Creatine Benefits For Non-Athletes – Benefits Beyond The Gym

W

hen you hear "Creatine", what do you think of it? Most of us think of muscle, heavy lifting and athletic performance. For now many years, creatine has been known as a "gym supplement," a substance for bodybuilders or other fitness buffs looking to gain strength.

But here's the twist-creatine is not just a supplement for lifters and athletes. While it is mostly associated with muscle mass increase, creatine may be much more than we initially realize. Creatine has played a role in sports nutrition for years and is extremely valuable for athletic performance and recovery. But what if we took these benefits beyond the weight room?

Now it's time to alter our previous beliefs and see what this powerful ingredient still has to offer, potentially even for individuals with a daily lifestyle related to poor or non-existent training. Interested? Let's find out!

We’ll skip the explanation of what is creatine and head directly to the topic as we have talked in detail about Creatine and its benefits for athletes in several of our blogs.

Also Read: What is Creatine? Benefits, Dosage & Side Effects

Key Benefits of Creatine for Non-Athletes
1. Cognitive Enhancement & Boosts Brain Power

The brain requires a constant supply of energy for cognitive functions (e.g., memory, concentration, solving problems, and thinking) because it represents about 20% of the total resting energy utilized by the body. Creatine facilitates brain energy in non-athletes by enabling the resynthesis of ATP, the energy currency of all cells.

Supports ATP Production: Creatine can be stored in the brain as phosphocreatine, which serves as a phosphagen store for ATP resynthesis when ATP is depleted (e.g., periods of cognitive low-energy demand, such as sleep or during demanding cognitive tasks).

Supports Cognition: Creatine stabilizes energy supply, which can in turn help the brain enough for clarity, focus, and processing speed. Non-athletes with a vegetarian or greater plant-based dietary pattern can experience greater improvements in short-term memory and attention with Creatine supplementation because they have lower basal creatine levels.

Reduces mental fatigue: During prolonged periods of cognitive workload, Creatine helps to buffer energy deficits. Creatine supplementation attenuates mental fatigue in healthy adult humans in experimental situations of demanding tasks, by aiding the maintenance of ATP in the neuron. 

Also Read: Does Creatine Supplementation Make You Gain Weight?

2. Fights Fatigue & Boosts Energy

Creatine may enhance energy and decrease fatigue in nonathletes by enhancing cellular energy metabolism and creating a buffer from energy deficits, especially in the brain and muscles. It does this because creatine enhances ATP, which a person uses when they need to tap into its phosphocreatine and ATP reserves that is critical to maintain energy during high-level tasks that require more energy than can be conceived by the anaerobic glycolysis process and energy at the cellular level is essential at this moment.

Increased ATP availability: Creatine is stored as phosphocreatine in the cells of a human body and is immediately used to create ATP to replenish ATP supplies when the demand for energy spikes. This allows your body more time to continually produce energy to maintain maximum effort without drawing from ATP stores and causing declines physical fatigue.

Decrease on mental fatigue: Creatine maintains ATP levels in neuron's that decrease the effects of mental fatigue owing to stressful tasks. This would mean being more efficient and have a greater productively, while working on mentally challenging tasks, without any reliance on stimulants, such as caffeine.

Muscle energy for day-to-day tasks: While the activity does not require a high level of exercise, you still require increase recruitment of ATP, which Creatine replenishes during even low-level physical activities. This may mean that you can carry your grocery bags home, walk a flight of stairs, without feeling like it was a huge "effort" task.

Also Read: Whey Protein & Creatine – How Do You Benefit?

3. Supports Muscle Health & Prevents Age-Related Muscle Loss

Muscle health isn’t just beneficial for athletes - it's important for everybody, particularly as we get older! Over the years, we naturally lose muscle mass. Muscle loss leads to decreased strength, a slower metabolism, and more frequent setbacks when we are looking to undertake a physical task. Creatine can help mitigate these effects, and understand how it is a helpful way to support our muscle health and longevity.

Increases Energy Available for Muscle Use: Creatine is naturally stored in muscle as phosphocreatine even with resting muscle the body converts creatine back into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the main source of energy for muscle contractions as well as the majority of cellular processes. This means that while it may be more important for a high-performance athlete, all can benefit from enhanced muscle energy which makes daily activities easier.

Decreases Muscle Breakdown: Creatine helps to prevent muscle breakdown which helps to boost the human body's efforts to fight sarcopenia, the age-related reduction of muscle mass and strength that should help with daily activities such as climbing stairs or lifting an object.

Improves Hydration of Muscles: Creatine is taken in - either as a supplement or with creatine-containing food (e.g., muscle) - and can increase the size of cells (volume) of our muscle cells as it helps draw in more water into our muscle cells. This promotes an environment for muscle growth. On the other hand, if our muscle is too fatigued, we may miss an opportunity to build or repair that muscle properly hydrated muscle can help minimize damage as our muscles become stronger in their size and shape, to also help minimize the risk of being injured in those same daily living tasks or needs for muscle and the recovery function a mobile muscle can provide.

Also Read: What is The Best Time to Take Creatine Monohydrate?

Who Can Benefit From Creatine Supplementation Other Than Athletes?

Vegetarians and vegans
Older adults
Busy professionals
Individuals with high mental workloads
People with low energy or metabolic concerns
Individuals who seek neuroprotection

Also Read: The Best Creatine Monohydrate in India 

Consideration and Recommendations For Creatine Supplementation For Non-Athletes

When thinking about Creatine supplementation, especially for non-athletes, safety and evidence should be evaluated in relation to a few important factors.

Creatine has been determined to be safe for healthy individuals. People with pre-existing kidney or liver conditions should talk to a health care provider before taking creatine. 

Creatine may interact with diuretics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines that work through the kidneys- diuretics may cause dehydration and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories may cause an unwanted situation.

Creatine supplements draw water into muscle cells and improve the hydration abilities in those cells but adequate hydration is still essential.

It is possible to have mild side effects such as bloating (filling with fluid) especially during the loading phase of supplementation (5-10-15 grams / day) or maybe due to low-quality products if the company does not care about the quality of their creatine product.

Active or more mobile non-athletes may experience more robust muscles but sedentary active individuals will conceptualize the benefits with metabolic (energy) function and non-frequent more effective cognitive task performance.

Select a trusted reputable brand or company that provides high-quality creatine; no additives please and min graph for company reputability. 3-5g of creatine per day for non-athletes provides benefits (muscle, brain, energy) without overwhelming the system.

Non-athletes have more flexibility for the timing of creatine supplementation than athletes; pick a time that is relevant to you on a consistent basis - first thing (in) the morning or a post work energy boost would be good.

Can consume Creatine daily to keep muscle and brain creatine storage levels. Creatine works with a nutrient-rich diet with adequate protein and enough carbs.

Creatine is not just for use in the gym. It is a potent supplement that can change how non-athletes think, move, and feel…

Creatine has continued to show benefits for everyone, from boosting cognitive power and combating fatigue to supporting muscle health as we age—scientifically-backed benefits that can support even the busiest workday or keep us feeling fresh and energetic…

Also Read: Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss?

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Reference:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8912287/