Creatine, many gymgoers, and athletes are calling it a magical substance to gain performance and higher athleticism. What you think about this substance might be incorrect, and if you are thinking that it makes you gain weight,
The answer to that is yes. It does make you gain weight, but wait, there are a lot of things working behind this weight gain and things that might make you want to change your perspective about creatine.
What’s Creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance or compound that is produced in our liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Creatine regulates water retention in the muscles of our body for them to function properly and gain strength as well.
There are tons of research and studies going on related to creatine, and most of them show results that prove it to be safe to use for athletes and those who do intense workouts daily. It is proven to improve brain health.
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🔹 Natural Creatine
Natural creatine is produced in our body, in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. There are food items that have been proven to help the body produce more creatine (1 to 2 grams per day), especially:
- Meat
- Seafoods
- Animal milk
These food items have necessary amino acids that help our body produce more creatine, which is necessary for the proper functions of our muscles.
🔹 Manufacturer Based Creatine
Manufacturers are making creatine supplements for athletes, gymgoers, and others as well. These artificially made creatines have been researched and tested by experts thousands of times in the past few years.
Maximum research has shown that creatine monohydrate supplies energy to muscles, improves brain health, helps with rigorous training, and increases ATP levels in your muscles. There are different forms in which creatine monohydrate is produced by manufacturers:
- Tablets
- Liquid
- Powder
- Energy bars
Does Creatine Cause Weight Gain?
The main question here is: Does creatine make you gain weight? The answer to that is yes; creatine does make you gain weight, but not in the form of fat. Creatine makes you gain weight by storing more water in your muscles.
Reasons Behind Weight Gain
The reasons that are responsible for your weight gain after taking creatine are minor but very important for your muscle health. Creatine makes your body store more water in the muscle cells, which enhances muscle function and provides more energy during physical activities. More reasons that are behind weight gain from taking creatine include increased muscle mass and caloric increments from foods.
Unwanted Weight Gain
If you are thinking about the unwanted weight gain that can come with taking creatine, rest assured that there will be no unwanted weight gain in the form of fat. Every ounce of weight you’ll gain from creatine will be the water weight that is stored in the cells of your muscles and is necessary for muscle function.
Removing Extra Weight
Even if you are feeling like you have gained excess weight from taking creatine, which is basically all the water that your muscles are holding, Taking creatine can be beneficial for improving muscle mass, strength, and brain health, but it will increase your weight a little. If you want to lose some extra weight while taking creatine, then you can follow these activities for the job:
- Dietary Restrictions: Adjust your macros by decreasing your intake of foods high in carbohydrates and fat.
- Decrease Sodium Intake: lowering your salt intake would be beneficial for losing weight as salt promotes water retention.
- Exercise Daily: continuous exercise will make you sweat and reduce those extra drops of sweat from your body.
- Increase Your Water Intake: increasing your water intake will also increase urination, make you pee more than usual, and reduce excess water from your body.
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Final Verdict
There are many things that people say about many things. Everyone knows well to ignore that advice and follow logical ideas and thoughts. The same goes for this creatine-related discussion.
Researchers and subject-matter experts have thoroughly investigated and verified all of the points and facts mentioned above. Thus, taking creatine has its own benefits, and it comes with a little weight gain, which, from my perspective, is not a bad thing.
