leads to a stimulation over time. >> So, this is a 8-week study? >> That is an 8-week study, very short term. as well. So, you can see that the number. of weeks came down when they weren't.

taking creatine and then when they. started to take it, it went up as well. And this leads to another important. point. So, and it's often not talked. about, when you take creatine for at. least a month, people say, "Well, how. long does it stay in my muscles if I go. on vacation? What if I can't take. creatine?" And in skeletal muscle, it. takes about a month for those elevated. levels to come back down. In the brain, we don't have a lot of. evidence, but it's speculated it takes. about anywhere between 5 weeks to about. 3 months for those elevations to come. back down.

>> And this essentially means that if I. take creatine, I will be able to train. harder. >> Harder or longer or more frequent. So, one of the things with creatine it. allows the muscle to recover quicker. So, you might be able to get back to the. you know, if an athlete's trained twice. a day. So, either one of those seems to be one. of the most possible mechanisms. >> And why is there a big dip in the middle. of this graph? >> So, that is actually showing where the. individuals would train and then without. creatine and then take it over time as. well. >> Oh, okay. So, that's that's stopped. >> It's a de-training and then taking it. again. Correct.

>> Okay. So, they stopped taking it. >> Uh taking it at the at week four and. then that's where the elevations go up. >> Oh. [snorts]. >> Yeah. So, it goes to show that when you. have creatine, everything is elevated. If you stop taking it, it takes about 4. weeks to come back down, but you'll. notice that it was at the same level as. the placebo. And then when they take it again, they. get a rebound effect. So, I think this. has application for people who have. injured themselves and they now need to. go back and start training. If you take. creatine, it can accelerate the. rehabilitation program. >> Hm. And it does it I guess because it makes.

your training volume increase. >> Correct. >> it makes your muscle mass gain increase? >> It can gain it gain increase in muscle. mass. It's not great. That's probably. going to be a bit surprising to a lot of. people. A lot of people take creatine. for huge increases in muscle. You get an. increase in lean mass by about 1.2 kg. But as I I said previously, remember. only half of that is skeletal muscle. So, creatine yes, can with weight. training improve muscle mass, but it has. more robust evidence for muscle. performance. >> Is there anything else we need to know. about creatine's link to muscle mass?

>> I think one of the big things is that it. decreases something called protein. breakdown. So, that might allow the. muscle to maintain its integrity or. recover quicker. But overall, when you combine creatine. with a standard weight training program, you should expect a greater increase. than weight training alone, absolutely. And that is that's across all ages, which is really important. >> Okay. And the studies you've done in. your own lab, what are those? How wide. varying are those? And how many have you. done? >> We've Oh god, we've done at least 30 to. 40 studies.

um in our lab. I've published over 120. papers just on creatine alone. >> Wow. >> And the interesting thing is that from. young individuals to middle age to older. adults, we see a very common uh theme. that combined with weight training uh. creatine about 5 g or more. Uh we use. typically a little bit more. Seems to. have uh beneficial effects on muscle. mass, uh muscle strength, as well as. performance, absolutely. >> Can you show me what 5 g looks like? >> absolutely. So, this would be a standard. 5 g dose. >> Which is one scoop for you.

>> One scoop. Now, keep in mind that can be. found in in meat or seafood, but you're. going to require a lot. >> Yeah, okay. So, 5 g is one scoop. >> One scoop. >> And you're saying we don't necessarily. need to do this loading phase that. bodybuilders would. >> Correct. So, the loading phase is the. most rapid way to saturate your muscles. Now, that's very beneficial, but that. would be four scoops. So, four scoops is. a loading phase per day and is very. effective, but the issue is can it cause. some adverse GI tract irritation, things.

like that. That's where anecdotal people. report that. But a lot of people from a. muscle perspective will start with just. 5 g a day and that's very beneficial. >> And at 5 g a day, what benefits am I. getting? >> Five Oh, across from a skeletal muscle. perspective, you get a whole plethora. So, you definitely get an increase in. lean tissue mass or muscle size. Uh and. then again, muscle performance, uh. muscle strength, power, and endurance. And the other one that never gets a lot. of press, which should, is functional. ability. Uh an older adult to sit to. stand. Uh this has applications getting. off the toilet, out of the bed, out of a. car. So, as we get older, we're losing.

muscle strength and performance, as well. as functionality, and creatine and. weight training seems to come to the. rescue there. >> And is there anyone that shouldn't take. creatine? >> You know, I can't find anybody that can't or. shouldn't. The safety profile is. exceptional. If they have pre-existing. medical conditions, they definitely need. to speak to their their doctor. Besides. that, I'm not seeing any reason a. healthy individual can't take or. shouldn't take creatine. >> And pregnant women? >> So, that's an interesting colleague of. mine, Dr. Stacey Ellery out of. Australia, is now finally looking at. human trials with pregnancy, going into.

breast milk, into the fetus. So, it's. still in its infancy. The jury's still. open. As it currently stands, it seems. to be relatively safe and well. tolerated. >> Okay. So, not all creatine is made the. same. >> That's right. Correct. >> There's lots of different types of. creatine. People Some people take. creatine gummies. I mean, I have some different types of. creatine here. Creatine monohydrate, creatine hydrochloride. >> Okay. >> I remember looking when I was in a shelf. a couple of months ago and seeing like. five or six different types of creatine.

What is the the optimal type of creatine. to take and why? >> So, by far, creatine monohydrate. And that goes against all the new. marketing forms. So, creatine. monohydrate is simply creatine linked to. one water molecule. When you take it. into the body, the water molecule. dissolves, is identical to what's being. produced in the liver and the brain. All the evidence that you ever hear. about the safety and efficacy of. creatine is based on the old, boring, from 1832 creatine monohydrate. There's. [snorts] new marketed forms of creatine. such as hydrochloride, which does have.

evidence behind it. There's many other. forms, but the only downfall with all. these marketed forms is it's never been. shown to be safer or more effective than. creatine monohydrate. The other big. thing for your viewers is make sure it. has CreaPure or some form of creatine. monohydrate on the label. And then and. that is also third-party tested. >> CreaPure? >> CreaPure's from Germany. It has the. highest standard of qualification and. scrutiny. And then NSF certified or.

another third-party certified. So, those. are the three things that I personally. would look for. Monohydrate, CreaPure is. the type, and then NSF certified or. third-party certification. >> Which is that little logo at the bottom? >> That little logo here at the bottom, that's right. >> And what does that mean? >> So, NSF is the National Sanitation. Foundation. It's a third-party. organization that will independently. take the the supplement and then. third-party test and then you get a. certificate of analysis to make so there. there's no contaminants like lead or. arsenic or things like that. So, that's. something for the consumers watching to. definitely be aware of when you go to. the store.

>> And we've got this thing here in front. of us. This is the dosing dilemma. Um we. talked about muscle there. Have we checked muscle off or is there. anything else to cover? >> No. So, how many scoops do you think is. optimal for skeletal muscle? >> [snorts]. >> Oh, uh skeletal muscle. >> Yeah. Your bicep, your tricep, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger. >> 5 g 5 g? >> 5 g? So, that's only going to be one. little scoop. >> Okay. >> Okay. That's probably very viable and. you're correct. Across the lifespan, 5 g. has been shown to be effective, but.

here's a little bit of caveat. If you're. over the age of 50, maybe you want to. have a little bit more. Because as we. get older, the creatine in our lower. legs is more jeopardized, and therefore. you might need a bit more. >> Okay. >> Okay. But, this is without the loading. phase. So, this is if you just want to. take a little bit per day. >> And you have to take it consistently. >> Good question. So, ideally, yes. There. is evidence that you can just take it on. the training days, but we haven't talked. about the brain yet. And the reason why. I think you should take it every day is.

it likes to go to other tissues on a. daily basis. >> So, that's about 7 g? How much is that? >> So, 7 or 8 g, and that seems to be very. safe and viable dose to be shown to be. effective for improving muscle mass. >> Okay. >> And performance. >> I I do have an issue sometimes when I. take a little bit more creatine, which. is I feel. I wouldn't say light-headed, but I get a. little bit dizzy almost. >> 100%. >> What is that? >> So, there is a mechanism, so creatine is. the biggest methyl scavenger in the body. and without boring your viewers, but. methyl groups are used for everything.

They're also used to synthesize. something called adrenaline and our. neurotransmitters. You know, the things. that we get excited about. So, when you. take in too much creatine, typically on. an empty stomach or in a dehydrated. state, >> [snorts]. >> that will spare methyl groups in the. body to be used because you're taking so. much in. And then it says, "Where can I. go?" So, since creatine is now being. taken in through a supplement, these. methyl groups are available in your body. to go elsewhere to do work and they like. to synthesize adrenaline. And that's why. you feel more uh um energetic, so to. speak. >> When you say synthesize adrenaline, what. does that mean? >> Yeah, that means you're creating more of.

the hormone called epinephrine. And. that, you know, you hear about fight or. flight or you're nervous or whichever it. is, it gives you a little bit more of. that. So, that's why sometimes you feel. a little bit jittery or things like. that. >> Hm. [clears throat] Yeah, sometimes I. can feel a little bit sick as well if I. do too much. >> Yeah, and so that's where it's sort of. the new area of interest for me is this. microdosing based on that. So, we're. starting to see some evidence now that. if you take smaller amounts all. throughout the day, it does not have any. adverse effects. If anything, it seems. to be a little a little bit more. tolerable. Um so, you could take a few.

grams in the morning, a few grams in the. evening, or whichever. I think one of. the best uh ways to take it that never. gets any press is I put 5 g in my water. bottle during my workout. >> Mhm. >> And so, now [clears throat] I'm. consuming a little bit of creatine as I. do my weightlifting or cardio and then. I'll consume a little bit in the morning. as well. So, I take about 10 g a day at. minimum on on a daily basis. Other. people will take more or less, but. that's just how I get it in, you know. >> I find that if I do take a little bit in. the morning and then a little bit later, it's much better. >> 100%.

>> And I don't get any weird feelings. >> And uh it seems to be more consistent. and appreciated for individuals because. if you do or are susceptible to any uh. fluctuations in weight gain, water. retention, or GI tract irritation, those. things definitely go away. And we've got. we've assessed over a thousand. individuals in my lab and that seems to. be a very viable approach. Not a lot of taste to it, is there? >> [laughter]. >> It's not the best tasting thing in the. world, is it? >> very bland, very boring. Um but there's. other companies trying to make it more. flavorful, things like that. The cool.

thing is with creatine, you can put it. in anything. You can put it in yogurt, a juice, whichever it is. You can now. put it in coffee. There's a little bit. of controversy over the dose of. caffeine. I think anywhere lower than. 350 mg is fine, and that's going to be. most standard coffees or teas as well. So, whichever allows you to become. consistent is is a great way to do it, yeah. >> There should be a button just down below. here, and if it says subscribe, you're. already subscribed. If it says subscribe. bar, that means you're not yet. And if. you're not subscribed, please could you.

do us a favor and hit that button. It. helps to show more than you know, and. according to the algorithm, you're. someone that watches our show, but you. haven't yet hit that button. Thank you. so much. Okay, so bone, tell me what I need to. know about creatine. >> Okay, so now we talked about muscle, how. many do you think for the skeleton here? >> Um, about the same. >> Okay. >> Seven. >> Unfortunately, the lowest dose ever has. been shown to have bone benefits is 8 g. all the way up to 12. So, now we're in a. dosing dilemma already. We just started. We have a little bit disconnect between. muscle and bone. 3 to 5 g seems to be.

really good for muscle, a little bit. more is fine, but bone needs to be a. little bit more, and that's primarily. based on some of our work from our lab. where we've shown that about 8 to 12 g a. day with exercise, and that's crucial. If you do not exercise, there's never. been a study ever uh shown to have bone. benefits, but if you do perform weight. lifting, one of the very cool things in. postmenopausal females is that creatine. seemed to reduce the rate of bone. mineral density loss around the hip. region. So, it didn't increase bone density, but.

it decreased bone density loss, and it. also seemed to maintain or improve the. structure of the bone a little bit more. So, that has profound beneficial. effects, especially as we get older. If. those individuals on creatine were to. fall, maybe they might not fracture. their hip. And as we both know it, if. you fracture your hip, you're going to. be placed in long-term care, or you're. going to be inactive for at least 6. months. So, creatine has some bone. benefits. They're not great. They don't. improve bone density, so they're not. going to be an osteoporotic cure, but. there is something there, especially if.

you're prone to osteoporosis or. osteopenia. >> And what's the mechanism that's just. stopping bone loss? >> Yeah, it's very interesting. So, if you. understand a 24-hour cycle that creatine. sort of stimulates these bone-building. cells to become more energized. Think of. Super Mario, the original Nintendo, when. he got the mushroom maybe he came. energized. Creatine does that as well. And then on the flip side, creatine. seems to decrease the osteoclast or bone. breakdown cells. So, by a synergistic. mechanism, it seems to cause this.

turnover to go a little bit better, causing the bone to maintain its. structure. It's very similar to a. bisphosphonate that someone would be. taking to maintain their bone health. >> A bisphosphonate? >> Yeah, it's a drug that a lot of. individuals will take if they're prone. to bone loss. Obviously, creatine's not. a drug, but it has some of those similar. properties. >> So, we've got muscle. I need to take. about 7 or 8 g to get those benefits. >> Yeah. With bone, it's a little bit more. >> A little bit more. You don't mean. additionally. >> No, in in total. So, now this is where. we get into the daily dosing dilemma. We've gone from 3 to 5 g or a little bit. more for muscle. Bone is maybe 8 to 10.

or a little bit more. So, what do you. think on the brain, the hottest topic? >> 10? >> 10, okay. So, that would be, you know, two scoops. >> I'm just assuming this increases. >> Yeah. So, the interesting thing here is. that the brain will naturally make its. own creatine, very similar to the liver. So, since the brain is actually making. its own creatine, it may not require as. much or any on a daily basis. So, here's. the brain, obviously, and in different. regions, creatine is being synthesized.

and being used all throughout. So, this. organ. is about 2 kg, but uses 20% of our daily. energy at rest. So, just think about. that. 20% of the amount of energy we're. consuming from food or using is being. used by the brain. But what if you're. stressed? Sleep deprivation, your dog. got you up in the middle of the night to. pee and you couldn't fall back to sleep. Uh university students cramming for a. midterm. Um now all the countries look. at the World Cup, they're going to be up. stressed, you know, different time. zones. Then all of a sudden the healthy.

brain becomes a metabolically stressed. brain. So your guess about 10 g on. average is fine because the brain on a. non-stressed day is naturally making it. is enough and [snorts] it's healthy. But. now we get into a more difficult What. about those metabolic stressors? So. again, all the neurons in the brain are. being used. So what about sleep. deprivation? >> The 10 g? >> For sleep deprived? >> You tell. >> When was the last time you slept 10. straight hours? >> [laughter].

>> It's been a while. >> a while for even you to pause there. You. know, that's that's alarming cuz you're. thinking. when was the last time I got a really. good night's sleep? >> Mhm. >> What if you were up for 24 hours? >> Gosh. >> An ER doctor. Traveling different time zones, all. these come into play. >> Yeah. >> Remember on a healthy brain, you know, adequate sleep, uh prob the brain is. actually making enough. But when you're. stressed, night shift workers, uh military pilots, ER doctors, whichever it is, that's.

where the brain starts to rely on. supplementation. So unfortunately for the brain, creatine. really struggles to get through the. blood-brain barrier. But if it does, now you might need. longer or higher dosages. So what about. sleep deprived? >> I have no idea. >> Okay, so let's say there's five. There's 10. What do you think? >> It's going to be more, isn't it? >> It's going to be a lot more. Here's 15. Couple studies showed some benefits.

Now let's do 20. Remember that loading. phase? >> Mhm. >> The best overall studies currently right. now that use an MRI for the brain. have showed about 20 g seems to have. some effect acutely. But the two studies last year out of. Germany even showed this. There's 25. And here's 30. So a classic study was done last year. when they gave. 30 g to a group of young individuals who.

volunteered to be sleep deprived for 21. hours. And that level of creatine increased. creatine levels in the brain and it. offset some of the negative effects. Remember that was an acute episode of 21. hours of sleep deprivation. They've done. a subsequent study going down to about. 0.2 g or about 14 g. It didn't have the. same effect. So remember a healthy brain likely. doesn't need any creatine, but a. stressed brain likely does. And the more. stressed it is, the higher the dose. seems to come into play. There's a lot.

of nuances with the brain. Obviously we. just showed different regions, which we. don't have a lot of information, but. overall it seems that 20 g seems to be. the most viable dose when the brain is. stressed. We basically need to start. dumping out quite a bit more. So when you get from this area on, the. brain healthy likely doesn't benefit. from any type of supplementation cuz. it's making its own. But in these areas. when you're stressed, it likely does. The area of nuance or why it's become so.

popular is I think most people fall into. the stressed environment. And if they're not getting enough. creatine through their diet. and or supplementation, that's why this. big explosion on let's take more to sort. of check off all the boxes. So I take 10. g a day at minimum to check off muscle, right? That checks off bone for the most. part. And I'm pretty sure over time 10 g. would do the most part for stress. Now, since I just flown different time zones,

today I'm taking 20 to 25 g based on. this acutely. And then when I go back to a. non-stressed environment, back to. Canada, I'll go back to my regular 10. So, I look at the 10 g dose or a little. bit more as kind of being like a safety. net. If you're only taking three to five, you. definitely will get muscle benefits. Will you eventually get brain benefits? There's a small chance, but taking a. little bit more, and remember the cool. thing for your viewers, we're not. talking about protein. If we were. talking about protein, the entire thing.

would be hundreds of grams. We're only. talking about maybe 20 g. And that may. only need to be done acutely. You know, when you're really going through. metabolic stress. Look at university. students. Five final exams, hardly any sleep for a. week. This is where this would come into. play. I look at flight attendants or. pilots. They all fly from Canada to. Europe, and then they go back home. Their circadian rhythms are all over the. place. So, I think of all these. scenarios. The area that I was. surprised, I watched one of the episodes. of The Eras Tour. And you know, [snorts].

money can't stop circadian rhythms. So, as much as Taylor Swift would have, I. was marveled by 3 hours of performance. in 90 to 100,000 people of all her. running around. And then when you see. her, they're totally gassed. They. finished the concert, they're totally. mentally exhausted. That's a situation. where this could come into enhanced. performance. Then you think of. celebrities, you think of. athletes. These a lot of high-pressure. things. Like, imagine being in the World. Cup final. The pressure, the mental. capacity. That's where creatine seems to.

come into play. There's a lot of. nuances. We still don't know a lot. So, I think the big take home for people is. that if you're going through periods of. stress, a little bit more is okay. We don't know any adverse effects. We. don't think there are any. But again, if you're just taking. creatine for muscle, bone, and the. brain, you're likely going to be. checking off all those boxes. >> And when we start getting the the brain. benefits up at this end, >> Right. >> what are those brain benefits that they. were recorded in the studies? Is it I'm. going to feel like I slept, or is it. something more internal? >> You likely won't feel anything.

>> Oh, okay. >> However, when you get to tasks the next. day, so for example, you're up all. night, you take a high dose creatine, then you have to go write the final or. the midterm or you can't remember. It's. those things when your memory and and. and doing puzzles or basic tasks. Or what about a Stroop test? >> What's a Stroop test? >> So, I'm going to get you to do this. I. apologize in advance. >> Uh-huh. >> It's one of the most fatiguing things. that you can do and it was one of the. most robust studies to show the efficacy.

behind creatine. So, all I simply want. you to do is you can see that there's. words and then corresponding letters, but you'll notice that the color is. incorrect. So, up here you would see, you know, you have red, blue, green, blue, black. But the Stroop test is now. looking at the bottom part. >> Okay. >> So, I've tried it. I can only get the. line two without making a mistake. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, I want you to do this. out loud but as fast as possible. >> And am I reading the words or the color?

>> You're reading the color. >> Okay. So, the first one is green, yeah? >> Uh yes. >> Okay, fine. You want to do it as fast as possible? >> as possible. >> Okay. >> So, let's see how you do. >> Gosh, this is confusing already. I hit. the second one and I got it wrong in my. head. Depends how much creatine you're. taking. I don't think I've had creatine today. >> Okay. >> Okay. Green, red, yellow, green, blue, black, orange, red, blue, green, blue, pink, black, gray, yellow, red, blue, green. Ah,

>> There you go. See? >> I failed. >> The study that they did, get this, they. had to do this for 90 straight minutes. >> Oh, wow. >> So, you can imagine how fatiguing that. is for someone studying for the MCAT for. medical school or, you know, midterms. being sleep deprived. And you're not. sleep deprived and you struggled and you. got slower. Now you have to do this for. 90 minutes. >> Wow. >> this classic study they gave 20 g of. creatine before they did the test and. then after and it really improved their. ability with speed and cognition there.

So, it's just a simple example to show, "Wow, our brain is seeing one thing. We. got to maintain memory and cognition and. creatine can help maintain some of those. factors." So, you won't feel anything. but performance of activities like that. come into play. >> Do you know how much it improved the. performance on the Stroop. >> I would have to get the graph, but it. did prove statistically significant, yeah. >> What else is there for me to know about. the impact that creatine can have on the. brain? >> Yeah. >> You know, I think as a as a podcaster. who sometimes sits here for many, many. hours interviewing people on a range of.

subjects. I'm always trying to find if. there's any way that I can perform. better mentally. >> Yeah. So, it doesn't boost the brain. It. likely just brings those levels back up. to normal levels before stress and it. might give you a little bit more. So, there's been populations Alzheimer's. disease, clinical depression, concussion. When those populations are evident, one. of the biggest. factors is that they have reduced. creatine in their brain. So, maybe. supplementation can get through the. blood-brain barrier. The brain says, "I. need help." And that's why you see some. improvements there as well. So, I like.

to think of the brain that creatine can. act as a safety net. Um and it certainly. won't cause any detrimental effects, but. it's always good to have that because. you never know when I give you a Stroop. test. Like I'm going to find you. tomorrow, give you this and say, "You're. going to be practicing all night. Will. you perform better?" But that's just an. example of something that we go through. on a daily basis. If someone's working. on Wall Street or whichever it is, they're really high-stress demand, you. know, stuck in traffic for 2 hours. These all add up and it's a cascade of. stressors that unfortunately most people. go through. And now that we have a.

nutrient that is being made in the. brain, but during times of stress, it. likely needs a little bit of help. >> For the last couple of years, I've been. working on something that I realized. every podcaster listening to this, but. actually probably every creator. listening to this might just need. Podcasting is difficult for many. reasons, and one of them is that these. hosting platforms don't give you much. information. And also, because they're. so fragmented, you kind of have to go. through every single platform uploading. it to YouTube and then taking the same. big old video file and uploading it to. Spotify's platform. It takes huge. amounts of time and that friction means.

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and also you'll get free shipping and a. one-year warranty. That's. boncharge.com/doac. What about inflammation in the body? So. what is inflammation and is there a link. between creatine supplementation and. inflammation? >> There is. So I unfortunately I'm 49. So. at the age of 40 I have this systemic. inflammation that went up. And we all. know this because around the age of 30. were you know you can work out and.

nothing hurts and then all of a sudden. you wake up one day when you're in your. 40s and 50s and things hurt. And so. systemic inflammation is happening all. the time and unfortunately it. accelerates aging. We're more sore more. often and it can lead to a lot of. arthritis or or joint pain and things. like that. Creatine does have. anti-inflammatory effects but a big. distinction. Creatine is not like. acetaminophen or ibuprofen which. directly as a drug effect blocks that. but it has been shown to decrease. markers of inflammation specifically. during long duration exercise. So this.

is an important distinction. Weight. training is too acute. But when you do Ironman triathlon things. like that those individuals who took. creatine 20 grams a day for 5 days. beforehand they had reductions in. inflammation markers. So that might. allow that individual to recover quicker. not get ill and then perform more. optimally. From a weight training. perspective we see that it decreases. markers of muscle damage. So it has. these anti-inflammatory and. anti-catabolic effects as well. >> Interesting. >> Yeah. >> And what about people that have.

neurodegenerative disorders? >> Yes. So Alzheimer's is is the area we're. really starting to focus on and a couple. of single arm studies came out last year. by Matt Taylor and Aaron Smith showing. that 20 grams a day for 8 weeks did. increase brain creatine levels in. Alzheimer's patients and it seemed to. improve measures of memory and cognition. there as well. So again using the same. mechanisms it decreases inflammation and. maintains brain bioenergetics and it. might actually have a neural protection. effect as well. There's evidence in cell. cultures and in rodents that there's.

some lines there but in humans we're. still in the in the infancy. But if it. can have any benefit to any neurological. disease it's huge and there's a lot of. hope especially around Alzheimer's. >> There was an 8-week trial in Alzheimer's. patients that also showed modest muscle. gains and a 1.9 kg increase in hand grip. strength, which is a key predicator of survival in. dementia patients. Um, which was a landmark study of 20. Alzheimer's patients found that taking. 20 g of creatine daily for 8 weeks. increased brain creatine levels by 11%. and significantly improved the cognitive.

test scores they showed. That's the. Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science. >> And that one's really exciting and I. think more future uh studies will come. out. The limitation with those is that. there was no placebo to compare to, but. again, it's just showing that yes, creatine can be used as an effective. adjunct, yeah. >> And because there is impact on our. brain, is there impact on our mental. health with creatine? >> Excellent point. So, the best lines of. evidence here come from clinical. depression and anxiety. Uh, the group. out of Utah in the United States have. clearly shown that creatine in addition.

to other therapies, so this is. important. Creatine by itself has never. been shown to be a stand-alone, but with. SSRIs or cognitive behavior therapy or. methamphetamine use in populations under. medical supervision, the addition of. creatine seemed to improve symptoms and. it's likely going back to all the ones. we've already talked about where it. improves uh bioenergetics, it improves. uh neuro uh transmission or. neuromodulation, uh but it also in animals has been shown. to improve a protein called BDNF. Uh, so this protein is involved in brain. plasticity. So, there's a whole bunch of.

emerging evidence and hope that creatine. one day will be used uh as a treatment. in the toolbox for a lot of these. clinical uh issues. PTSD also comes to. my mind. >> There was a study in Gatorade Sports. Science Institute and Pub which Pub Med. published that said a a study of over. 200,000 adults found that those who. consumed the least amount of creatine in. their daily diet had the highest rates. of depressive symptoms. >> Yes, that's correct. And the common. denominators, those with clinical. depression or anxiety, when you measure.

their baseline creatine stores, very. similar to concussion or Alzheimer's, they're reduced. So, therefore, obviously, this. condition or series of conditions is. causing a disruption at the brain. bioenergetic level and creating levels. are decreasing. >> There's another input that said, "In a. clinical trial of women with major. depression, adding 5 g of creatine to. their daily antidepressant. >> Yes. >> doubled their remission rate over 8. weeks.". >> That's correct, yes. And that group is. from uh Perik Renshaw's group out of. Utah. Uh they do great work. Our hope,

and I'm collaborating uh with some. colleagues now to look at creatine as a. standalone treatment versus placebo, could it have some beneficial effects. there? So, that's very exciting to come. out. >> If I really don't want to be. supplementing with creatine, is there. what are the foods that I can eat that. are high in creatine naturally? >> They're primarily uh animal based, so. seafood and red meat. Um you know, herring is going to have one of the. highest concentrations, uh salmon, uh as. well as beef. Uh very small amounts in. milk and dairy, so you'd have to drink. all the the milk in the Jersey cow to. get a sufficient amount. So, uh it.

definitely comes down to animal-based. flesh, yeah. >> There's some of the studies that I that. I love that I've I think I've heard you. talk about before. One of them was um. young athletes who took 5 g of creatine. daily slept an average of 1 hour longer. >> Yes. >> on training days. >> Yeah, we did that study a few years ago. in uh uh young biological females who. were healthy. And on the days that they. trained and took creatine, this is interesting because they. actually slept an hour longer uh. compared to the placebo. So, this is a. very interesting fact. So, creatine, you. know, we now know it has brain.

bioenergetics, and there's two. arguments. If it's making the brain. recover, wouldn't you need less sleep, right? Now, in this study, it showed. that improved. So, maybe these. individuals trained at a higher capacity. and allowed the brain to have more. homeostasis to come back. So, this is an. area uh a study that needs to be. replicated in males as well to see can. creatine improve sleep quantity, and if. it is, I think that's a game changer. I. I think everybody on the planet would. raise their hand and say, "Hey, I need. more sleep.". >> Is there anything else we haven't. covered as it relates to creatine?

>> You know, the expected gains versus the. hype gains. I think there's evidence. there that creatine can have a. an effect. I I think it's getting. overhyped especially around the brain. for what it can do. It's one tool in the. toolbox and I think it it's one of those. things that I'd like to show or you. know, talk about for sure, yeah. >> Well, what do you mean by that? >> So, if you think of the toolbox when it. comes to a plan, whenever you need to go. fix things, you simply say, "Where's my. toolbox?" You can't do anything without. a plan. And the way I like to preface.

this is the most popular tool in. anybody's toolbox is the hammer. Now, from a lifestyle perspective, what do. you think the hammer represents? What. would you decide that the hammer. represents? >> Um as in like a. >> Is it weight training? Is it cardio? Is. it creatine? Is it protein? Is it sleep? >> Sleep. >> Okay. So, I say weight training is going. to be the hammer. >> Okay. >> Okay. Now, what about the screwdriver? Always. need a screwdriver.

>> C- creatine. >> No, I think aerobic training or sleep. comes way before creatine. >> Okay. >> But [clears throat] most people say, "Hey, I can fix a lot of things with. that." Now, remember, we have a nice big. toolbox. I like to think of creatine as the. multifactorial wrench or screwdriver. Because creatine has profound benefits. for muscle, a little bit for bone, of. course, brain and other areas of the. body. So, you can hit something with. this. You can open it up and fix something. with this. It's heavy. You can also pull.

out the measuring tape. Your argument, sleep. This could be protein, whichever. it is. So, when you put all these things. in your toolbox, you're now having a. greater comprehensive plan to improve. health. >> So, you said weight training was the. hammer. >> Hammer. I like to consider if you were. to choose one modality of exercise, weight training is a little bit superior. to cardio. You get pretty much all the. same benefits of cardiovascular exercise. and then you get more with obviously an. increase in lean tissue mass and. performance. Uh weight training if done.

effectively can actually improve. mitochondrial health. You can actually. improve VO2 max if done correctly uh and. you don't need a lot of it. So, I think. we've switched from just doing cardio to. now incorporating weight training to be. effective. >> So, weight training. >> Yes. >> What are the the sort of misconceptions. about weight training and why are you so. positive about it? >> Yeah, [clears throat] I think one of the. biggest myths is that you always need to. lift heavy to put on muscle mass. And well-renowned researchers in this. area have clearly shown now that lighter. weights if performed to a lot of effort,

almost to fatigue, if done correctly, you can get as the same increases in. muscle mass as then compared to lifting. heavy weights. However, if your goal is. just to get stronger, lifting heavy is. always there. So, I think this is a cool. thing for people. Some days if you have. a little bit of soreness or you don't. have a lot of energy, you can lift. lighter weights but just to fatigue, whereas other days you come in Monday, you've had your coffee, whichever it is, you're ready to go, you can lift heavy. So, I think there's not one concrete. way, there's a little bit of variety. here as well. >> And why are you putting it above. cardiovascular work? >> Yeah, I think the benefits there is that.

cardiovascular exercise will make you. live longer and and healthier. But the. downfall with cardiovascular exercise, it doesn't stimulate strength or the. musculoskeletal system as much as we. we'd hope. So, improving muscle mass and. that is very difficult to do with. cardio. Maybe sprint interval training. will do that, but the cool thing with. weight training is you get. cardiovascular benefits, but you also. get those profound musculoskeletal. benefits. So, if I was to tell anybody. if there's one form of exercise to do is. weight training, but you got to do. cardio as well. So, do both.

>> And if I just do weight training, what. am I missing from not doing cardio. training? >> Yeah, if you do weight training. improperly where you're lifting heavy. heavy weight with low repetitions all. the time, you're likely going to. jeopardize capillary density or. mitochondrial health. These are things. that sort of move blood flow to and from. your muscles. You could decrease VO2 max. or a fitness parameter for uh metabolic. health fitness. So, at the end of the. day, everybody should be doing both. But, if you only have time to do weight. training or cardio, you still benefit. cuz the majority of the population. doesn't do any.

>> And how how much how often do you think? >> Yeah, it's amazing that it's a small. amount. So, let's just do cardio. Most. countries will say 150 minutes of. physical activity at a moderate level. over a week. Uh I'm I'm okay with that. I'd like it to be higher. I'd also like. the intensity to be a bit higher. So, when you tell an average individual 150. minutes a week, most people will say, "Well, I'm going to do 70 or I'm going. to do 30. I'm going to hold the couch. down and watch Netflix." So, we give. them 150 and we say, "You know, if you. can do 21 minutes or two 22 minutes a. day for 7 days a week, that's going to.

be a brisk walk or whichever." We'd like. to be at a higher intensity if possible. Now, when it comes to weight training, this might be surprising, but 2 days a. week or more is all you basically need. and you can do a whole body routine. So, you don't need to go in there and just. do chest and biceps Monday and then legs. Tuesday. You can, but if you say, "I. want to do whole body training Monday, Wednesday, Friday," that is great as. well. So, a little bit of volume or. frequency goes a long way, especially as. we get older. That's the key. >> Why especially as we get older?

>> Well, based on this graph here, it's. clearly showing a detrimental effect. So, if you can see here, you know, you. have muscle mass on the the x-axis or. the y-axis and then you're having all. the catastrophic effects as we get. older. So, unfortunately, you know, 20. and 30 looks great. >> When you're 20 and 40 years old. >> When you're 20 and 40 years old or all. the way from 20 to 40, you can see, great. That's probably the area that. you're going to have the most muscle. >> Yeah. >> But, look what happens 40, age 60, 80,

and if you live to be 100. It's catastrophic. You're losing muscle. mass at an accelerated rate. On average, it's about 1% per year after the age of. 40. >> Even if you're training. >> So, if you're training, you're. maintaining that. So, this is the. average sedentary inactive population. You lose strength at about 1. or 1 to 3%. even faster. Now, if we were to maintain resistance. training, that muscle mass would. plateau. So, I can't stress this enough. Although. we focus on creatine, if you were to.

choose one thing to do today is. exercise. And the only form of exercise. that really maintains muscle is weight. bearing or uh resistance training. And if that's the case, you're going to. have way more muscle later on in life, so you can pick up the grandkids. You. can walk those stairs. You can do more. functionality things later on in life. >> Can you not just do I don't know, 60. years old start training then? >> You can absolutely, and you get profound. benefits. You can be 80 or 100 and you. still get benefits. It's never too late. to start. But one of the things we've already. talked about is if you do weight.

training and add in a little bit of. creatine, it gets a bit higher. If you added in. protein, it gets even higher. So, again, nutrition, you know, if exercise is. king, the queen is going to be. nutrition. They go hand in hand all. throughout lifespan. You got to have. both. >> And on the subject of protein, you're. saying that can when combined with. creatine, it's a. um force multiplier. >> It's It's a force multiplier when it. comes to performance and lean tissue. mass. So, there's been a few studies. when you combine uh a high quality. protein with creatine, they have been.

shown to increase lean tissue mass and. muscle performance a little bit more. than each alone, yeah. >> Does the average person get enough. protein through their diet? >> You know, I think nowadays we do. And. And I think this is over hyped as well. I think if you're getting about 1.2 to. 1.6 g per kilogram. So, you know, if. you're 70 kg, that's going to be on. average about 84 to about 115 g of. protein. I think we're so conscious now. of the health benefits of protein uh. that most people are. I think if you're. training really intensely five, six days. a week and you take a gram per pound,

that's probably the max. But a lot of. times when you take an excess protein, it doesn't go to your body area that. you're probably hoping. It doesn't all. go to your muscle. It's used for other. things like hormones and uh blood cells, things like that. But I think nowadays. most people are likely getting enough. protein. The question is, are they. getting enough high-quality protein? So, vegans and vegetarians can definitely. get enough protein. They might just need. to eat a little bit more to get all. those essential amino acids, which we. need. >> Much of the reason most people haven't. posted content or built their personal. brand is because it's hard and it's.

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history, looks at your best-performing. posts, and tells you what you should. post. Makes those posts for you. You can. also you just use it for inspiration. And sometimes what we need when we're. thinking about doing a post for our. social media channels is inspiration. Building an audience has fundamentally. changed my life. And I think it could. change yours, too. So, I'm inviting you. to give this new tool a shot and let me. know what you think. All you have to do. is search coach.stan.store. now to get started. >> Menopause. >> Yes. >> We talked a little bit briefly about.

menopause, bringing both together the. subjects of muscle, but also of. creatine. >> Yes. >> How How does those two things impact. a woman's journey through menopause? >> Yeah. So, we know from animal cells that. estrogen is highly involved in creatine. metabolism. Estrogen seems to be. implicated in the enzymes that are. needed to make creatine. And then. estrogen also has. a huge impact on. not only brain bioenergetics, but muscle. metabolism, as well. So, as the the female goes from a. premenopausal stage to perimenopausal. stage to the postmenopausal transition,

if estrogen is decreasing, and then independent of their diet, we. think creatine has bone effects and. muscle effects and of course we've. talked about the cognitive effects. there. So, from a whole skeleton. perspective I think everybody should be, but of course the perimenopausal, postmenopausal transition is good. And. then that brings up a question about. what about really young premenopausal. females, you know, optimal health? What. if we built up their tissues more? Maybe. that would offset the rate of this. decline over time as well. So, that's. what we're hoping to get to.

>> Is creatine safe for kids? >> So, it's interesting you bring that up. and the current body of evidence. suggests yes at recommended dosages. Good researchers in the United States. put out multiple reviews looking at. creatine in adolescent children and. teenagers. Improves balance, agility, body composition. If anything, they want. to get at least 1 g per day because in. children they want to have an. optimization for bone health as well as. muscle development. But again, if any. parents are watching, obviously talk to. their medical practitioner, but all the. current reviews currently says suggest.

that it's safe. >> And we're talking about We're not. talking about babies here. We're talking. about. >> Yeah, we're talking about adolescents. all the way into teenage years. When it. comes to baby or infancy, out of. Australia Stacy Allison is starting to. do that work there as well, but we don't. have a lot of data in humans yet, but. that is an area to to pay attention to. for sure. Yeah. >> What is the most important thing we. haven't talked about that we should have. talked about, doctor? >> Yeah, I think one of the big things is. the safety profile of creatine. There's. been, you know, hundreds of randomized. controlled trials now on creatine. The. safety profile is is exceptional.

>> [snorts]. >> Last year they put out a study looking. at over 25,000 cases and creatine even. over 10 g a day for many years has been. very, very safe and effective. One area. that comes up is. what about the timing? Does it matter. when I take it? And And the cool thing. is we just got a paper accepted two days. ago putting the nail in the coffin on. this. And at the end of the day you can. take creatine at any time of the day. You can take it in the morning with. breakfast. You can take it right before. workout. I take some during. You can. take it after go to bed. It doesn't.

matter when you take it as well. >> So, you can take it right before sleep. >> You can. >> And it won't impact your sleep. >> No, uh currently we haven't exactly. assessed the effect on sleep, but uh. another study looked at it in the. evening and it had no detrimental effect. there as well. >> And what else? What else is the other. questions that you get messaged with or. asked most often, doctor? >> Yeah, can I spread out creatine all. throughout the day? So, for example, we. have like if we were to take creatine in. a gummy form or a candy, you can. actually have, you know, one or two of. these every hour all throughout the day.

You can have it uh uh periodically. So, you don't have to take creatine all at. once. You can take it in smaller amounts. all throughout the day. And if anything, there's been a study uh a few years ago. showing that 1 g every 30 minutes up to. 20 g dose uh seemed to retain more in. the body and that was beneficial as. well. >> What do you think of these gummies? >> You know, there's only been a few. companies that have actually shown some. validity and reliability. Um as long. [snorts] as they're third-party tested, they're very, very effective. You want. to try one? >> Are they Are they third-party tested? >> They're third-party The green ones, yep. And the bottom ones, third-party tested, yep.

>> What but you know, the stuff that makes. it a gummy, is that stuff Is that stuff. good for you? >> So, the issue there is does the. manufacturing trying to keep the uh. creatine together uh influence it? It. can, and there's only been a few uh uh. companies out there. The one you're. eating is by Create from the United. States. They have had uh multiple trials. They're the first uh company that. actually look at uh randomized control. trial to show improvements in volleyball. players with the gummies. Children love them. Older adults, this. has become an area of interest where uh. chewing ability or taste sensation has. gone down, uh they seem to be very.

convenient and effective. Uh you can. have these at your desk, whichever. You. don't need the white powder to mix. So, there The companies are coming up with. more viable ways to get creatine in. there. But to your point, you always. want to make sure the company's. third-party tested. It uses a. high-quality creatine, and it actually. has a source of creatine in there as. well. >> Cuz I remember [snorts] watching a. YouTube video by a guy called James. Smith who's been on the show before. >> Yeah. >> And he did some testing on. >> Yes. >> the off-the-shelf creatine um and found. that a lot of them didn't contain any. creatine. >> 90% and there was only a few and the one. that you did uh consume it did. Yeah,

1.5. >> How isn't that crazy that you can go buy. creatine and it has no creatine in it? >> Yeah, so that's why I think for the. consumers watching you got to do a. little bit of homework and look at those. three things. Make sure third-party. tested it has a logo clearly on the. packaging. If it doesn't, I would. strongly advise you not to consume it. >> Of all the of all the studies that. you've encountered on all the subjects. we've talked about muscle, protein, creatine, are there studies that were. pivotal in how you think about these. subjects? >> Yeah, there was. So the the landmark. study came out in 1992. uh and it clearly showed that 5 g.

elevated creatine in the blood. But if. you took multiple 5 g dosages it. maintained that throughout the day. So. this is where the dose of 5 g seems to. be very very viable. And the other one. showed that "Hey, I don't want to take. five. What if I only want to take 3 g?". So 3 g seems to be the lowest most. effective dose and you just need to take. that for 1 month and you'll saturate. your muscles. So again, you have options. to take as little amount or high amount. as as as you want over time. But I think. one of the biggest studies is that we. did was the 2-year trial in.

postmenopausal women where we gave 0.14. g of creatine and it really seemed to. improve or have an effect on bone. preservation as well as muscle. performance. So these are the the. studies that seem to come to my mind. We've done quite a few but they seem to. be the landmark ones, yeah. >> And what are the supplements that you. take outside of creatine? >> Yes, for sure. So on a daily basis it's. a probiotic with food in the morning and. evening and that's something I just. recently learned. I was taking it on an. empty stomach. My probiotic I take two. to four forms of magnesium, one before. bed and then one in the day 38 for.

cognition and function. I take. 2,000 international units of vitamin D. >> [snorts]. >> I always take protein on a sufficient. basis as well. And then I take about 4 g. of omega-3 fatty acids and I always take. one of the omega-3 fatty acids post. exercise cuz that seems to be the best. time to take it. >> So omega-3, magnesium, vitamin D. >> Vitamin D, probiotics, of course. creatine and protein I take powder and. or through dietary food. Every now and. then I don't eat a lot of red meat, so. I'll take iron, but not on a consistent.

basis. >> And you know. >> And I'm hoping the new one. is this is an area of controversy, NAD. This is the you know, it's a precursor. for a main enzyme that's highly involved. in metabolism. There's been evidence to. suggest it goes down with aging, so my. eye is closely on that to see if that's. going to be something to come up in the. play. And a multivitamin, you know, started. with Flintstones vitamins as a kid and I. take a multivitamin daily as a safety. net. >> I noticed that when I looked at your. video in the interview you did with Dr. Rhonda Patrick, a lot of the comments.

were from [clears throat] people in. their 60s, 70s, and 80s. And I wondered. why that was. If you just I was just. looking at the top three or four. comments and it's a 71-year-old, it's an. 82-year-old, it's a 53-year-old who's. contending with Alzheimer's. Why is that? >> Yeah, I think it's the awareness and. education now and social media's really. helped with this getting our. evidence-based research out to the. public and the awareness that creatine. is just not for young males to get. bigger, stronger, faster. If anything, when you go to an aging body and they're.

predisposed to age-related muscle loss, strength loss, functionality, bone loss, and atrophy in the brain, creatine has. been shown to have effects there as. well. So, I think a lot of older. individual populations are becoming more. aware of the effects of creatine and of. course as we produce more research, it. gets out to the public more often. So, I'm really excited and encouraged that. creatine has sort of taken on a life of. its own in the last decade. >> And are there direct weight benefits if. I'm trying to cut fat by taking creatine. or is it indirect? >> It's indirect. So, it seems that if you. increase lean mass, it might stimulate.

energy expenditure or turnover. And then. in animal models, it has been shown to. have some beneficial effects from a. cellular perspective on fat, but at the. end of the day if you are seeing a. reduction in fat, it's likely that. you're improving your metabolic health. with lean tissue mass. >> Do Do think much about how to get these. habits to stick? Because I imagine. there's lots of people that are aware by. now that creatine is a useful thing to. take, but for whatever reason they still. don't take it. >> Exactly, and I think that's one of the. biggest reasons people don't. So, we got. to come up with ways to maintain.

consistency, and I think whatever. vehicle you want to choose to maintain. that in the in the run of the day is the. best. So, if it's putting in your coffee. in the morning, cuz you won't forget it, great. If it's putting a little bit in. Greek yogurt, if it's using the gummies, whichever it is, as long as it's a. viable source of creatine that makes it. very practical and consistent for you, that's the best way. >> Yeah, I found that having it en route to. where I'm going. >> Yes. >> being really, really important. So, when. I come to my office in the morning, it's. all on my desk. >> Yes. >> Um so, I have the supplements just on my. desk, and actually even before I walked. into the studio today, in the green room.

that I have, it's on the green room. >> Right. >> When I'm at home, it is [clears throat]. where the coffee machine is. >> Correct, yeah. >> And that has radically helped me. Um. otherwise, if it wasn't within my my. routine, it would wouldn't happen. >> have a jar on the counter with all our. other supplements. It's in the pantry, it's close by, because if it's in the. garage, you're like, I forgot about it. >> I think the other thing is, with some. things like creatine, it's hard to. really notice the difference sometimes. >> Uh excellent point, yeah. This is not. like caffeine, you know, with some. immediate effect. So, unlike uh. caffeine, creatine takes a while to.

notice the effects, and they come. indirectly. You don't. immediately notice a massive increase in. energy or alertness. It's like after a. week of weight training, or even two, you're like, "Wow, I did more. repetitions. I could do more weight. Uh. I recover quickly." is one that we hear. uh quite often. You'll never notice with. with your bone, but we have uh heard. anecdotally with cognition, especially. sleep deprivation, people do notice the. effects. And I'm an N of 1, but I notice. jet lag goes down quite a bit uh when I. take a high dose of creatine. >> And you know, when you start taking it,

if you start taking it today, >> Yes. >> if I start taking, say, 3 to 5 g of. creatine today, am I going to notice the. differences today? >> No, it'll probably With 3 to 5 g, you'll. probably notice it in a few weeks, if. not to a month, from a muscle. perspective. From a brain perspective, that low, you're likely not going to. notice any effect because the brain is. probably making enough, but if you're. really metabolically stressed, then you. might notice some memory or cognitive. benefits after a few days, but at such a. low dose, you need to be a little bit. patient. But again, 3 g could saturate. your skeletal muscle in 30 days, so it's.

not that long of a wait. >> And on the cognitive side, the cognitive. benefits that were observed when doing. these strict tests, had they been taking it previously, or. was it just administered on that. particular day when the test happened? >> one was in a week in advance with a. loading phase, so they really saturated. the body to try to get the effects. >> Okay, so they were taking it for some. time. >> But on the sleep deprivation study from. Germany, they just gave it one bolus. mega dose for 21 hours of sleep. deprivation, and those individuals did. perform better from a a number of tests. like this the next day. So, if you're. like, "Wow, I got something coming up.

Friday. Unfortunately, I'm not going to. get any sleep at best one or two hours,". then a high dose might come into play, and then you can go back to your more. consistent routine. I think what. happened or is happening is a lot of. individuals versus now thinking I need. to take 20 or 30 g on a daily basis. based on those studies, and I'm like, "Wait a minute, are you getting enough. sleep the next day?" Because at that. dose, we don't know if the neuron will. swell with water, and if that's the. case, is that potentially causing any. detrimental effects in the long term?

So, again, I would not. recommend taking a mega dose for. consistently over time. Could that. down-regulate your natural synthesis? These are all questions that we need to. look at, yeah. >> So, outside of the realm of creatine, outside of the realm of muscle, outside. of the realm of, I guess, nutrition. generally, what are you doing to keep. yourself healthy? What is what is your. routine? >> Yeah, so I'm religious with exercise, so. I try to exercise at least three to four. days a week with weight training, and. add in at least 20 or 30 minutes of. either moderate intensity cardio or like.

a spin class. I personally like to do. alternating days. So, I'll do weight. training like maybe Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then cardio Tuesday, Thursday, and then on the weekends. hiking, things like that. Um pretty religious with nutrients as. well. Try to eat a really balanced diet. And my god, my failure is getting enough. sleep. So, I've had to cut caffeine out. quite a bit by past noon to allow me. I'm probably a slower metabolizer. um with caffeine. So, uh I try to really optimize. evidence-based research, take it into my.

daily life, and then try to promote it. that way, yeah. >> And is there anything you're. particularly excited about in the work. and research that you do? >> I'm super fascinated with the movement. from the neck up. I think we know a lot. about the neck down with creatine and. exercise or other nutrients. I'm. fascinated with the ability What about. concussion? You know, can an uh the UFC fighter take. creatine before they get hit? Could that. decrease CTE or concussion or brain. trauma later on in life? I think of. boxing, Muhammad Ali, uh things like. that. So, there's evidence in in and rodents that.

if you take creatine before head trauma, it really speeds up concussion recovery. So, I'm fascinated with that as well, like almost a prophylactic. Anybody. involved in head trauma, I think you. should definitely look at creatine as. something to be taken just in case you. get hit. And then, of course, everything. with Alzheimer's or other areas of. depression. So, I'm fascinated that this. nutrient, which was, you know, 1832 it. was discovered, boring for the longest. time because we thought we knew. everything, and now it's taken a life of. its own and it's having these profound. benefits we never even thought would. happen, yeah.

>> A lot of [snorts] people consider you to. be the sort of leading expert on this. subject for many reasons. Do you think there'll be a time where. you you stop researching creatine and. you move on to something else? >> You know, that's interesting. I would. have said yes about 5 years ago, but now. No, there's too much to do even with. skeletal muscle. If you were to say, "What's the best dose Darren to take?". I'd say, "I have no clue.". Every creatine researcher said, "I don't. know." We still don't know the best dose. that every person can take that will. check off all the boxes, especially in. the brain. We're just giving an estimate.

that I take 10, maybe you take 12, some. of you might take 15, but at the end of. the day we still don't know the best. supplementation protocol, the best dose. Uh so there's so many areas. So for the. next 20 years I bet you'll still be. focusing on creatine with other things. as well, yeah. >> And on that doses, is that. different for different people? >> Excellent question. So the thought was. that the larger you are, yeah, you have. more storing capacity in your muscle for. creatine. So it makes sense if you're 50. kg and 150 kg, you're going to have.

greater storing capacity. So the dose on. a relative basis is likely higher there. as well. The more stressed the person. is, it's likely they're going to require. more because their natural machinery in. the brain can't keep up. So it is very. individualistic. I think we give a general. recommendations to make it easy, but. again, some people can take it very. scientifically and base it on body. weight and you can't go wrong with both, yeah. >> I bet there's a lot of people that are. this far into the conversation and their. their central question is, right, I've. got loved ones. >> Mhm. >> that I really really want to start um.

considering. >> Right. >> creatine supplementation for whatever. reason. It could be cognitive benefits, muscular benefits, whatever, all the. things we've talked about. They might end up sending this. conversation to their loved ones. >> Right. >> Something that I do sometimes when I. when I have episodes that are. particularly moving for me. If their loved ones are now listening, >> Yeah. Yeah. >> and you had to make a case to their. loved ones about why they should take. >> creatine, >> Yeah. >> what would you say? >> I would say creatine is one tool in that. health promotion um toolbox that might. help you live longer and better and.

allow you to maintain activities later. on in life which you wouldn't have been. able to do and unfortunately that leads. us accelerated aging in a poor way to. go. It's like it's like saying I'm going. to save everything for retirement. My. question is why? You might not make it. to retirement. So that's one of the. things, yeah. >> Aging. >> Yes. >> What is aging in your definition of the. word? >> It's catastrophic. Unfortunately, I'm. going through it. You know, I've noticed. ever ever since I hit the fourth decade, things hurt a lot more and muscle mass. to retain a little bit harder. Um so unfortunately think of the body's.

ability to withstand stress is not as. high and things start to break down. quite fast. So, we all know, you know, things hurt more, we've lost muscle. mass, I can't run as fast. So, biological aging is kind of the. deterioration of the human body. We need. to, with this conversation and others, come up with ways to stop the. deterioration and if anything come up. with ways to maintain that ability to. live longer free of disease, young. >> We have a closing tradition on this. podcast where the last guest leaves a.

question for the next not knowing who. they're leaving it for. This one's quite. a tricky question. >> Okay. >> What is. reality? What do you think all of this. is? All this stuff that we can see and. all we experience. What do you think it. is? Do you think it's a simulation? Do. you think it's. >> This is all real for sure because I. think we can feel it. It's not a a big. brother or anything that's a game show. We all go through different emotions and. things like that. So, I think you can. feel it, yeah. >> Are you religious? >> Yes, Catholic. >> Okay. And you're a family man, you've got got. some. >> I a French bulldog and a cat as we.

talked about and a wife at home, yeah. And really close to my family and stuff. like that, yeah. >> And what is your goal? If we get to the. end of your career and this was your. last day and you had been successful. >> Yeah, I think it would be a lasting. impression on my students that wow, he. changed my life in some way. And if I. can make one person live longer free of. disease and happier, I'm all for it. You. know, when you start to see the human. body as people get older, you're like, oh, that person used to be young and. vibrant. And then when you hear other. people that can't do activities they. live in or they can't travel or they're.

afraid to, I'm like, you need to embrace. today. I I love that quote from Morgan. Freeman Shawshank, get busy living or. get busy dying honestly, we have the. ability with lifestyle choices to. improve optimization and I want to see. people live to be 120, 130, still. active, still going and I think we're on. the cusp with technology and I think. awareness around nutrition, exercise, sleep, uh laughter. Oh, jeez, if I could. ask anybody to do one more thing, it'd. be just laugh more often. For me to be. just a small piece of the the puzzle.

promoting it, I think it's if anything. it's it's just beyond my belief, yeah. >> Why did this pull you in? I I I ask that. in part because it tends to be the case. that the things that draw us in or pull. on our make us curious, there tends to. always be a bit of a personal reason. >> Right, yeah. It was It was more that, you know, am I. scared to death 100%? Yeah. I can't I. can't think of it, yeah. >> Why not? >> I just think it's weird for me. I get to. a point, uh maybe being religious, and. then you think about it, and then I my. brain stops. I can't think about it.

>> Really? >> Yeah. And it's it's become it's almost. like I want to live forever, and if I. can think of ways to make me live and. partially get there, obviously it's not. reality. But yeah, I'm uh scared to. death of dying, yeah. >> Have you always been? >> Yep, 100%. Scared to death of heights, and I can't even talk about the the. death experience, yeah. Cuz I think it. it sort of brings into perspective. things that. it it you just don't know. >> Did you ever lose anybody? >> Uh just uh uh friends and things like. that, but nothing um specific like. parents or anything like that yet. But. it's always been there. I don't know if.

it's the Roman Catholic in me or not, but it's like, "Whoa, I don't want that. at all, yeah.". >> You can't even talk about it. >> Can't even talk about it, no. No, yeah. >> Really? >> Yeah. It's kind of like I can talk about. it in a sense I understand and then it's. realistic, but it's it's more um. that for some reason I don't even want. to think about it cuz I have so much. passion for life that I don't even want. to think about, "Oh, this could. happen, yeah.". >> And you believe you go somewhere after. death? >> sure, heaven, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. >> But if you do believe you're going to. heaven, that sounds like a good place, no? >> Great place, yeah. I just want to spend.

more time here. There's still a lot of things to do, yeah, for sure. >> Makes sense. >> Yeah. >> Well, thank you. Thank you for doing. this with me. >> This was great. Thank you. Yes. >> I have to say, you know, you've done so. so much research on the subject that so. many of my previous guests cite and talk. about, and it's so it's it's great to. have the source here himself, and I I. applaud you for the work you've done. because at the end of the day I think I. think a lot of people do want to extend. their health span, right? Which is to. live healthier for longer. There's a. real sort of epidemic of people having. short health spans, being medicated from. the age of 40, 50 years old and then.

having that sort of last couple of. decades of our life being in you know, incapable of doing the things we care. about. I think a lot of this research gives us. an option if we choose to take it. to live a to live a better life. Thank you so much. We're done. YouTube. have this new crazy algorithm where they. know exactly what video you would like. to watch next based on AI and all of. your viewing behavior. And the algorithm. says that this video is the perfect. video for you. It's different for. everybody looking right now. Check this. video out. I bet you you might love it.