Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found within the diet. Meat and fish are especially good sources of dietary creatine. The body is also able to synthesise creatine from the amino acids, arginine, glycine & methionine. Shortly after the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the use of creatine as a performance enhancing supplement gradually moved into the mainstream athletic population.
The role of creatine within sport and exercise has been extensively researched and is backed by conclusive scientific evidence. In short, creatine provides immediate energy for high-intensity workloads and can improve performance in explosive events such as sprinting & weight lifting. The greatest benefits of creatine supplementation are seen in individuals who have lower levels of total body creatine prior to increasing their intake.
Given that foods such as meat & fish are rich sources of creatine, it could be hypothesized that vegetarian athletes would respond positively to creatine supplementation. This theory was tested in a study published in Medicine and Science in Sport & Exercise[1] . The researchers compared changes in muscle creatine, muscle fibre structure, body composition, hydration status, and exercise performance between vegetarians and non-vegetarians resulting from an 8 week creatine supplementation and resistance training program.
Subjects assigned to creatine supplementation received 250mg per kilogram of lean muscle tissue daily for the first week which was then followed by 62.5mg per kilogram of lean muscle tissue daily for the remaining 7 weeks. In order to assess the impact of both the creatine supplementation and the resistance training, muscle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle (part of the quadriceps) and strength was assessed using 1 x maximal repetition bench press and leg press.
Prior to beginning the study, the muscle biopsies indicated that total creatine levels were significantly lower in the vegetarian subjects when compared with the meat eaters. At the end of the 8 week study period, subjects receiving creatine (both vegetarian & non-vegetarian) rather than a placebo had a greater increase in total creatine levels & whole-body lean tissue. This group also demonstrated proportionally greater bench-press strength & isokinetic work capabilities. Within the group of creatine users, the performance effects mentioned above were more pronounced in the vegetarian subjects.
These findings confirm an ergogenic effect of creatine during resistance training and suggest that subjects with initially low levels of intramuscular creatine such as vegetarian athletes will be more responsive to supplementation and attain greater performance results.
[1] Burke D, Chilibeck P, Parise G, Candow D, Mahoney D, Tarnopolsky M. Effect of Creatine and Weight Training on Muscle Creatine and Performance in Vegetarians. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 35(11) Nov 2003.
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