Latest / Empower Your Menopause / Episode 68: Creatine & Menopause - what’s all the fuss about?

Transcript

Episode 68: Creatine & Menopause - what’s all the fuss about? · Empower Your Menopause

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, welcome back to Empower Your Menopause, the show where we cut through the fluff, give you practical, science-based steps to feel better in midlife.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Julie here with James from Fabulous Beyond 40.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us today.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going to take on creatine.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably one of the most misunderstood supplements in the room.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: There's a so much social media hype about it at the moment, especially when it comes to high doses.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we thought we'd talk about it here and talk about why it can be a smart and simple add-on for women over 40, as well as important things like what to avoid and what to look out for.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So over the next half hour, we're going to cover things like what is it, why is it useful during and after menopause, how to take it safely, very important, and what to expect when you do take it.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll also tackle some of the bigger worries, things like kidneys, weight gain, bulking, and that sort of thing, and finish with a quick QA.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to keep this all in plain English so that you know you have some good takeaways when we're done today.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, James, why don't we start with what creatine is and what is it supposed to do?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I'll try and keep this in plain English as much as possible then.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but let's start of all uh first of all with what it's actually not.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of people tend to confuse for some reason creatine with either a hormone or a steroid, and it's not, despite um the fact that it's used by some people in the gym to help them bulk up.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not that, and we'll dig into what it's not in more depth a little bit later on.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: But it's really a natural compound that your body already makes from three different amino acids.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now, amino acids are the building blocks of protein, the micro different types of protein.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: So creatine is made from three of those, it's made from three called arginine, glycine, and methionone, and you can also get it in some foods like meat and fish.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So your body makes it and you can get it from some foods as well.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can't get it in a vegetarian form, that's one thing to say.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: So your body makes it in the liver, the kidneys, and your brain, and then it's carried by the blood to your muscles in your brain, which is where it's stored and where it's used from.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it's stored primarily in the muscles, most of it around 95% that's running around the body at any one time, is storing your muscles, and then about 5% in the brain.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it was first discovered in a lab.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it existed before that, obviously, but first discovered by man's mankind and recognizing the lab, so around time around the 1800s, late 1800s, and over the years, we've found that it does a number of things that can be beneficial to the body.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So the main thing that it does, its day job, if you like, despite the social media explosion now that tells that it does all different things, is it helps your cells recycle energy quickly.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now, most people will probably be aware with two terms about how the body makes energy.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: One is the aerobic system, which primarily burns fat, and the other is an anaerobic system, which primarily burns carbohydrates.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: They help the body produce energy and they're pretty efficient, but the aerobic, particularly, is quite slow at doing that, so you're limited by how hard you can work, and then the anaerobic system burns energy and produces energy a bit quicker, but only for shorter periods, around three, four minutes, somewhere like that.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there's a subset of the anaerobic system, and I'll try and keep this in plain English, which is called the ATP PC system.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: So this energizes our muscles for really short, fast actions, but it's limited in its capacity, so you can't do it for very long.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: You can only do it for somewhere around between 10 and 20 seconds, somewhere around there.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: So creatine is part of the PC in that ATP PC system that I talked about.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: It gets converted to a chemical called phosphoratine, that's PC, and it helps us create the ATP, which is the energy source that is burnt by our muscles to keep them going.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: But as I said, 10 seconds maximum, which is why creatine's main use is to help us when we want to do short, sharp, strenuous efforts of work.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that could be in the gym.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: If you're in the gym, it might be when you're trying to crunch some heavy weights out, you know, you're doing your squat, so you're trying to get 10-15 in in one set, that's going to take you about 20 seconds.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: That is where creatine is kicking in to help that.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Same out in the uh on the track.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you're doing short, sharp sprints, once you get up to 800, 1500 meters, those longer distances, it's not really helping there unless you're looking at a sprint finish at the end of one of those races.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it can also help with things like jumping as well.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, high jump, long jump, all those kind of things.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: So when you want short, sharp energy, creatine is kind of the thing that you want to be kicking in.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now, aside from that, it helps with a couple of other things as well.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, first of all, self cell hydration, keeping your cells nice and plump and ready to go, and some signalling as well between cells, and that is where the increasing research is showing lots of promise because it seems to be helping people with cognitive challenges and memory challenges.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, we where do they tend to come in?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: We know where they come in, they come in in medical, right?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of what we're uh looking at then.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, sort of like short, sharp efforts in the gym, that's where it's mainly used, but also increasingly cognitive stuff as well.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and uh I'm taking it now and I I'll tell my story later.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, listeners might be asking so if we can make it in our body and we can get it from the food we eat, why might we need to supplement it?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's a really, really good question.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, as we get older, our bodies tend to produce less of it naturally.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now, women tend to generally, even when they're younger, produce less than men do as well.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Part of that is likely down to diet because you know, I'm gonna gender stereotype a little bit here for science purposes, but you know, men tend to be big meat eaters, women might eat less or smaller portions of that because size is smaller as well, and also oftentimes as well, women tend to be physically smaller than men as well.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, on the whole, obviously, there will be exceptions to this.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to turn it into a gender issue, but on the whole, men tend to produce more of it naturally anyway.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: But then all of us, as a species, tend to produce less of it when we get older.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So you're producing less anyway, so supplementing can help there.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing is the levels in food are actually quite low, and so the most researched, the most recommended dose is somewhere between three and five grams a day, and we'll get deeper into dosage as we go down.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: But to give you an idea of how much you'd need to eat in food to get that three to five grams of creatine a day, it's massive.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: You're talking about 1.2 kilograms of steak, that's around two and a half pounds for any of our American listeners.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know about you, but if I was eating 1.2 kilograms of steak, I would probably hardly be able to get out of the bathroom to get into the gym for creatine to work, and that is why you know, getting a small daily top-up that can help you squeeze out those couple of extra reps, recover your top gear if you're between sets, so when you do that rest period between a set of lifting weights in the gym, but also to feel steadier across a workout, and then that brain thing as well, particularly handy when sleep and stress aren't perfect again.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, women in menopause, then that small daily top-up can help you with all of those things.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: The good news is, of course, that creatine, because it has been around for ages, it's probably one of the most researched, safest, sports-focused supplements that you can get out there.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think the last time I looked, something like 2,200 studies.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: That is huge when it comes to supplementation, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: An absolutely phenomenal amount of research has gotten gone into that.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so when people say it's safe, we can we'll dig into safety a bit further, but we can kind of reliably say that we've seen lots and lots of trials on this.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's also relatively cheap to make, and again, we'll talk about safety and what to look for when it comes to them, but it's so cheap that unless you've got an absolute scam manufacturer, it's almost not worth them scrimping on quality.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's one of those we tend to always say buy the best quality you can find and you can afford.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: With creatine, you can go perhaps a level down on that and still safely think that you're getting something that's pretty pretty decent to have.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we have to start this by saying what creatine's not.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Let's dive into myth busting, I think, Julie.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna hand back to you.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about some of the misconceptions about it because let's be truthful, right?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there is a history of everybody thinking that's a gym bro thing here, and I'm sure that you're that you're of uh an age where you remember the 90s where that was the the kind of image that it had, as am I.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: So why don't you talk about that a little bit?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, do I ever?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, it kept me from looking into taking it for quite some time because I had a bit of a fear around it.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really glad to have that research and and the information now to understand how good it is.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, let's retire some of those myths uh right now.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, like as James said, creatine is not a steroid, it's a completely different universe.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, your body already makes creatine.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Steroids are hormones, it's like comparing apples and spanners, or as we say in the States, apples and oranges.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's not they have nothing to do with each other.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the second thing I think this is really important is that it's not a magic pill.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't train, it's not gonna do the heavy lifting for you, so to speak.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't take it, you know, it's like it's like people who join the gym in January and never go and somehow they didn't get fit, right?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: You can't take it and expect suddenly these nice lean strong muscles.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: You have to do the work.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you can think of it as that assistant that's gonna help you make good habits that you're establishing work even better.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, also, it's really, really not just for 20-something bodybuilders.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is all about branding, not biology.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: The whole bro label, if you will, bodybuilder muscle guy um label stuck because back in the 90s, when it hit headlines, um, it was because heavy lifters, weightlifters, um, bodybuilders were, and sprinters were using it to see explosive gains in their training.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: So you get all this locker room marketing, you see these guys with their veins popping and grunting and their sweaty muscles, and you know, that which is just silly.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: But the science, fortunately, behind all of that facade, the science was quietly accumulating and stacking up.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, the branding didn't go with it, it stayed in that, you know, shirtless gym muscle-bound guy uh mode.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, fast forward to now, it's one of the most researched, as James said, safest supplements in sports and exercise.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the conversation has moved well beyond the weight room.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're talking about healthy aging, functional strength, meaning the activities that allow you to stay strong enough to do things that you need to do on a daily basis.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it helps with day-to-day energy, and it even helps with brain performance under stress.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I can attest to this.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just say, you know, the muscle heads, meat heads, bro, gym, gym bros, whatever you want to call them, they don't own biochemistry, right?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Midlife women finally get a seat at this table.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just have a couple of reality checks for this.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: You aren't going to bulk up by accident.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that takes some very serious training and um probably some medical assistance as well.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: We'll just leave it at that.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: What you're more likely to notice with creatine is that you'll get better quality reps, you'll get steadier training, which are good things.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: There may be a small uptick on the scale when you start taking it, um, but that is not from fat gain, that is from uh water inside the muscle, which is actually a good thing.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: We want our uh cells and tissues to be properly hydrated, but it's it's not fat gain, that's not how the system works.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the best results are going to come when you pair creatine with two or three strength sessions a week, and of course, all of the sensible day-to-day fundamentals that we talk about all the time, right?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Getting restful sleep, having enough protein in your diet, managing your stress.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Have we ever done an episode where we didn't talk about stress?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've written off creatine before because of this whole aura around it, you can park that for now.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really simple tool that can go a long way to helping you feel stronger, more stable, and a little bit clearer upstairs, especially in the chaos of midlife.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, James, let's zoom in on why those small training wins matter so much, especially during and after menopause.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the big picture is midlife shifts everything.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: We know that, right?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: So estrogen drops, your recovery feels slower, your sleep gets a bit more messed up.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: We tend to lose muscle mass faster than we can build it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, that's a lousy combo for your strength, your balance, your confidence.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, menopause, right?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: All the things that we talk about so often, right?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, as Julie said before, creatine is not gonna do the work for you, but it does help you get more out of the work that you might already be doing.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, as I kind of said before, muscle and everyday function, think of it as a tiny amplifier for any strength sessions that you might do in the gym.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: And please, if you hear that word strength sessions, and you're already feeling a little bit of a sort of like thing of horror running through you, please go back and watch or listen to any of our episodes where we talk about why strength training is super, super important at this time of life.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, when you go into the gym, it's gonna help you recycle that quick energy better so you can do a few more good reps when you whether you're squatting, whether you're doing push-ups, or it's gonna help you in your recovery between different sets, or it's gonna help you keep your form better within a set.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, all those small little things they compound, right?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: You're actually building layers on top of each other.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: So we're talking about getting up out of chairs without having to use your arms or grun.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about carrying shopping without wobbling, we're talking about when you're on a plane being able to easily lift your hold luggage into the sorry your carry-on luggage into the overhead locker.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about feeling more stable on stairs on the stairs.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: We're not talking fireworks, we're talking about consistency that stacks up.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really, really important.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's really good when you're training for getting your top gear back, right?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things that tends to happen is we go into the gym, we do certain exercise, we do set one, then we do set two, then set three becomes really, really hard because we're tired.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: So creating will help you build up that energy quicker so your latter sets don't fall apart.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now, over the weeks, that of course means more consistent training, more productive training, without you actually having to do more.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I just parenthesis here what's not to like so far when it comes to this.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: When it comes to some of the specific challenges of menopausal women, then we know that this time of life our bones are more under stress when it comes to the challenges that are provided by the fall in estrogen.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: So creatine isn't gonna miraculously wave a wand and give you stronger bones, but because it is supporting better training quality, stronger muscles, they're all gonna load your skeleton more and they're gonna help with your bones because your muscles will be able to help load the bones in a way that they like to be loaded.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you're talking about stronger hips, you're talking about a stronger spine, you're talking about fewer wobbles, real world, if you like, even if you know the DEXA scan that people do when it comes to bone density, even if that doesn't actually show massive gains.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Then we've got our old favourites as well, things like brain fog, mood, mental energy, right?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: All those kind of things that we talk about.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: So your brain uses creatine.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, five percent of it is stored in there, and it actually is being shown increasingly.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: So most of the research is heading this way now to help your brain, particularly when your brain's under pressure, poor sleep, high stress, heavy cognitive load.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, when do those three things come around?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: During the transition, it's literally midlife in a sentence, right?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: So don't expect to start taking creatine and see huge benefits in this area.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking modest, right?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking that your brain might snap a little bit quicker, you might have fewer of those.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Where do I find my key moments and things like that?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a miracle, it's a nudge, but it is promising, and more research, the more research that's done, the more we're gonna find out about this kind of thing.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, who kind of feels all this the most?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: If you're already in the gym lifting two or three times a week, you're probably gonna feel a bit of a benefit from it.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not already lifting two and three times a week, go and start lifting two or three times a week and take creatine, and you'll get a double benefit from it.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, if you're vegetarian, vegan, creatine is gonna help because you've not got as much meat and fish intake.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know I said there's not a lot in foods, but there is some.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and if you're juggling stress, broken sleep, and all that kind of stuff, you might feel the difference as well.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're already very well rested, if you're already low on stress, if you're already training like clockwork, I actually don't know anybody who's doing all those kinds of things anyway.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Let's pretend that there are some people out there who are actually breaking these rules and actually doing those kind of things.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: The changes might feel a little bit subtler, obviously, still worthwhile, but dramatic.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I think, you know, as you said earlier, it's not a magic pill, right?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Let's not see it as some kind of panacea that can help with everything, but it is gonna help you feel steadier, both in your body and mentally, it's gonna help your muscles feel stronger, it might give you a calmer nervous system, and of course, if you stack it with sleep, better protein, basic stress hygiene, that's where you're gonna start to feel powerful again.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's why you should be taking it.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, by now we've kind of convinced you about why you should be taking it.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: A couple of things we should talk about.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I'm gonna hand back to you, Julie, to talk a little bit about safety because I know that people are concerned generally about protein and generally about supplements, and I think it's a good one to take.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'll talk a little bit about dosing before we start to round up.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, what should women know before they start taking it?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Julie, give us a lowdown.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with the big the biggest worry that we see and hear about are the kidneys.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um the good news is that at normal doses in healthy adults, the research doesn't show kidney damage when you're taking creatine.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think um there's some confusion because uh creatinine is the byproduct, if you will, the exhaust kind of that your body makes when it uses creatine.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And um, because labs often look at that, the creatinine numbers as a kidney marker, if you start taking creatine, your numbers can look a little bit higher, even though your kidneys are fine.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, like any other supplement, tell your clinician that you're taking creatine so they can factor that into the lab results and interpret everything in context.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's true of any supplement you take.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Your doctor should always know.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I go with a list, certainly to my doctor, because they they need to have that information.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but especially with creatine, if you're worried about kidney, uh kidney numbers.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Weight gain, obviously, women at this stage of life, weight gain is like, I don't want anything that's gonna make the scale go up.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Technically, any weight fluctuations you see are probably temporary, and as we said before, it's about the water that's inside the muscle cell, which is part of how creatine works.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not fat.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: In most women, this is usually quite modest.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Many clients don't even notice it and the way their clothes fit.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: But what they do notice is that when they're training, again, their training improves and becomes steadier.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you notice, some people say they have some digestive upset from it.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: If big doses bother your gut, um, then you could split the dose or be sure to take.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: With food.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Those are simple fixes that usually resolve that issue.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Some people for some reason think you need to waterload when you're taking creatine.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's not true.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just drink like a normal person, whatever your recommended water intake is.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: But do hydrate.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about it storing water inside your muscle cells.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good thing, as we said.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: So don't drink less water, but make sure you're well hydrated.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also a myth out there that caffeine cancels creatine.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: That isn't necessarily true.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's still emerging research on that.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: It may not be quite as effective if you're taking it with caffeine, but consistency in taking it matters far more.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't cancel it out by any means.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you're taking certain medications or you have certain medical conditions, that's that's true again of absolutely any supplement, but especially with creatine.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been diagnosed with kidney disease or you have a history of kidney issues, for sure, talk to your doctor about it.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, that's something else you should definitely get clearance for.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're taking diuretic medications or any other medications that affect your kidneys, having a quick chat with the prescribing doctor will take care of that for you.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we always say quality matters.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is very true.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: And again, you're not going to be paying massive amounts of money for good quality creatine, but stick to creatine monohydrate.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: You'll notice that on the label.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the best option is to look for products that have been third-party tested.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: So they have a seal from NSF or Informed Choice, where it says Craya Pure on the label.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Those are indications that the product is standardized and of good quality.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Keeping the powder dry is important because it likes water.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Micronized basically just means it's smaller and it mixes better with liquids.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Again, if you've got blood work coming up, note your creatine use on the on the form, the intake form, or make sure to tell the person who's doing the blood draw, it's going to save you a lot of back and forth later.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: There are occasionally some side effects, some um more serious side effects, but they're very rare.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um if you notice any unusual swelling, persistent GI upset, you know, you just can't seem to stomach it or anything else that feels off, stop taking it and check in with your clinician.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the good thing is this isn't like a fat-soluble vitamin that's going to just stay resident in your tissues.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to cycle through it.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so stopping usually will help.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Bottom line is again, for healthy adults at normal doses, because we don't need to follow that influencer who's telling you to massively dose creatine, that's not that's not sensible.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but at normal doses, it has a very strong safety record.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: So if be consistent with it in order to see the best results, choose a reputable product and again tell your doctor, uh clinician that you are taking it, especially when you're thinking about that creatamine number.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we've ticked off all the safety boxes, James.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let's show everybody how to take it.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because that's probably one of the biggest questions now that we've convinced them.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: So the most researched dosages are somewhere between three grams and five grams of creatine monohydrate once daily.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Three towards three grams if you're smaller in frame, towards five grams if you're bigger.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: You can take it any time of day, as you said before.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you have it with food, it can feel gentler.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: So there are kind of two protocols really.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: One is to just start off with that three to five grams a day and have it for about a month, and by the end of the month, that is when your muscle and your brain levels will be nicely topped up, and then you do need to take it daily after that.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Some people prefer to do what's called like a pre-loading phase and have a couple of weeks where they go higher on the dose, maybe 20-25 grams for a couple of weeks, and then drop to that five grams.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: What happens there is that you tend to be at your top creatine levels a couple of weeks earlier.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make a massive difference?
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, when you go up to those higher levels, that is when I at least anecdotally tend to see more tummy troubles in people if they go too high too soon.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the easiest thing to do is just take, you know, somewhere between three and five grams a day.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Most of the packs have got a little spoon in them, otherwise, like a flat teaspoonful is about the right amount.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Take it for about four weeks before you start to judge it.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you do get some better absorption.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is really getting into nitty-gritty now, but if you want to sort of like try and make it really, really work for you, having it alongside some simple carbs can help.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Why is that?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because it triggers insulin and that helps shunt the creatine around the bloodstream quicker.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we're talking like a glass of fruit juice, a small sports drink, having it with a meal that's got some carbs in it, maybe a sandwich or something like that.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need to neck 50 grams of sugar before you take it.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, pair it with some sensible carbs that you'd already be doing.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: And look out for the sugar levels as well, just because we're saying to have a few carbs to help your creatine a little long, it's not carte blanche to then go and bust your sugar levels.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: When it comes to no fast food milkshakes, no, no, absolutely no.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, have one occasionally if you've put you, but you like having, but yeah, let's not make it a daily ritual as part of our creatine uh routine.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the whole loading thing, for most women, I don't think it's necessary.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there is some sort of like really again getting into the nitty-gritty stuff about timing it to time going into the gym at a specific time and stuff like that.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it's so much faff, I wouldn't really bother with it.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a competitive lifter and you want to get into the gym and do that kind of stuff, ask us and we can help you tailor a routine if needed.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, where do those higher doses come from?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, there are lots of people right now, influencers on the internet, talking about higher dose of creatine daily and continually.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: And to be honest with you, there's some fledgling research into this, but the science is not absolute on it.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, if you want to try doing some what they call biohacking, that is where you're actually trying to alter your blood chemistry and all that kind of stuff, and you want to try dose of 20-25 grams long terms.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think there's anybody growing a third arm from those kind of levels yet.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: We're not seeing anything, but it can give you those tummy troubles if you have too much too soon.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, if you do want to try those high levels, increase gradually or stick to the recommended dose.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, I'm not calling out people who are trying to push the envelope there.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of how science moves on by people experimenting and trying things.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: But right now, there's for me, there's not enough research just yet to show that those higher higher levels help.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Although I'm hopeful that they will be some level in future because it is showing some promising uh results, both anecdotally and in a couple of early trials.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, hopefully, that covers sort of like dosage, three to five grams a day.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: Take it basically for the rest of your life.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And three to you know, creatine tends not to go off.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, and when you buy a sachet of it, if it's 500 grams or a kilo, I mean imagine it's gonna last you for months and months and months if you're only taking five grams a day, right?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, it's a small investment for something that can have small but good, consistent gains.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, I would definitely recommend it for most people.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think we talked about doing a quick QA, didn't we, Julie?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, do you just want to fire some quick questions at me and see if we can wrap through some of those?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this is this is as good as a recap.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so who tends to feel it the most?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Who tends to feel the benefits?
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, when we're talking to midlife about midlife women, I think if you're doing two, three strength sessions a week, then you're gonna feel it really good.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: Vegetarians, vegans definitely could use it because you're gonna have a lower baseline anyway, because you're not getting any from food at all.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: Anybody who's juggling stress, choppy sleep, it tends to help cognitive performance.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Those early trials are showing cognitive performance is helping people whose brain is under stress in some way.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I would guess that that is most women listening to this podcast, right?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, so yeah, definitely you would you you should be able to feel it in both uh your brain power and your muscle power in the gym.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, speaking of feeling it, what does it feel like then?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we're talking about you know, if you're going into the gym, two couple of shaky reps might feel more like four solid ones.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: You'll definitely feel more recovery between sets.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a runner and you want to do sprint finishes and things like that, you might have a little bit more snap.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: There's almost no impact on steady state endurance.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: So the ultra marathon stuff that I kind of do as my my sport creatine helps me in the gym and prep for that, but it doesn't help me in those actual race conditions, so it's really sort of like short burst help rather than the uh marathon hack.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: And it's we've talked about a lot of promising research into some of the cognitive challenges that we've that we feel.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Anecdotally, I can say that it's helped me a lot with brain fog lately.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I've there you go.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, perfect.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, will I get bulky?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is like the one of the top questions from women.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, simple answer no, but you know, again, slightly better quality training, uh, a nudge to lean muscle strength and weight as a result of that.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna get a size surge, and it's always better if you're pairing it with other healthy habits, has as is everything, right?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right, 100%.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: And does coffee cancel it?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of people out there saying.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: No, well, no lab settings, evidence is a little bit mixed, but in real life, I don't see it happening at all.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think really, you know, just be consistent with taking your creatine, enjoy your morning coffee.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh yeah, there's nothing really showing anything that is making me scream, no, don't take it with with coffee.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's absolutely fine.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: And lastly, how long until I notice changes?
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, three, four weeks.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, and yeah, if you've got some stomach grumbles, take it or do uh with food, or as I said before, a bit of orange juice, some you know, a small carb drink or something like that can just help it go around.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: But after four weeks, you should start seeing some some daily benefits.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: It is the kind of thing I'm afraid that if you start taking, you start seeing some benefits, you're kind of locked in for life, really.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't mean that you can never stop taking it.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to continue seeing the benefits and you want to keep doing that, you know, this is not a take for three months and give up supplement, it's something that you've got to do regularly and consistently if you want to see the benefits of it.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that's and it's so easy to do because it's a tiny swoop and you can mix it in with anything.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, pretty much anything, yeah.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Days I don't have coffee, I stick it in some yogurt or something, and it works just fine.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, my wife takes it in a sort of like really short glass of orange juice, just like an inch or two in the bottom of a glass.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's how she has hers, yeah.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: Excellent.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: I tend to just mix it in with a smoothie.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:26
  unknown: Yeah.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Easy peasy.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Put your protein in it at the same time.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, chip it all in together.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a really simple way of doing it.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so let's just have a quick recap then.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, as we've covered today, creatine, creatine is uh just a nice little assist that will compound over time.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's safe at normal doses for healthy adults.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it really does pair beautifully with strength training and and may give you a modest lift on foggier days.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly have noticed that personally.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not magic, but it can be very meaningful when you layer it onto your other solid habits that you are building alongside of us.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: So start simply just three to five grams a day, couple strength sessions per week.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Stay consistent.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's really the key, and it'll help you stack up those wins.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we've got for you today.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, before we sign off, we'd just like to say if this helped, um, we have some special Black Friday offers coming up, which we're very excited about.
• 35:30
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• 35:35
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• 35:39
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• 35:45
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• 35:48
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• 35:54
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• 35:56
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• 36:01
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• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that is targeted for women 40 and above.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then for those of you from corporate background, we have an amazing menopause at work series that we do.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we've just wrapped one of those up and had amazing uh feedback from our participants.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a four-week workplace series.
• 36:34
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• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll have links in the show notes for all of those special offers, and uh I think let's wrap it there.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we've been Julian James from Fabulous Beyond 40, and we're here to say stay strong and stay fabulous.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next week.