Dr. Ashley Lucas explains why creatine becomes critical after 40, when your body produces less of it naturally. Three to five grams daily supports muscle, cognitive function, and energy. German-sourced creatine like Creapure works better than cheaper alternatives.
Questions this video answers
3 to 5 grams per day.
Many people 'land around' 10 grams per day for cognitive benefits (she advises checking with a doctor).
About 20 grams daily for one week (alternative phrasing later: 20 g/day divided into four doses for about five days to saturate muscle stores faster).
She states muscle mass and creatine levels begin to decline after about age 40 (and emphasizes importance after age 50).
China and Germany (she notes Chinese creatine can be up to 75% cheaper).
Chapters
Most people think that creatine belongs in the gym locker, you know, next to the protein powder and the shaker bottle. What most people don't realize is that creatine is actually much more important than that. After the age of 50, creatine is one of the most important nutrients for both your muscles and for your brain. It's actually not a bodybuilder supplement. It's a cellular energy nutrient. And if you are not getting enough, you're going to feel it in your mood, in your focus, in your and in your strength. Creatine is not a steroid. Creatine is actually something that our body makes and utilizes through the production of energy. The problem is, as we age, our body makes less of it. And so we've got to get it from our food. And getting it from food supply is often not adequate. So taking creatine as a supplement, especially if we are over the age of 50 and we're focused on our mood and our strength and overall mental clarity, creatine can be super helpful. Every time your muscles move and every time you think your body moves through energy, also called ATP. And when we go through that process, we actually need the support of creatine. Creatine's job is to recycle that ATP. And you can think of it that its ultimate goal is the body never running out of charge, right? The body always having enough substrate to be able to continue to produce that energy or that ATP. When creatine is low, your muscles tire fat faster, your brain's going to feel more sluggish. There's been actually quite a bit of research showing that folks who supplement with creatine, they can think faster, they have better focus, and so it supports, really, it supports the brain just as much as it supports your muscles. I've shared this in my other videos, but after the age of 40, our muscle mass starts to decline. And with that decline in muscle mass, we also see the decline in our creatine levels and an increase in our creatine needs. After the age of 40, our natural creatine levels drop just at the same time as our muscle mass starting to drop. I always say that if you are over the age of 40, your number one goal is to maintain or even better increase your amount of muscle mass. Right? As we hit that age of 40, we also see our creatine levels drop. The process of losing muscle as we age is called sarcopenia, and it is one of the biggest predictors of loss of independence as we age. Creatine is also one of the few nutrients, nutrients proven to restore fast twitch muscle fibers, these are the ones that help you with balance, with strength, with reaction time. Think about if you're about to fall and your body needs to react to keep your balance, those are your fast twitch muscle fibers. So super important as we age. And like I mentioned earlier, creatine isn't just for workouts. In clinical trials, adults who supplemented with creatine reported less fatigue and higher mental clarity, often within just a few weeks. So if you start supplementing with creatine, you could notice a difference within three, four, five weeks with not just your strength, but mental clarity. It's super interesting is that women tend to see even a greater boost than men, likely because their baseline creatine levels are even lower. This means more stamina, steadier focus, and better energy throughout the day. No stimulants needed. Now, what's interesting about creatine is that your brain stores it just like your muscles do. And it depends on it for memory, for your focus and for clear thinking. Research actually shows that older adults who supplement supplement with creatine can actually double their memory performance compared to placebo. So that means those people who are supplementing creatine have double memory capacity than those who are not supplementing with the nutrient. It's even been studied for cognitive support in cases of Alzheimer's and mild cognitive impairment. So if you have been noticing mental fog or forgetfulness, creatine might be a really helpful nutrient to add into your routine. Creatine levels are also associated with mood, which I think is pretty darn interesting. Low creatine levels are associated with higher feelings of stress, more anxiety and increased depression in older adults. The thinking behind this is that when the brain energy drops, neurotransmitters struggle to communicate properly and mood regulation suffers. Now, I want you to think that this isn't a weakness, it's not a willpower issue. It's truly an energy imbalance. So when you can replenish creatine, the brain can perform and regulate emotions much more efficiently. When I talk about creatine creatine to our clients at PhD weight loss, few of them have shared with me their anxiety around it causing bloating. You know, one of the ways that creatine works in the muscles is it pulls in water. When we hold water in our muscles, it makes them look bulkier and look bigger, actually, like I've been sharing impacts their strength in a positive way. But again, during the weight loss process, it can be a little bit confusing when you're Taking creatine because then you see some water retention and it might make you nervous because this is scale is not moving in the direction that you'd like to see it. Now if you feel like you are struggling with weight gain and you need support on your weight loss journey, you want to know if you should be taking creatine or what supplements would actually benefit your body with where you are right now in your own healing and wellness journey then you should check out PhD weight loss. Just head into the description and there will be a link for my PhD weight loss.com check that out. Click it. It will guide you to give us a call and you will schedule a fat loss strategy session with one of are nutritionists. We will create for you a customized guide on exactly what, when and how much to eat and support you with what supplements you should take and hold your hand through the journey of dropping weight. So again if you feel like a customized meal plan along with a nutritionist, a coach to guide you on all of the aspects associated with dropping weight, what to eat supplements to support your body along the journey, the mental, emotional, habit behaviors associated with dropping weight, potentially for some people, sugar addiction and how to break free. And definitely go check out my PhD weight loss.com now I often get asked how to take creatine as a supplement in a safe way. So best dose is about 3 to 5 grams per day. That's the sweet spot for most people. If you are wanting it for cognitive support, the brain health aspect, then you could go up even more than that. Always check with your doctor. I'd say most people land around 10 grams per day. For the cognitive benefits you could consider a loading phase. This is optional. That would be about 20 grams daily for one week to help you fill your muscle stores faster. But it is definitely not required. And if you've got anything going on with your kidney or liver, I think it best to stay at that. Three to five grams per day, maybe up to 10 grams. If you're looking at it for your brain health, timing can be morning or evening. Really it's just consistency that matters. Now an important thing to realize around creatine is that not all creatine is created equal. And this probably doesn't surprise you because it's the same with all all types of supplementation, right? Like there's better, more effective forms of magnesium. I like magnesium glycate over magnesium oxide. Same thing goes with creatine. Now all creatine on the market is manufactured from raw materials and most of the creatine comes from two countries, primarily China and Germany. Chinese creatine is up to 75% cheaper, which is why most supplement brands use it. But third party testing has found that Chinese manufactured creatine often contains impurities that you don't want in your body body that are not found in the German source creatine. Because creatine is taken in amounts of 3 to 20 grams or so, these impurities can add up and can make a difference. It might be why some people talk about the side effects of like stomach upset or gas or even GI distress even when using just plain creatine. Now this for a lot of people isn't a problem with creatine itself. It's a quality control issue tied to the sourcing and the processing of the raw material. So if you can, if you feel like you take creatine and you have these negative impacts, you could be just a bit more picky on where you're getting it from. Source it from German. If you experience these side effects, you could just be a little bit more sensitive and might need to be more picky on where you source your creatine from. Now you could look for Creapure or Crea Vitalis. These are both German creatine monohydrate sources with the highest purity and safety standards. So again, if you are sensitive and feel like you experience these side effects, this could be a reason why the best way to take creatine is around 3 to 5 gram dose a day. Now research has shown that up to 10 grams a day could be helpful. When it comes to the brain health aspect, make sure you always check with your doctor before adding any kind of new supplementation. You could try a loading phase if you want to. It's optional, not necessary. This would be taking 20 grams per day divided into four doses for about five days to saturate your muscle stores a little bit faster. Again, not necessary. Timing, morning or evening consistency matters the most most much more than timing. And then some tips for just better results and allowing your body to take it up a bit more effectively is to take it with food to reduce any potential stomach upset. Stay hydrated. Creatine pulls water into your muscles like I said, so you need to make sure you have adequate water. Avoid the gummies, they're often heated which destroys the most important active ingredient and then move your body. Even 10 minutes of activity per day helps your muscles absorb and use creatine more efficiently and effectively. So if you are taking creatine, move your body and ideally resistance train lift something heavy. If you want some support on your exercise to accompany your creatine supplementation? I've got a really great video on the topic of exercise and why cardio might be making you fat. So if this interests you, head on into the description and click the link and you can watch more. Dive into the topic of exercise and what types to focus on.
