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Creatine Expert: Creatine Is The Secret To Weight Loss — Transcript

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0:00A healthy brain likely doesn't need any
0:02creatine. But what if you're stressed?
0:04What about sleep deprivation? Night
0:06shift workers, university students
0:08cramming for a midterm, then all of a
0:09sudden the healthy brain becomes a
0:11metabolically stressed brain. And most
0:13people fall into the stressed
0:15environment, and that's where creatine
0:16comes to the rescue. And we'll talk
0:18about how much, but the more stressed it
0:20is, the higher the dose seems to come
0:22into play.
0:23>> And is there anyone that shouldn't take
0:24creatine?
0:25>> Well, I published over 120 papers just
0:27on creatine alone. We've done at least
0:2930 to 40 studies in our lab, and I can't
0:31find anybody that can't or shouldn't
0:34take creatine. So, for example, at
0:35recommended dosages, creatine can not
0:37only have potential anti-cancer
0:39properties, it really speed up
0:40rehabilitation, and there's a lot of
0:42hope, especially around Alzheimer's.
0:43>> And what about kids?
0:44>> The current body of evidence suggests
0:46they want to get at least 1 g per day
0:48because in children they want to have
0:49optimization for bone health as well as
0:51muscle development. And so, I'm
0:52fascinated that this nutrient,
0:54discovered in 1832, like boring for the
0:56longest time as having these profound
0:58benefits we never even thought would
0:59happen. And [music] so, your viewers
1:00today will be surprised about some of
1:02the things I'm going to talk about,
1:03including microdosing.
1:05>> And we've got this thing here in front
1:06of us. This is the dosing dilemma. You
1:08know, I want to talk about how much I
1:09need to take for all these [music]
1:10things. And I want to talk about
1:11nutrition, protein, weight training,
1:12etc. But before that, you've got five
1:14myths in front of you. Can you reveal
1:16one by one what they are?
1:17>> So, this is Oh, I can't believe you did
1:19this one to me. Creatine causes hair
1:21loss. I was going bald before I started
1:24taking creatine. Myth number two. Oh, so
1:26this is by far the biggest myth, and
1:29that is
1:32>> This is super interesting to me. My team
1:34give me this report to show me how many
1:35of you that watch this show subscribe,
1:37and some of you have told us, according
1:38to this, that you are unsubscribed from
1:40the channel randomly. So, favor to ask
1:42all of you, please could you check right
1:44now if you've hit the subscribe button
1:45if you are a regular viewer of the show
1:46and you like what we do here. We're
1:48approaching quite a significant landmark
1:50on this show in terms of a subscriber
1:51number. So, if there was one simple,
1:53free thing that you could do to help us,
1:55my team, everyone here, to keep this
1:57show free, to keep it improving year
1:59over year and week over week, it is just
2:01to hit that subscribe button and to
2:02double check if you've hit it. Only
2:04thing I'll ever ask of you.
2:05Do we have a deal?
2:06If you do it, I'll tell you what I'll
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2:09every single week, every single month,
2:11we fight harder and harder and harder
2:12and harder to bring you the guests and
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2:15I've stayed true to that promise since
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2:17CEO, and I will not let you down. Please
2:20help us. Really appreciate it. Let's get
2:22on with the show.
2:24>> [music]
2:26>> Dr. Darren
2:28Candow.
2:29>> What is the mission that you're on in
2:32your life?
2:33>> I think right now would be to promote
2:36health and make people live longer free
2:37of disease. It's fascinating how we've
2:40transcended our understanding of weight
2:41training, and now weight training is
2:43seeming to have these profound effects
2:45that cardiovascular exercise has, and it
2:47gives you a bit more. So, really
2:48focusing now on the benefits of lifting
2:50things around the house and how exercise
2:53and then, of course, nutrition, we're
2:54going to talk about creatine, but also
2:56how other macronutrients, especially
2:58protein, come into play. And then when
3:00you combine those two, are we doing
3:01enough to optimize longevity? And we
3:04hope that we are. Yeah.
3:06>> And so, what are the reference points
3:07you're drawing on? How do you know the
3:09things you know? Are you doing your own
3:10research?
3:11>> Yeah. So, I did my graduate school in
3:13Canada, cell biology degree, and then I
3:15moved into my master's and PhD looking
3:17in kinesiology. So, it's interesting
3:19that I fell into creatine
3:20supplementation research by accident. I
3:22was doing my master's on an amino acid
3:24called glutamine, and at the time, about
3:2620-30 years ago, glutamine was the
3:28biggest rage. Everybody was taking this
3:30non-essential amino acid and hoping that
3:32it would have body composition
3:34improvements. Uh and I sort of
3:36determined it was worthless in young
3:38healthy individuals from a body
3:40composition uh standpoint. And at the
3:41same time, a good colleague of mine was
3:44doing creatine.
3:45And I started to notice these young
3:46biological males were getting bigger,
3:48stronger, faster. And then another
3:50study, bigger, stronger, faster.
3:53And then when you go to the research on
3:55creatine, it was very stimulating in a
3:56sense that we're now improving things
3:59that we know with aging go down. So then
4:02I turn my focus completely to healthy
4:04aging and trying to get, you know,
4:06grandparents and great-grandparents and
4:08your parents to live longer free of
4:09disease. But wait, let's start young.
4:12Start as early as you can and move
4:13forward, yeah.
4:14>> And so you got really compelled by
4:15creatine. I want to talk about all these
4:16things, um nutrition, protein, weight
4:18training, etc. But on the subject of
4:20creatine, what was it that compelled you
4:22so much to start you did start doing
4:24your own research on creatine.
4:25>> I did and I started to take creatine.
4:26So, you know, it was this natural
4:28metabolite that we're synthesizing in
4:30the liver and brain. If you take a
4:32little bit more, not a lot, just a
4:34little bit more than what we're probably
4:36taking in from the food uh sources such
4:38as red meat and seafood, can it have
4:40benefits and sure enough it's now the
4:42most researched supplement out there.
4:43It's overtaken protein and caffeine uh
4:45from an ergogenic perspective. And it's
4:48gone global, not just for males, but of
4:50course uh females and centenarians and
4:52elderly. So, it's very fascinating the
4:55explosion in this research part.
4:57>> What is the sort of um I don't
4:59evolutionary backdrop, but I guess
5:00physiological backdrop of why humans
5:03need creatine, but also why they might
5:04not be getting optimal amounts.
5:06>> Yeah, that's a great question. So, uh
5:08adenosine triphosphate or ATP is the
5:10energy currency of all our cells and
5:12think of your muscle doing work or
5:14shoveling the driveway or walking,
5:16you're using your muscles and you need
5:18to maintain that level of energy to to
5:20maintain exercise. Well, creatine comes
5:23to the rescue to help maintain your
5:25energy currency. So, if Batman, which
5:27gets all the press, is ATP, Robin is
5:31creatine. Creatine comes to the rescue,
5:33it's his best friend to help maintain
5:35these levels. Now, when you exercise at
5:37a high intensity, you know, sprinting,
5:39weightlifting, those ATP stores do
5:42become jeopardized and that's why
5:43creatine sort of sacrifices itself uh to
5:46come to the rescue. So, that's why
5:48anaerobic sports The World Cup just
5:49started. These individuals will be using
5:52a lot of creatine stores in their
5:53muscle. The question is, do they have
5:55enough? And if they had more, could they
5:57play better?
5:58>> And so, do our body makes creatine
5:59naturally?
6:00>> That's correct. It is making about 1 to
6:023 g a day, but only in two areas. So,
6:04this will be quite shocking for people.
6:06We're only actually making it in the
6:08liver and the brain. We don't make it in
6:10skeletal muscle, but you store 95% in
6:13our muscle. So, when it's being made in
6:15the liver or brain, the brain will keep
6:17it there, but in the liver it will get
6:19transported in the blood up to your uh
6:21skeletal muscle. The question is, well,
6:23what if we need more? And that's where
6:25dietary creatine from red meat or
6:27seafood or supplementation comes into
6:29play.
6:30>> So, are we deficient in creatine?
6:33>> There are small populations with,
6:36unfortunately, they were born with the
6:37inability to synthesize creatine. Uh,
6:40they would have a deficiency, and they
6:41are required to take supplementation.
6:44The other unique population is vegans
6:45and vegetarians. So, vegan and
6:47vegetarian diet is extremely healthy.
6:49The downfall though is they're not
6:51getting any dietary creatine, cuz
6:53creatine is only found in animal-based
6:54flesh. So, red meat, seafood, and
6:56poultry. They're naturally synthesizing
6:59about 1 to 2, maybe even 3 g a day
7:01through amino acids in their food, but
7:04vegans and vegetarians respond literally
7:07the best on the planet, because now
7:08they're taking in a supplement to allow
7:10that in.
7:11>> And is it thought that historically we
7:12would naturally have consumed more
7:13creatine?
7:14>> That's a good point. So, back, you know,
7:16hunter and gatherer age, a lot of meat,
7:17they were consuming quite a bit through
7:19dietary products. Just say if you only
7:21wanted to get 3 g of creatine through
7:23food, you'd have to eat quite a bit of
7:25meat to do that. And then it comes into
7:26the dilemma of what if you don't eat
7:28meat, or you just can't afford it, you
7:30know.
7:31>> [clears throat]
7:32>> Creatine has exploded over the recent
7:33last couple of years. I I I saw a stat
7:35that said,
7:36I think in women it had gone up to about
7:383% of women take the creatine, and um,
7:41in men it's slightly higher.
7:42It's still a little bit lower in terms
7:44of consumption in women from the stats
7:46that I saw. And I think that in part is
7:48because there's still some prevailing
7:50myths about creatine. When I when I
7:51speak to some of my friend people know
7:53that I interview a lot of health experts
7:55and scientists and PhDs on that have
7:57done research on supplements. They ask
7:59me the first question I get asked a lot
8:00is what are the supplements should I
8:01definitely take?
8:02>> Yes.
8:02>> And when I mention creatine, it's always
8:04met with a certain set of rebuttals
8:06because there's some prevailing myths.
8:08You've got some myths.
8:09>> Yes.
8:10>> About creatine on the cards in front of
8:12you. Can you reveal one by one what they
8:13are?
8:14>> So, this is definitely the number one
8:16myth. Creatine damages your kidneys. So,
8:19when you take in creatine to the body,
8:21it gets stored as creatine, but when you
8:22metabolize it, sort of sort of thinking
8:25leaking from the muscle, it gets leaked
8:27out as creatinine. And most people
8:29watching is like, oh, that was on my
8:30blood requisition form. And right below
8:32creatinine was something called eGFR.
8:35So, glomerular filtration rate is an
8:37estimation of your kidney health. So,
8:39the problem is when individuals on
8:41creatine supplementation, they go to
8:43their doctor for their annual blood
8:44work, their creatinine might be a little
8:46bit elevated, and that's only from the
8:48breakdown of the the compound. And then,
8:51unfortunately, their filtration rate is
8:53lower. So, then their doctor gets really
8:55surprised, and they're like, stop taking
8:57creatine because it's hurting your
8:58kidneys.
8:59What typically happens they go back or
9:01stopping creatine, and then they check
9:02their kidneys again, and it's fine. So,
9:04I would say 99 [snorts]
9:05out of 100 times
9:07that it's a false positive. So, this is
9:09by far the biggest myth. And there's
9:11been randomized control trials for
9:13several years showing that creatine
9:14causes no detrimental effects to the
9:15kidneys.
9:16>> I had exactly that twice on my blood
9:18tests.
9:18>> Yes. And if you're also creatinine could
9:20be elevated if you're on a high meat
9:21diet, a little bit dehydrated. So, those
9:23that are exercising is very very
9:25elevated. So, always tell your doctor
9:27you're on creatine supplementation
9:28because your creatinine could be a
9:30little bit higher.
9:30>> Okay.
9:31>> Yep. Myth number two. Creatine makes you
9:34retain water. So, this is really
9:36important. And I think this is one of
9:38the main reasons females were really
9:40hesitant to take creatine. If you take
9:43too much too soon, it can lead to an
9:45increase in water retention.
9:47So, you've probably heard of the
9:48creatine loading phase. This is where
9:50supplement companies want you to take
9:51about 20 or 30 g a day for about 5 or 7
9:53days. That has been shown to increase
9:56water retention acutely. So, maybe it'll
9:58reside there for about 3 to 5 days, but
10:01after that, when you go on a maintenance
10:02phase of about 3 to 5 g a day, uh that
10:05water retention goes away. So,
10:07in the initial stages, if done
10:09improperly or too much, it can cause a
10:11little bit of water retention. The good
10:13news for everybody watching is after
10:15about the first week, that water's
10:17inside our muscle. So, now we're
10:19volumizing the size of our muscle, sort
10:22of like a balloon here is full of water.
10:24Now, after a while, the water's now
10:26going into our muscle, it's a lot bigger
10:28compared to a deflated balloon or muscle
10:30that didn't have any water. So, creatine
10:32is osmotic. Water likes to follow
10:35creatine, so by taking it into the
10:37muscle, it gets a lot bigger, and that's
10:38good because a swollen muscle stimulates
10:41protein synthesis to get bigger and
10:43stronger.
10:44>> Oh, really? A swollen muscle stimulates
10:46protein synthesis?
10:47>> Synthesis, yeah. So, when you have water
10:48coming in, that's a really good thing.
10:51And creatine does that, and that's one
10:52of the main mechanisms why it works.
10:54>> So, what does that mean? Does that mean
10:55that if I have creatine in my muscle,
10:56I'm more likely to gain muscle?
10:58>> That is potentially the the factor
11:00because when you're having or trapping
11:01water, it turns on all these signaling
11:03pathways that are involved in protein
11:05synthesis. And And one of the biggest
11:07robust evidence is that creatine
11:09increases lean tissue mass and regional
11:10muscle thickness with weight training
11:12over time.
11:13>> Oh, wow. Okay.
11:13>> Yeah.
11:14>> Yeah, cuz a lot of people are concerned
11:15that they're going to put on lots of
11:16weight and be bloated with creatine.
11:18>> The interesting there is if you take
11:19smaller more microdosing, there's hardly
11:21any effect. And this might come
11:23surprising, but if you did a 6-week
11:24study,
11:26pre and post after creatine, you only
11:27increase mass by 0.86 kg.
11:30>> Oh, wow.
11:31>> And the majority of that is lean mass.
11:33So, at the end of the day, you know, a
11:34pound and a half is not a lot.
11:36>> Lean mass.
11:37>> Lean mass, yeah.
11:38>> Which is
11:39>> We think of lean mass, most people think
11:41of it as muscle, but lean mass in our
11:42body that includes water, connective
11:44tissue, organs, as well as skeletal
11:46muscle. And about 50% of our lean mass
11:48is muscle.
11:49>> Okay.
11:49>> Yeah.
11:50>> Great.
11:50>> Okay, myth number three.
11:52Creatine is only for men. Uh this is
11:54100% false. When you go through the
11:58totality of all the evidence, uh females
12:01respond extremely robustly to creatine
12:03supplementation. They get profound
12:04benefits in strength, endurance, and
12:06performance. They lose a little bit of
12:08body fat. So, there's another idea that
12:11people thought water retention was
12:12causing an increase in in fat mass.
12:15We've done some meta-analysis now
12:16showing that creatine reduces fat mass.
12:18Uh females [snorts] get an increase in
12:19lean mass as well. Uh and um happy this
12:22one came up because from our lab with
12:25bone health, females do respond very
12:27favorably with creatine and bone. And we
12:29can talk about that as well.
12:32Myth number four.
12:33Oh, I can't believe you did this one to
12:35me. Creatine causes hair loss.
12:38So, obviously looking at me and uh I'm a
12:41prolific uh creatine researcher and
12:42taking creatine religiously for like the
12:44last two and a half decades, people
12:46would look at me and say, "Well,
12:48obviously looking at him, creatine
12:49caused this." And I was going bald
12:51before I started taking creatine. This
12:54myth came from a study in rugby players
12:56decades ago uh where creatine about 20
12:5925 g a day for 7 days increased a
13:01hormone called DHT. It's a precursor for
13:03testosterone, which unfortunately has
13:06been linked to hair follicle loss and
13:07thinning. Uh
13:09but the ironic thing is when creatine
13:11was given to these young males, the
13:13hormone went up, but it was still within
13:15the biological range, and no measure of
13:17hair follicle thinning or loss uh was
13:20done. The cool thing is just a few years
13:22ago, they decided to put this uh theory
13:24to the test, and 5 g in young males for
13:26about 6 to 8 weeks of training caused no
13:28uh detrimental effect from hair
13:30thinning, follicle loss. So, my
13:32appearance was probably based on
13:34something else. So, there's no evidence
13:35to that as well. Myth number five,
13:38creatine causes muscle cramps. No, I
13:40think this is so over played. When
13:42creatine is taken into the body and
13:44water will follow it, now you're super
13:47hydrating the muscle. So, one of the
13:49main issues with muscle cramps is it
13:50could be, you know, dehydration in the
13:52muscle. Some people have heard of sodium
13:54potassium, that's why Gatorade was
13:56invented. But if anything, sodium
13:58decreases muscle cramps and it super
14:00hydrates. So, in the hotter
14:02environments, June, July, August,
14:03creatine is going to be one of your best
14:05friends.
14:06>> So, those are the five myths we took
14:08there about weight training. What is
14:09this very curious graph? It seems to
14:12show that creatine
14:15helped gain muscle mass through
14:18a training regime?
14:20>> Oh, yes. So, this is actually showing
14:22now that when you take creatine
14:23supplementation, you're actually gaining
14:25an improvement in training volume. So,
14:27when you go in the weight room, you look
14:29at the load you're lifting by the reps
14:31by the sets. So, it actually goes up.
14:33And then when you don't, obviously it
14:35would go down over time as well. So, the
14:37cool thing here is that one of the main
14:39reasons you get an enhancement in
14:40performance is that creatine seems to
14:43enhance training capacity. So, a lot of
14:45people say I've taken creatine, now I
14:46got an increase in the number of reps or
14:49sets that I can perform. That probably
14:51leads to a stimulation over time.
14:52>> So, this is a 8-week study?
14:54>> That is an 8-week study, very short term
14:56as well. So, you can see that the number
14:58of weeks came down when they weren't
15:00taking creatine and then when they
15:01started to take it, it went up as well.
15:03And this leads to another important
15:05point. So, and it's often not talked
15:07about, when you take creatine for at
15:09least a month, people say, "Well, how
15:11long does it stay in my muscles if I go
15:13on vacation? What if I can't take
15:15creatine?" And in skeletal muscle, it
15:17takes about a month for those elevated
15:18levels to come back down.
15:21In the brain, we don't have a lot of
15:23evidence, but it's speculated it takes
15:25about anywhere between 5 weeks to about
15:283 months for those elevations to come
15:29back down.
15:30>> And this essentially means that if I
15:31take creatine, I will be able to train
15:34harder.
15:34>> Harder or longer or more frequent. So,
15:38one of the things with creatine it
15:39allows the muscle to recover quicker.
15:40So, you might be able to get back to the
15:42you know, if an athlete's trained twice
15:44a day.
15:45So, either one of those seems to be one
15:46of the most possible mechanisms.
15:48>> And why is there a big dip in the middle
15:50of this graph?
15:50>> So, that is actually showing where the
15:51individuals would train and then without
15:54creatine and then take it over time as
15:55well.
15:56>> Oh, okay. So, that's that's stopped.
15:57>> It's a de-training and then taking it
15:59again. Correct.
16:00>> Okay. So, they stopped taking it.
16:01>> Uh taking it at the at week four and
16:03then that's where the elevations go up.
16:06>> Oh. [snorts]
16:06>> Yeah. So, it goes to show that when you
16:08have creatine, everything is elevated.
16:10If you stop taking it, it takes about 4
16:13weeks to come back down, but you'll
16:14notice that it was at the same level as
16:15the placebo.
16:17And then when they take it again, they
16:18get a rebound effect. So, I think this
16:20has application for people who have
16:21injured themselves and they now need to
16:23go back and start training. If you take
16:24creatine, it can accelerate the
16:26rehabilitation program.
16:28>> Hm.
16:29And it does it I guess because it makes
16:31your training volume increase
16:32>> Correct.
16:33>> it makes your muscle mass gain increase?
16:35>> It can gain it gain increase in muscle
16:37mass. It's not great. That's probably
16:39going to be a bit surprising to a lot of
16:40people. A lot of people take creatine
16:41for huge increases in muscle. You get an
16:44increase in lean mass by about 1.2 kg.
16:47But as I I said previously, remember
16:49only half of that is skeletal muscle.
16:51So, creatine yes, can with weight
16:53training improve muscle mass, but it has
16:55more robust evidence for muscle
16:56performance.
16:57>> Is there anything else we need to know
16:58about creatine's link to muscle mass?
17:00>> I think one of the big things is that it
17:02decreases something called protein
17:04breakdown. So, that might allow the
17:06muscle to maintain its integrity or
17:08recover quicker.
17:10But overall, when you combine creatine
17:12with a standard weight training program,
17:14you should expect a greater increase
17:15than weight training alone, absolutely.
17:17And that is that's across all ages,
17:19which is really important.
17:21>> Okay. And the studies you've done in
17:23your own lab, what are those? How wide
17:25varying are those? And how many have you
17:27done?
17:27>> We've Oh god, we've done at least 30 to
17:2940 studies
17:31um in our lab. I've published over 120
17:32papers just on creatine alone.
17:34>> Wow.
17:34>> And the interesting thing is that from
17:36young individuals to middle age to older
17:39adults, we see a very common uh theme
17:41that combined with weight training uh
17:43creatine about 5 g or more. Uh we use
17:46typically a little bit more. Seems to
17:48have uh beneficial effects on muscle
17:49mass, uh muscle strength, as well as
17:52performance, absolutely.
17:53>> Can you show me what 5 g looks like?
17:55>> absolutely. So, this would be a standard
17:585 g dose.
17:59>> Which is one scoop for you.
18:00>> One scoop. Now, keep in mind that can be
18:03found in in meat or seafood, but you're
18:06going to require a lot.
18:07>> Yeah, okay. So, 5 g is one scoop.
18:09>> One scoop.
18:10>> And you're saying we don't necessarily
18:12need to do this loading phase that
18:13bodybuilders would
18:15>> Correct. So, the loading phase is the
18:16most rapid way to saturate your muscles.
18:18Now, that's very beneficial, but that
18:20would be four scoops. So, four scoops is
18:23a loading phase per day and is very
18:25effective, but the issue is can it cause
18:28some adverse GI tract irritation, things
18:30like that. That's where anecdotal people
18:31report that. But a lot of people from a
18:33muscle perspective will start with just
18:355 g a day and that's very beneficial.
18:37>> And at 5 g a day, what benefits am I
18:38getting?
18:39>> Five Oh, across from a skeletal muscle
18:40perspective, you get a whole plethora.
18:42So, you definitely get an increase in
18:43lean tissue mass or muscle size. Uh and
18:46then again, muscle performance, uh
18:47muscle strength, power, and endurance.
18:49And the other one that never gets a lot
18:51of press, which should, is functional
18:52ability. Uh an older adult to sit to
18:54stand. Uh this has applications getting
18:56off the toilet, out of the bed, out of a
18:58car. So, as we get older, we're losing
19:00muscle strength and performance, as well
19:02as functionality, and creatine and
19:03weight training seems to come to the
19:05rescue there.
19:06>> And is there anyone that shouldn't take
19:07creatine?
19:08>> You know,
19:10I can't find anybody that can't or
19:12shouldn't. The safety profile is
19:14exceptional. If they have pre-existing
19:16medical conditions, they definitely need
19:17to speak to their their doctor. Besides
19:19that, I'm not seeing any reason a
19:21healthy individual can't take or
19:22shouldn't take creatine.
19:23>> And pregnant women?
19:24>> So, that's an interesting colleague of
19:26mine, Dr. Stacey Ellery out of
19:27Australia, is now finally looking at
19:29human trials with pregnancy, going into
19:32breast milk, into the fetus. So, it's
19:35still in its infancy. The jury's still
19:36open. As it currently stands, it seems
19:38to be relatively safe and well
19:40tolerated.
19:41>> Okay. So, not all creatine is made the
19:44same.
19:44>> That's right. Correct.
19:45>> There's lots of different types of
19:45creatine. People Some people take
19:47creatine gummies.
19:48I mean, I have some different types of
19:50creatine here. Creatine monohydrate,
19:52creatine hydrochloride.
19:54>> Okay.
19:54>> I remember looking when I was in a shelf
19:56a couple of months ago and seeing like
19:58five or six different types of creatine.
20:00What is the the optimal type of creatine
20:03to take and why?
20:04>> So, by far, creatine monohydrate.
20:06And that goes against all the new
20:08marketing forms. So, creatine
20:10monohydrate is simply creatine linked to
20:12one water molecule. When you take it
20:14into the body, the water molecule
20:15dissolves, is identical to what's being
20:18produced in the liver and the brain.
20:20All the evidence that you ever hear
20:22about the safety and efficacy of
20:23creatine is based on the old, boring,
20:25from 1832 creatine monohydrate. There's
20:28[snorts] new marketed forms of creatine
20:29such as hydrochloride, which does have
20:31evidence behind it. There's many other
20:33forms, but the only downfall with all
20:36these marketed forms is it's never been
20:38shown to be safer or more effective than
20:40creatine monohydrate. The other big
20:43thing for your viewers is make sure it
20:44has CreaPure or some form of creatine
20:47monohydrate on the label. And then and
20:50that is also third-party tested.
20:52>> CreaPure?
20:52>> CreaPure's from Germany. It has the
20:54highest standard of qualification and
20:58scrutiny. And then NSF certified or
21:00another third-party certified. So, those
21:02are the three things that I personally
21:03would look for. Monohydrate, CreaPure is
21:06the type, and then NSF certified or
21:08third-party certification.
21:09>> Which is that little logo at the bottom?
21:10>> That little logo here at the bottom,
21:11that's right.
21:11>> And what does that mean?
21:12>> So, NSF is the National Sanitation
21:14Foundation. It's a third-party
21:15organization that will independently
21:17take the the supplement and then
21:19third-party test and then you get a
21:20certificate of analysis to make so there
21:22there's no contaminants like lead or
21:24arsenic or things like that. So, that's
21:26something for the consumers watching to
21:27definitely be aware of when you go to
21:29the store.
21:30>> And we've got this thing here in front
21:32of us. This is the dosing dilemma. Um we
21:34talked about muscle there.
21:36Have we checked muscle off or is there
21:37anything else to cover?
21:38>> No. So, how many scoops do you think is
21:40optimal for skeletal muscle?
21:42>> [snorts]
21:43>> Oh,
21:44uh skeletal muscle.
21:45>> Yeah. Your bicep, your tricep, you know,
21:48Arnold Schwarzenegger.
21:49>> 5 g 5 g?
21:51>> 5 g? So, that's only going to be one
21:52little scoop.
21:53>> Okay.
21:54>> Okay. That's probably very viable and
21:57you're correct. Across the lifespan, 5 g
21:59has been shown to be effective, but
22:01here's a little bit of caveat. If you're
22:03over the age of 50, maybe you want to
22:05have a little bit more. Because as we
22:07get older, the creatine in our lower
22:10legs is more jeopardized, and therefore
22:12you might need a bit more.
22:14>> Okay.
22:14>> Okay. But, this is without the loading
22:16phase. So, this is if you just want to
22:17take a little bit per day.
22:19>> And you have to take it consistently.
22:21>> Good question. So, ideally, yes. There
22:23is evidence that you can just take it on
22:24the training days, but we haven't talked
22:26about the brain yet. And the reason why
22:29I think you should take it every day is
22:30it likes to go to other tissues on a
22:32daily basis.
22:33>> So, that's about 7 g? How much is that?
22:35>> So, 7 or 8 g, and that seems to be very
22:37safe and viable dose to be shown to be
22:40effective for improving muscle mass.
22:41>> Okay.
22:42>> And performance.
22:43>> I I do have an issue sometimes when I
22:45take a little bit more creatine, which
22:47is I feel
22:48I wouldn't say light-headed, but I get a
22:50little bit dizzy almost.
22:52>> 100%.
22:52>> What is that?
22:53>> So, there is a mechanism, so creatine is
22:55the biggest methyl scavenger in the body
22:57and without boring your viewers, but
22:58methyl groups are used for everything.
23:00They're also used to synthesize
23:01something called adrenaline and our
23:03neurotransmitters. You know, the things
23:04that we get excited about. So, when you
23:06take in too much creatine, typically on
23:08an empty stomach or in a dehydrated
23:09state,
23:10>> [snorts]
23:10>> that will spare methyl groups in the
23:12body to be used because you're taking so
23:14much in. And then it says, "Where can I
23:15go?" So, since creatine is now being
23:17taken in through a supplement, these
23:19methyl groups are available in your body
23:21to go elsewhere to do work and they like
23:23to synthesize adrenaline. And that's why
23:25you feel more uh um energetic, so to
23:27speak.
23:27>> When you say synthesize adrenaline, what
23:29does that mean?
23:29>> Yeah, that means you're creating more of
23:31the hormone called epinephrine. And
23:33that, you know, you hear about fight or
23:34flight or you're nervous or whichever it
23:36is, it gives you a little bit more of
23:37that. So, that's why sometimes you feel
23:39a little bit jittery or things like
23:40that.
23:41>> Hm. [clears throat] Yeah, sometimes I
23:42can feel a little bit sick as well if I
23:43do too much.
23:44>> Yeah, and so that's where it's sort of
23:46the new area of interest for me is this
23:47microdosing based on that. So, we're
23:49starting to see some evidence now that
23:51if you take smaller amounts all
23:53throughout the day, it does not have any
23:55adverse effects. If anything, it seems
23:57to be a little a little bit more
23:58tolerable. Um so, you could take a few
24:00grams in the morning, a few grams in the
24:02evening, or whichever. I think one of
24:04the best uh ways to take it that never
24:06gets any press is I put 5 g in my water
24:09bottle during my workout.
24:11>> Mhm.
24:11>> And so, now [clears throat] I'm
24:12consuming a little bit of creatine as I
24:14do my weightlifting or cardio and then
24:16I'll consume a little bit in the morning
24:18as well. So, I take about 10 g a day at
24:20minimum on on a daily basis. Other
24:22people will take more or less, but
24:24that's just how I get it in, you know.
24:25>> I find that if I do take a little bit in
24:26the morning and then a little bit later,
24:28it's much better.
24:29>> 100%
24:30>> And I don't get any weird feelings.
24:32>> And uh it seems to be more consistent
24:34and appreciated for individuals because
24:37if you do or are susceptible to any uh
24:39fluctuations in weight gain, water
24:40retention, or GI tract irritation, those
24:42things definitely go away. And we've got
24:44we've assessed over a thousand
24:46individuals in my lab and that seems to
24:48be a very viable approach.
24:51Not a lot of taste to it, is there?
24:53>> [laughter]
24:53>> It's not the best tasting thing in the
24:54world, is it?
24:55>> very bland, very boring. Um but there's
24:58other companies trying to make it more
24:59flavorful, things like that. The cool
25:00thing is with creatine, you can put it
25:02in anything. You can put it in yogurt,
25:04a juice, whichever it is. You can now
25:06put it in coffee. There's a little bit
25:08of controversy over the dose of
25:10caffeine. I think anywhere lower than
25:12350 mg is fine, and that's going to be
25:14most standard coffees or teas as well.
25:16So, whichever allows you to become
25:18consistent is is a great way to do it,
25:20yeah.
25:21>> There should be a button just down below
25:23here, and if it says subscribe, you're
25:25already subscribed. If it says subscribe
25:27bar, that means you're not yet. And if
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25:30do us a favor and hit that button. It
25:31helps to show more than you know, and
25:33according to the algorithm, you're
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25:36haven't yet hit that button. Thank you
25:37so much.
25:39Okay, so bone, tell me what I need to
25:40know about creatine.
25:41>> Okay, so now we talked about muscle, how
25:42many do you think for the skeleton here?
25:45>> Um, about the same.
25:46>> Okay.
25:47>> Seven.
25:47>> Unfortunately, the lowest dose ever has
25:50been shown to have bone benefits is 8 g
25:53all the way up to 12. So, now we're in a
25:55dosing dilemma already. We just started.
25:57We have a little bit disconnect between
25:59muscle and bone. 3 to 5 g seems to be
26:01really good for muscle, a little bit
26:02more is fine, but bone needs to be a
26:05little bit more, and that's primarily
26:06based on some of our work from our lab
26:08where we've shown that about 8 to 12 g a
26:11day with exercise, and that's crucial.
26:13If you do not exercise, there's never
26:15been a study ever uh shown to have bone
26:17benefits, but if you do perform weight
26:19lifting, one of the very cool things in
26:21postmenopausal females is that creatine
26:23seemed to reduce the rate of bone
26:25mineral density loss around the hip
26:27region.
26:28So, it didn't increase bone density, but
26:30it decreased bone density loss, and it
26:33also seemed to maintain or improve the
26:36structure of the bone a little bit more.
26:38So, that has profound beneficial
26:39effects, especially as we get older. If
26:41those individuals on creatine were to
26:43fall, maybe they might not fracture
26:45their hip. And as we both know it, if
26:47you fracture your hip, you're going to
26:48be placed in long-term care, or you're
26:49going to be inactive for at least 6
26:51months. So, creatine has some bone
26:53benefits. They're not great. They don't
26:56improve bone density, so they're not
26:57going to be an osteoporotic cure, but
26:59there is something there, especially if
27:01you're prone to osteoporosis or
27:03osteopenia.
27:03>> And what's the mechanism that's just
27:05stopping bone loss?
27:06>> Yeah, it's very interesting. So, if you
27:09understand a 24-hour cycle that creatine
27:11sort of stimulates these bone-building
27:13cells to become more energized. Think of
27:15Super Mario, the original Nintendo, when
27:17he got the mushroom maybe he came
27:18energized. Creatine does that as well.
27:20And then on the flip side, creatine
27:22seems to decrease the osteoclast or bone
27:25breakdown cells. So, by a synergistic
27:28mechanism, it seems to cause this
27:30turnover to go a little bit better,
27:31causing the bone to maintain its
27:33structure. It's very similar to a
27:34bisphosphonate that someone would be
27:36taking to maintain their bone health.
27:38>> A bisphosphonate?
27:39>> Yeah, it's a drug that a lot of
27:40individuals will take if they're prone
27:42to bone loss. Obviously, creatine's not
27:44a drug, but it has some of those similar
27:46properties.
27:46>> So, we've got muscle. I need to take
27:48about 7 or 8 g to get those benefits.
27:50>> Yeah. With bone, it's a little bit more.
27:51>> A little bit more. You don't mean
27:53additionally.
27:54>> No, in in total. So, now this is where
27:55we get into the daily dosing dilemma.
27:57We've gone from 3 to 5 g or a little bit
27:59more for muscle. Bone is maybe 8 to 10
28:02or a little bit more. So, what do you
28:03think on the brain, the hottest topic?
28:06>> 10?
28:06>> 10, okay. So, that would be, you know,
28:08two scoops.
28:10>> I'm just assuming this increases.
28:11>> Yeah. So, the interesting thing here is
28:13that the brain will naturally make its
28:16own creatine, very similar to the liver.
28:19So, since the brain is actually making
28:21its own creatine, it may not require as
28:23much or any on a daily basis. So, here's
28:26the brain, obviously, and in different
28:28regions, creatine is being synthesized
28:30and being used all throughout. So, this
28:32organ
28:34is about 2 kg, but uses 20% of our daily
28:37energy at rest. So, just think about
28:40that. 20% of the amount of energy we're
28:42consuming from food or using is being
28:44used by the brain. But what if you're
28:45stressed? Sleep deprivation, your dog
28:48got you up in the middle of the night to
28:49pee and you couldn't fall back to sleep.
28:51Uh university students cramming for a
28:53midterm. Um now all the countries look
28:55at the World Cup, they're going to be up
28:57stressed, you know, different time
28:58zones. Then all of a sudden the healthy
29:00brain becomes a metabolically stressed
29:02brain. So your guess about 10 g on
29:05average is fine because the brain on a
29:08non-stressed day is naturally making it
29:10is enough and [snorts] it's healthy. But
29:12now we get into a more difficult What
29:15about those metabolic stressors? So
29:17again, all the neurons in the brain are
29:18being used. So what about sleep
29:20deprivation?
29:22>> The 10 g?
29:22>> For sleep deprived?
29:24>> You tell
29:24>> When was the last time you slept 10
29:26straight hours?
29:29>> [laughter]
29:30>> It's been a while.
29:31>> a while for even you to pause there. You
29:33know, that's that's alarming cuz you're
29:35thinking
29:36when was the last time I got a really
29:37good night's sleep?
29:38>> Mhm.
29:39>> What if you were up for 24 hours?
29:42>> Gosh.
29:42>> An ER doctor.
29:44Traveling different time zones, all
29:46these come into play.
29:47>> Yeah.
29:48>> Remember on a healthy brain, you know,
29:50adequate sleep, uh prob the brain is
29:52actually making enough. But when you're
29:54stressed,
29:55night shift workers, uh military pilots,
29:58ER doctors, whichever it is, that's
30:00where the brain starts to rely on
30:01supplementation.
30:03So unfortunately for the brain, creatine
30:05really struggles to get through the
30:07blood-brain barrier.
30:08But if it does, now you might need
30:10longer or higher dosages. So what about
30:13sleep deprived?
30:15>> I have no idea.
30:16>> Okay, so let's say there's five.
30:20There's 10. What do you think?
30:23>> It's going to be more, isn't it?
30:24>> It's going to be a lot more.
30:26Here's 15.
30:28Couple studies showed some benefits.
30:31Now let's do 20. Remember that loading
30:33phase?
30:33>> Mhm.
30:35>> The best overall studies currently right
30:37now that use an MRI for the brain
30:39have showed about 20 g seems to have
30:43some effect acutely.
30:45But the two studies last year out of
30:47Germany even showed this.
30:49There's 25.
30:52And here's 30.
30:54So a classic study was done last year
30:56when they gave
30:5830 g to a group of young individuals who
31:01volunteered to be sleep deprived for 21
31:03hours.
31:04And that level of creatine increased
31:07creatine levels in the brain and it
31:08offset some of the negative effects.
31:10Remember that was an acute episode of 21
31:13hours of sleep deprivation. They've done
31:15a subsequent study going down to about
31:170.2 g or about 14 g. It didn't have the
31:19same effect.
31:21So remember a healthy brain likely
31:23doesn't need any creatine, but a
31:25stressed brain likely does. And the more
31:28stressed it is, the higher the dose
31:29seems to come into play. There's a lot
31:32of nuances with the brain. Obviously we
31:33just showed different regions, which we
31:35don't have a lot of information, but
31:36overall it seems that 20 g seems to be
31:40the most viable dose when the brain is
31:41stressed. We basically need to start
31:43dumping out quite a bit more.
31:46So when you get from this area on, the
31:49brain healthy likely doesn't benefit
31:51from any type of supplementation cuz
31:53it's making its own. But in these areas
31:55when you're stressed, it likely does.
31:58The area of nuance or why it's become so
32:00popular is I think most people fall into
32:03the stressed environment.
32:05And if they're not getting enough
32:07creatine through their diet
32:09and or supplementation, that's why this
32:11big explosion on let's take more to sort
32:14of check off all the boxes. So I take 10
32:18g a day at minimum to check off muscle,
32:20right? That checks off bone for the most
32:23part. And I'm pretty sure over time 10 g
32:25would do the most part for stress. Now,
32:29since I just flown different time zones,
32:31today I'm taking 20 to 25 g based on
32:34this acutely.
32:36And then when I go back to a
32:37non-stressed environment, back to
32:38Canada, I'll go back to my regular 10.
32:40So, I look at the 10 g dose or a little
32:42bit more as kind of being like a safety
32:46net.
32:47If you're only taking three to five, you
32:48definitely will get muscle benefits.
32:50Will you eventually get brain benefits?
32:53There's a small chance, but taking a
32:56little bit more, and remember the cool
32:57thing for your viewers, we're not
32:58talking about protein. If we were
32:59talking about protein, the entire thing
33:01would be hundreds of grams. We're only
33:02talking about maybe 20 g. And that may
33:05only need to be done acutely. You know,
33:07when you're really going through
33:08metabolic stress. Look at university
33:09students.
33:10Five final exams, hardly any sleep for a
33:12week. This is where this would come into
33:14play. I look at flight attendants or
33:16pilots. They all fly from Canada to
33:19Europe, and then they go back home.
33:21Their circadian rhythms are all over the
33:23place. So, I think of all these
33:25scenarios. The area that I was
33:27surprised, I watched one of the episodes
33:28of The Eras Tour. And you know, [snorts]
33:30money can't stop circadian rhythms. So,
33:32as much as Taylor Swift would have, I
33:34was marveled by 3 hours of performance
33:37in 90 to 100,000 people of all her
33:39running around. And then when you see
33:40her, they're totally gassed. They
33:42finished the concert, they're totally
33:43mentally exhausted. That's a situation
33:46where this could come into enhanced
33:47performance. Then you think of
33:50celebrities, you think of
33:52athletes. These a lot of high-pressure
33:54things. Like, imagine being in the World
33:56Cup final. The pressure, the mental
33:58capacity. That's where creatine seems to
34:00come into play. There's a lot of
34:02nuances. We still don't know a lot. So,
34:05I think the big take home for people is
34:07that if you're going through periods of
34:08stress, a little bit more is okay.
34:11We don't know any adverse effects. We
34:12don't think there are any.
34:14But again, if you're just taking
34:15creatine for muscle, bone, and the
34:17brain, you're likely going to be
34:18checking off all those boxes.
34:20>> And when we start getting the the brain
34:21benefits up at this end,
34:22>> Right.
34:23>> what are those brain benefits that they
34:24were recorded in the studies? Is it I'm
34:26going to feel like I slept, or is it
34:28something more internal?
34:29>> You likely won't feel anything.
34:31>> Oh, okay.
34:32>> However, when you get to tasks the next
34:35day, so for example, you're up all
34:36night, you take a high dose creatine,
34:38then you have to go write the final or
34:39the midterm or you can't remember. It's
34:41those things when your memory and and
34:44and doing puzzles or basic tasks.
34:46Or what about a Stroop test?
34:49>> What's a Stroop test?
34:50>> So, I'm going to get you to do this. I
34:51apologize in advance.
34:53>> Uh-huh.
34:53>> It's one of the most fatiguing things
34:55that you can do and it was one of the
34:58most robust studies to show the efficacy
35:00behind creatine. So, all I simply want
35:02you to do is you can see that there's
35:04words and then corresponding letters,
35:05but you'll notice that the color is
35:08incorrect. So, up here you would see,
35:10you know, you have red, blue, green,
35:12blue, black. But the Stroop test is now
35:15looking at the bottom part.
35:17>> Okay.
35:18>> So, I've tried it. I can only get the
35:20line two without making a mistake.
35:22>> Okay.
35:22>> Okay. So, I want you to do this
35:25out loud but as fast as possible.
35:28>> And am I reading the words or the color?
35:30>> You're reading the color.
35:31>> Okay. So, the first one is green, yeah?
35:33>> Uh yes.
35:34>> Okay, fine.
35:35You want to do it as fast as possible?
35:36>> as possible.
35:37>> Okay.
35:38>> So, let's see how you do.
35:39>> Gosh, this is confusing already. I hit
35:40the second one and I got it wrong in my
35:41head. Depends how much creatine you're
35:42taking.
35:43I don't think I've had creatine today.
35:44>> Okay.
35:45>> Okay.
35:46Green, red, yellow, green, blue, black,
35:49orange, red,
35:51blue,
35:53green, blue, pink, black, gray, yellow,
35:58red, blue, green. Ah,
36:01>> There you go. See?
36:02>> I failed.
36:02>> The study that they did, get this, they
36:04had to do this for 90 straight minutes.
36:07>> Oh, wow.
36:08>> So, you can imagine how fatiguing that
36:10is for someone studying for the MCAT for
36:12medical school or, you know, midterms
36:15being sleep deprived. And you're not
36:16sleep deprived and you struggled and you
36:18got slower. Now you have to do this for
36:2090 minutes.
36:21>> Wow.
36:22>> this classic study they gave 20 g of
36:23creatine before they did the test and
36:25then after and it really improved their
36:27ability with speed and cognition there.
36:30So, it's just a simple example to show,
36:32"Wow, our brain is seeing one thing. We
36:34got to maintain memory and cognition and
36:37creatine can help maintain some of those
36:39factors." So, you won't feel anything
36:41but performance of activities like that
36:44come into play.
36:45>> Do you know how much it improved the
36:46performance on the Stroop
36:47>> I would have to get the graph, but it
36:49did prove statistically significant,
36:50yeah.
36:51>> What else is there for me to know about
36:53the impact that creatine can have on the
36:54brain?
36:55>> Yeah.
36:55>> You know, I think as a as a podcaster
36:57who sometimes sits here for many, many
36:59hours interviewing people on a range of
37:00subjects. I'm always trying to find if
37:02there's any way that I can perform
37:03better mentally.
37:04>> Yeah. So, it doesn't boost the brain. It
37:06likely just brings those levels back up
37:08to normal levels before stress and it
37:11might give you a little bit more. So,
37:13there's been populations Alzheimer's
37:14disease, clinical depression,
37:16concussion.
37:17When those populations are evident, one
37:20of the biggest
37:21factors is that they have reduced
37:23creatine in their brain. So, maybe
37:24supplementation can get through the
37:26blood-brain barrier. The brain says, "I
37:27need help." And that's why you see some
37:29improvements there as well. So, I like
37:30to think of the brain that creatine can
37:32act as a safety net. Um and it certainly
37:35won't cause any detrimental effects, but
37:37it's always good to have that because
37:38you never know when I give you a Stroop
37:40test. Like I'm going to find you
37:42tomorrow, give you this and say, "You're
37:43going to be practicing all night. Will
37:44you perform better?" But that's just an
37:46example of something that we go through
37:48on a daily basis. If someone's working
37:50on Wall Street or whichever it is,
37:51they're really high-stress demand, you
37:53know, stuck in traffic for 2 hours.
37:55These all add up and it's a cascade of
37:57stressors that unfortunately most people
37:59go through. And now that we have a
38:00nutrient that is being made in the
38:02brain, but during times of stress, it
38:04likely needs a little bit of help.
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40:13What about inflammation in the body? So
40:15what is inflammation and is there a link
40:17between creatine supplementation and
40:18inflammation?
40:19>> There is. So I unfortunately I'm 49. So
40:22at the age of 40 I have this systemic
40:25inflammation that went up. And we all
40:27know this because around the age of 30
40:28were you know you can work out and
40:30nothing hurts and then all of a sudden
40:31you wake up one day when you're in your
40:3240s and 50s and things hurt. And so
40:35systemic inflammation is happening all
40:37the time and unfortunately it
40:39accelerates aging. We're more sore more
40:41often and it can lead to a lot of
40:43arthritis or or joint pain and things
40:45like that. Creatine does have
40:47anti-inflammatory effects but a big
40:49distinction. Creatine is not like
40:51acetaminophen or ibuprofen which
40:52directly as a drug effect blocks that
40:55but it has been shown to decrease
40:56markers of inflammation specifically
40:59during long duration exercise. So this
41:02is an important distinction. Weight
41:03training is too acute.
41:05But when you do Ironman triathlon things
41:07like that those individuals who took
41:09creatine 20 grams a day for 5 days
41:11beforehand they had reductions in
41:13inflammation markers. So that might
41:15allow that individual to recover quicker
41:17not get ill and then perform more
41:19optimally. From a weight training
41:20perspective we see that it decreases
41:22markers of muscle damage. So it has
41:24these anti-inflammatory and
41:25anti-catabolic effects as well.
41:27>> Interesting.
41:28>> Yeah.
41:29>> And what about people that have
41:30neurodegenerative disorders?
41:32>> Yes. So Alzheimer's is is the area we're
41:34really starting to focus on and a couple
41:36of single arm studies came out last year
41:38by Matt Taylor and Aaron Smith showing
41:40that 20 grams a day for 8 weeks did
41:43increase brain creatine levels in
41:44Alzheimer's patients and it seemed to
41:46improve measures of memory and cognition
41:48there as well. So again using the same
41:50mechanisms it decreases inflammation and
41:52maintains brain bioenergetics and it
41:55might actually have a neural protection
41:57effect as well. There's evidence in cell
41:59cultures and in rodents that there's
42:01some lines there but in humans we're
42:02still in the in the infancy. But if it
42:05can have any benefit to any neurological
42:07disease it's huge and there's a lot of
42:08hope especially around Alzheimer's.
42:09>> There was an 8-week trial in Alzheimer's
42:11patients that also showed modest muscle
42:13gains and a 1.9 kg increase in hand grip
42:16strength,
42:17which is a key predicator of survival in
42:19dementia patients.
42:20Um, which was a landmark study of 20
42:22Alzheimer's patients found that taking
42:2420 g of creatine daily for 8 weeks
42:26increased brain creatine levels by 11%
42:28and significantly improved the cognitive
42:30test scores they showed. That's the
42:32Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science.
42:34>> And that one's really exciting and I
42:36think more future uh studies will come
42:37out. The limitation with those is that
42:39there was no placebo to compare to, but
42:41again, it's just showing that yes,
42:42creatine can be used as an effective
42:44adjunct, yeah.
42:45>> And because there is impact on our
42:48brain, is there impact on our mental
42:49health with creatine?
42:51>> Excellent point. So, the best lines of
42:52evidence here come from clinical
42:54depression and anxiety. Uh, the group
42:56out of Utah in the United States have
42:57clearly shown that creatine in addition
43:00to other therapies, so this is
43:01important. Creatine by itself has never
43:03been shown to be a stand-alone, but with
43:05SSRIs or cognitive behavior therapy or
43:07methamphetamine use in populations under
43:09medical supervision, the addition of
43:11creatine seemed to improve symptoms and
43:13it's likely going back to all the ones
43:15we've already talked about where it
43:17improves uh bioenergetics, it improves
43:19uh neuro uh transmission or
43:21neuromodulation,
43:22uh but it also in animals has been shown
43:25to improve a protein called BDNF.
43:27Uh, so this protein is involved in brain
43:29plasticity. So, there's a whole bunch of
43:32emerging evidence and hope that creatine
43:34one day will be used uh as a treatment
43:38in the toolbox for a lot of these
43:40clinical uh issues. PTSD also comes to
43:42my mind.
43:43>> There was a study in Gatorade Sports
43:44Science Institute and Pub which Pub Med
43:46published that said a a study of over
43:48200,000 adults found that those who
43:50consumed the least amount of creatine in
43:52their daily diet had the highest rates
43:54of depressive symptoms.
43:55>> Yes, that's correct. And the common
43:57denominators, those with clinical
43:58depression or anxiety, when you measure
44:00their baseline creatine stores, very
44:01similar to concussion or Alzheimer's,
44:03they're reduced. So, therefore,
44:05obviously, this
44:06condition or series of conditions is
44:09causing a disruption at the brain
44:11bioenergetic level and creating levels
44:13are decreasing.
44:13>> There's another input that said, "In a
44:15clinical trial of women with major
44:17depression, adding 5 g of creatine to
44:19their daily antidepressant
44:20>> Yes.
44:21>> doubled their remission rate over 8
44:23weeks."
44:23>> That's correct, yes. And that group is
44:25from uh Perik Renshaw's group out of
44:27Utah. Uh they do great work. Our hope,
44:30and I'm collaborating uh with some
44:31colleagues now to look at creatine as a
44:32standalone treatment versus placebo,
44:35could it have some beneficial effects
44:37there? So, that's very exciting to come
44:39out.
44:39>> If I really don't want to be
44:40supplementing with creatine, is there
44:42what are the foods that I can eat that
44:44are high in creatine naturally?
44:45>> They're primarily uh animal based, so
44:47seafood and red meat. Um you know,
44:49herring is going to have one of the
44:50highest concentrations, uh salmon, uh as
44:53well as beef. Uh very small amounts in
44:56milk and dairy, so you'd have to drink
44:57all the the milk in the Jersey cow to
44:59get a sufficient amount. So, uh it
45:01definitely comes down to animal-based
45:02flesh, yeah.
45:03>> There's some of the studies that I that
45:04I love that I've I think I've heard you
45:06talk about before. One of them was um
45:07young athletes who took 5 g of creatine
45:09daily slept an average of 1 hour longer
45:11>> Yes.
45:11>> on training days.
45:12>> Yeah, we did that study a few years ago
45:14in uh uh young biological females who
45:16were healthy. And on the days that they
45:18trained and took creatine,
45:20this is interesting because they
45:21actually slept an hour longer uh
45:24compared to the placebo. So, this is a
45:26very interesting fact. So, creatine, you
45:29know, we now know it has brain
45:31bioenergetics, and there's two
45:32arguments. If it's making the brain
45:35recover, wouldn't you need less sleep,
45:37right? Now, in this study, it showed
45:39that improved. So, maybe these
45:41individuals trained at a higher capacity
45:43and allowed the brain to have more
45:45homeostasis to come back. So, this is an
45:47area uh a study that needs to be
45:48replicated in males as well to see can
45:50creatine improve sleep quantity, and if
45:52it is, I think that's a game changer. I
45:55I think everybody on the planet would
45:56raise their hand and say, "Hey, I need
45:58more sleep."
45:58>> Is there anything else we haven't
45:59covered as it relates to creatine?
46:01>> You know, the expected gains versus the
46:04hype gains. I think there's evidence
46:06there that creatine can have a
46:08an effect. I I think it's getting
46:10overhyped especially around the brain
46:12for what it can do. It's one tool in the
46:14toolbox and I think it it's one of those
46:16things that I'd like to show or you
46:17know, talk about for sure, yeah.
46:19>> Well, what do you mean by that?
46:21>> So, if you think of the toolbox when it
46:23comes to a plan, whenever you need to go
46:25fix things, you simply say, "Where's my
46:27toolbox?" You can't do anything without
46:28a plan. And the way I like to preface
46:30this is the most popular tool in
46:32anybody's toolbox is the hammer.
46:35Now,
46:36from a lifestyle perspective, what do
46:38you think the hammer represents? What
46:40would you decide that the hammer
46:41represents?
46:42>> Um as in like a
46:44>> Is it weight training? Is it cardio? Is
46:46it creatine? Is it protein? Is it sleep?
46:49>> Sleep.
46:50>> Okay. So, I say weight training is going
46:53to be the hammer.
46:54>> Okay.
46:54>> Okay.
46:56Now, what about the screwdriver? Always
46:59need a screwdriver.
47:00>> C- creatine.
47:02>> No, I think aerobic training or sleep
47:04comes way before creatine.
47:06>> Okay.
47:07>> But [clears throat] most people say,
47:07"Hey, I can fix a lot of things with
47:09that." Now, remember, we have a nice big
47:11toolbox.
47:12I like to think of creatine as the
47:14multifactorial wrench or screwdriver.
47:17Because creatine has profound benefits
47:19for muscle, a little bit for bone, of
47:22course, brain and other areas of the
47:23body. So, you can hit something with
47:25this.
47:26You can open it up and fix something
47:28with this. It's heavy. You can also pull
47:30out the measuring tape. Your argument,
47:32sleep. This could be protein, whichever
47:35it is. So, when you put all these things
47:37in your toolbox, you're now having a
47:39greater comprehensive plan to improve
47:42health.
47:43>> So, you said weight training was the
47:45hammer.
47:45>> Hammer. I like to consider if you were
47:47to choose one modality of exercise,
47:49weight training is a little bit superior
47:51to cardio. You get pretty much all the
47:53same benefits of cardiovascular exercise
47:55and then you get more with obviously an
47:57increase in lean tissue mass and
47:58performance. Uh weight training if done
48:00effectively can actually improve
48:01mitochondrial health. You can actually
48:03improve VO2 max if done correctly uh and
48:05you don't need a lot of it. So, I think
48:07we've switched from just doing cardio to
48:10now incorporating weight training to be
48:11effective.
48:12>> So, weight training.
48:13>> Yes.
48:14>> What are the the sort of misconceptions
48:15about weight training and why are you so
48:18positive about it?
48:19>> Yeah, [clears throat] I think one of the
48:20biggest myths is that you always need to
48:23lift heavy to put on muscle mass.
48:25And well-renowned researchers in this
48:27area have clearly shown now that lighter
48:28weights if performed to a lot of effort,
48:30almost to fatigue, if done correctly,
48:33you can get as the same increases in
48:34muscle mass as then compared to lifting
48:36heavy weights. However, if your goal is
48:38just to get stronger, lifting heavy is
48:39always there. So, I think this is a cool
48:41thing for people. Some days if you have
48:43a little bit of soreness or you don't
48:45have a lot of energy, you can lift
48:46lighter weights but just to fatigue,
48:48whereas other days you come in Monday,
48:49you've had your coffee, whichever it is,
48:51you're ready to go, you can lift heavy.
48:52So, I think there's not one concrete
48:55way, there's a little bit of variety
48:56here as well.
48:57>> And why are you putting it above
48:58cardiovascular work?
48:59>> Yeah, I think the benefits there is that
49:02cardiovascular exercise will make you
49:03live longer and and healthier. But the
49:06downfall with cardiovascular exercise,
49:08it doesn't stimulate strength or the
49:10musculoskeletal system as much as we
49:12we'd hope. So, improving muscle mass and
49:14that is very difficult to do with
49:15cardio. Maybe sprint interval training
49:16will do that, but the cool thing with
49:18weight training is you get
49:19cardiovascular benefits, but you also
49:21get those profound musculoskeletal
49:22benefits. So, if I was to tell anybody
49:25if there's one form of exercise to do is
49:26weight training, but you got to do
49:28cardio as well. So, do both.
49:30>> And if I just do weight training, what
49:31am I missing from not doing cardio
49:33training?
49:34>> Yeah, if you do weight training
49:35improperly where you're lifting heavy
49:37heavy weight with low repetitions all
49:38the time, you're likely going to
49:39jeopardize capillary density or
49:41mitochondrial health. These are things
49:43that sort of move blood flow to and from
49:45your muscles. You could decrease VO2 max
49:48or a fitness parameter for uh metabolic
49:50health fitness. So, at the end of the
49:52day, everybody should be doing both.
49:54But, if you only have time to do weight
49:56training or cardio, you still benefit
49:58cuz the majority of the population
49:59doesn't do any.
50:00>> And how how much how often do you think?
50:03>> Yeah, it's amazing that it's a small
50:04amount. So, let's just do cardio. Most
50:06countries will say 150 minutes of
50:08physical activity at a moderate level
50:10over a week. Uh I'm I'm okay with that.
50:12I'd like it to be higher. I'd also like
50:14the intensity to be a bit higher. So,
50:17when you tell an average individual 150
50:18minutes a week, most people will say,
50:20"Well, I'm going to do 70 or I'm going
50:21to do 30. I'm going to hold the couch
50:23down and watch Netflix." So, we give
50:25them 150 and we say, "You know, if you
50:26can do 21 minutes or two 22 minutes a
50:29day for 7 days a week, that's going to
50:31be a brisk walk or whichever." We'd like
50:33to be at a higher intensity if possible.
50:35Now, when it comes to weight training,
50:37this might be surprising, but 2 days a
50:38week or more is all you basically need
50:41and you can do a whole body routine. So,
50:43you don't need to go in there and just
50:45do chest and biceps Monday and then legs
50:47Tuesday. You can, but if you say, "I
50:49want to do whole body training Monday,
50:50Wednesday, Friday," that is great as
50:52well. So, a little bit of volume or
50:54frequency goes a long way, especially as
50:57we get older. That's the key.
50:59>> Why especially as we get older?
51:00>> Well, based on this graph here, it's
51:01clearly showing a detrimental effect.
51:04So, if you can see here, you know, you
51:07have muscle mass on the the x-axis or
51:09the y-axis and then you're having all
51:11the catastrophic effects as we get
51:13older. So, unfortunately, you know, 20
51:16and 30 looks great.
51:17>> When you're 20 and 40 years old.
51:19>> When you're 20 and 40 years old or all
51:21the way from 20 to 40, you can see,
51:22great. That's probably the area that
51:24you're going to have the most muscle.
51:25>> Yeah.
51:26>> But, look what happens 40, age 60, 80,
51:30and if you live to be 100.
51:33It's catastrophic. You're losing muscle
51:35mass at an accelerated rate. On average,
51:38it's about 1% per year after the age of
51:4140.
51:42>> Even if you're training.
51:43>> So, if you're training, you're
51:44maintaining that. So, this is the
51:46average sedentary inactive population.
51:48You lose strength at about 1. or 1 to 3%
51:51even faster. Now,
51:53if we were to maintain resistance
51:54training, that muscle mass would
51:56plateau.
51:57So, I can't stress this enough. Although
51:59we focus on creatine, if you were to
52:01choose one thing to do today is
52:03exercise. And the only form of exercise
52:05that really maintains muscle is weight
52:07bearing or uh resistance training.
52:10And if that's the case, you're going to
52:11have way more muscle later on in life,
52:13so you can pick up the grandkids. You
52:15can walk those stairs. You can do more
52:16functionality things later on in life.
52:18>> Can you not just do I don't know, 60
52:20years old start training then?
52:22>> You can absolutely, and you get profound
52:24benefits. You can be 80 or 100 and you
52:25still get benefits. It's never too late
52:27to start.
52:28But one of the things we've already
52:29talked about is if you do weight
52:31training and add in a little bit of
52:33creatine,
52:34it gets a bit higher. If you added in
52:36protein, it gets even higher. So, again,
52:38nutrition, you know, if exercise is
52:41king, the queen is going to be
52:43nutrition. They go hand in hand all
52:44throughout lifespan. You got to have
52:46both.
52:46>> And on the subject of protein, you're
52:47saying that can when combined with
52:49creatine, it's a
52:51um force multiplier.
52:52>> It's It's a force multiplier when it
52:53comes to performance and lean tissue
52:55mass. So, there's been a few studies
52:56when you combine uh a high quality
52:58protein with creatine, they have been
53:00shown to increase lean tissue mass and
53:01muscle performance a little bit more
53:02than each alone, yeah.
53:04>> Does the average person get enough
53:05protein through their diet?
53:06>> You know, I think nowadays we do. And
53:09And I think this is over hyped as well.
53:11I think if you're getting about 1.2 to
53:121.6 g per kilogram. So, you know, if
53:15you're 70 kg, that's going to be on
53:17average about 84 to about 115 g of
53:20protein. I think we're so conscious now
53:22of the health benefits of protein uh
53:24that most people are. I think if you're
53:26training really intensely five, six days
53:28a week and you take a gram per pound,
53:30that's probably the max. But a lot of
53:32times when you take an excess protein,
53:33it doesn't go to your body area that
53:36you're probably hoping. It doesn't all
53:37go to your muscle. It's used for other
53:38things like hormones and uh blood cells,
53:40things like that. But I think nowadays
53:42most people are likely getting enough
53:43protein. The question is, are they
53:45getting enough high-quality protein? So,
53:48vegans and vegetarians can definitely
53:49get enough protein. They might just need
53:51to eat a little bit more to get all
53:52those essential amino acids, which we
53:54need.
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54:57>> Menopause.
54:57>> Yes.
54:58>> We talked a little bit briefly about
55:00menopause, bringing both together the
55:02subjects of muscle, but also of
55:04creatine.
55:04>> Yes.
55:05>> How How does those two things impact
55:08a woman's journey through menopause?
55:09>> Yeah. So, we know from animal cells that
55:11estrogen is highly involved in creatine
55:13metabolism. Estrogen seems to be
55:15implicated in the enzymes that are
55:16needed to make creatine. And then
55:18estrogen also has
55:20a huge impact on
55:21not only brain bioenergetics, but muscle
55:23metabolism, as well. So,
55:25as the the female goes from a
55:26premenopausal stage to perimenopausal
55:29stage to the postmenopausal transition,
55:31if estrogen is decreasing,
55:34and then independent of their diet, we
55:35think creatine has bone effects and
55:38muscle effects and of course we've
55:39talked about the cognitive effects
55:40there. So, from a whole skeleton
55:42perspective I think everybody should be,
55:44but of course the perimenopausal,
55:46postmenopausal transition is good. And
55:48then that brings up a question about
55:50what about really young premenopausal
55:52females, you know, optimal health? What
55:54if we built up their tissues more? Maybe
55:56that would offset the rate of this
55:57decline over time as well. So, that's
55:59what we're hoping to get to.
56:00>> Is creatine safe for kids?
56:02>> So, it's interesting you bring that up
56:03and the current body of evidence
56:05suggests yes at recommended dosages.
56:07Good researchers in the United States
56:09put out multiple reviews looking at
56:11creatine in adolescent children and
56:14teenagers. Improves balance, agility,
56:16body composition. If anything, they want
56:18to get at least 1 g per day because in
56:20children they want to have an
56:21optimization for bone health as well as
56:23muscle development. But again, if any
56:26parents are watching, obviously talk to
56:27their medical practitioner, but all the
56:29current reviews currently says suggest
56:31that it's safe.
56:33>> And we're talking about We're not
56:34talking about babies here. We're talking
56:35about
56:35>> Yeah, we're talking about adolescents
56:37all the way into teenage years. When it
56:38comes to baby or infancy, out of
56:40Australia Stacy Allison is starting to
56:42do that work there as well, but we don't
56:44have a lot of data in humans yet, but
56:45that is an area to to pay attention to
56:47for sure. Yeah.
56:48>> What is the most important thing we
56:49haven't talked about that we should have
56:50talked about, doctor?
56:51>> Yeah, I think one of the big things is
56:53the safety profile of creatine. There's
56:55been, you know, hundreds of randomized
56:57controlled trials now on creatine. The
56:59safety profile is is exceptional.
57:01>> [snorts]
57:01>> Last year they put out a study looking
57:03at over 25,000 cases and creatine even
57:06over 10 g a day for many years has been
57:08very, very safe and effective. One area
57:10that comes up is
57:12what about the timing? Does it matter
57:14when I take it? And And the cool thing
57:16is we just got a paper accepted two days
57:18ago putting the nail in the coffin on
57:20this. And at the end of the day you can
57:22take creatine at any time of the day.
57:24You can take it in the morning with
57:25breakfast. You can take it right before
57:27workout. I take some during. You can
57:29take it after go to bed. It doesn't
57:31matter when you take it as well.
57:32>> So, you can take it right before sleep.
57:34>> You can.
57:34>> And it won't impact your sleep.
57:35>> No, uh currently we haven't exactly
57:38assessed the effect on sleep, but uh
57:40another study looked at it in the
57:41evening and it had no detrimental effect
57:43there as well.
57:43>> And what else? What else is the other
57:45questions that you get messaged with or
57:47asked most often, doctor?
57:48>> Yeah, can I spread out creatine all
57:50throughout the day? So, for example, we
57:52have like if we were to take creatine in
57:54a gummy form or a candy, you can
57:56actually have, you know, one or two of
57:58these every hour all throughout the day.
58:00You can have it uh uh periodically. So,
58:02you don't have to take creatine all at
58:03once. You can take it in smaller amounts
58:05all throughout the day. And if anything,
58:07there's been a study uh a few years ago
58:08showing that 1 g every 30 minutes up to
58:1120 g dose uh seemed to retain more in
58:13the body and that was beneficial as
58:15well.
58:15>> What do you think of these gummies?
58:17>> You know, there's only been a few
58:18companies that have actually shown some
58:19validity and reliability. Um as long
58:21[snorts] as they're third-party tested,
58:22they're very, very effective. You want
58:23to try one?
58:24>> Are they Are they third-party tested?
58:26>> They're third-party The green ones, yep.
58:27And the bottom ones, third-party tested,
58:29yep.
58:30>> What but you know, the stuff that makes
58:31it a gummy, is that stuff Is that stuff
58:33good for you?
58:34>> So, the issue there is does the
58:35manufacturing trying to keep the uh
58:37creatine together uh influence it? It
58:39can, and there's only been a few uh uh
58:41companies out there. The one you're
58:42eating is by Create from the United
58:43States.
58:44They have had uh multiple trials.
58:46They're the first uh company that
58:48actually look at uh randomized control
58:49trial to show improvements in volleyball
58:51players with the gummies.
58:52Children love them. Older adults, this
58:54has become an area of interest where uh
58:56chewing ability or taste sensation has
58:58gone down, uh they seem to be very
59:00convenient and effective. Uh you can
59:02have these at your desk, whichever. You
59:03don't need the white powder to mix. So,
59:05there The companies are coming up with
59:07more viable ways to get creatine in
59:08there. But to your point, you always
59:10want to make sure the company's
59:11third-party tested. It uses a
59:13high-quality creatine, and it actually
59:15has a source of creatine in there as
59:16well.
59:17>> Cuz I remember [snorts] watching a
59:18YouTube video by a guy called James
59:19Smith who's been on the show before.
59:21>> Yeah.
59:21>> And he did some testing on
59:22>> Yes.
59:22>> the off-the-shelf creatine um and found
59:25that a lot of them didn't contain any
59:26creatine.
59:26>> 90% and there was only a few and the one
59:28that you did uh consume it did. Yeah,
59:301.5.
59:31>> How isn't that crazy that you can go buy
59:33creatine and it has no creatine in it?
59:34>> Yeah, so that's why I think for the
59:35consumers watching you got to do a
59:37little bit of homework and look at those
59:39three things. Make sure third-party
59:40tested it has a logo clearly on the
59:42packaging. If it doesn't, I would
59:44strongly advise you not to consume it.
59:46>> Of all the of all the studies that
59:48you've encountered on all the subjects
59:50we've talked about muscle, protein,
59:51creatine, are there studies that were
59:53pivotal in how you think about these
59:55subjects?
59:55>> Yeah, there was. So the the landmark
59:57study came out in 1992
59:59uh and it clearly showed that 5 g
1:00:01elevated creatine in the blood. But if
1:00:03you took multiple 5 g dosages it
1:00:05maintained that throughout the day. So
1:00:07this is where the dose of 5 g seems to
1:00:09be very very viable. And the other one
1:00:11showed that "Hey, I don't want to take
1:00:13five. What if I only want to take 3 g?"
1:00:16So 3 g seems to be the lowest most
1:00:17effective dose and you just need to take
1:00:19that for 1 month and you'll saturate
1:00:21your muscles. So again, you have options
1:00:23to take as little amount or high amount
1:00:25as as as you want over time. But I think
1:00:27one of the biggest studies is that we
1:00:29did was the 2-year trial in
1:00:30postmenopausal women where we gave 0.14
1:00:33g of creatine and it really seemed to
1:00:35improve or have an effect on bone
1:00:36preservation as well as muscle
1:00:38performance. So these are the the
1:00:39studies that seem to come to my mind.
1:00:41We've done quite a few but they seem to
1:00:43be the landmark ones, yeah.
1:00:44>> And what are the supplements that you
1:00:46take outside of creatine?
1:00:47>> Yes, for sure. So on a daily basis it's
1:00:49a probiotic with food in the morning and
1:00:51evening and that's something I just
1:00:52recently learned. I was taking it on an
1:00:53empty stomach. My probiotic I take two
1:00:56to four forms of magnesium, one before
1:00:58bed and then one in the day 38 for
1:01:00cognition and function. I take
1:01:032,000 international units of vitamin D.
1:01:06>> [snorts]
1:01:06>> I always take protein on a sufficient
1:01:07basis as well. And then I take about 4 g
1:01:10of omega-3 fatty acids and I always take
1:01:12one of the omega-3 fatty acids post
1:01:14exercise cuz that seems to be the best
1:01:16time to take it.
1:01:17>> So omega-3, magnesium, vitamin D.
1:01:19>> Vitamin D, probiotics, of course
1:01:21creatine and protein I take powder and
1:01:24or through dietary food. Every now and
1:01:26then I don't eat a lot of red meat, so
1:01:28I'll take iron, but not on a consistent
1:01:30basis.
1:01:31>> And you know
1:01:31>> And I'm hoping the new one
1:01:34is this is an area of controversy, NAD.
1:01:36This is the you know, it's a precursor
1:01:38for a main enzyme that's highly involved
1:01:40in metabolism. There's been evidence to
1:01:42suggest it goes down with aging, so my
1:01:44eye is closely on that to see if that's
1:01:47going to be something to come up in the
1:01:48play.
1:01:49And a multivitamin, you know, started
1:01:50with Flintstones vitamins as a kid and I
1:01:52take a multivitamin daily as a safety
1:01:54net.
1:01:55>> I noticed that when I looked at your
1:01:56video in the interview you did with Dr.
1:01:58Rhonda Patrick, a lot of the comments
1:02:00were from [clears throat] people in
1:02:01their 60s, 70s, and 80s. And I wondered
1:02:04why that was. If you just I was just
1:02:05looking at the top three or four
1:02:06comments and it's a 71-year-old, it's an
1:02:0982-year-old, it's a 53-year-old who's
1:02:12contending with Alzheimer's.
1:02:14Why is that?
1:02:15>> Yeah, I think it's the awareness and
1:02:17education now and social media's really
1:02:19helped with this getting our
1:02:21evidence-based research out to the
1:02:22public and the awareness that creatine
1:02:24is just not for young males to get
1:02:26bigger, stronger, faster. If anything,
1:02:28when you go to an aging body and they're
1:02:30predisposed to age-related muscle loss,
1:02:32strength loss, functionality, bone loss,
1:02:34and atrophy in the brain, creatine has
1:02:36been shown to have effects there as
1:02:37well. So, I think a lot of older
1:02:39individual populations are becoming more
1:02:41aware of the effects of creatine and of
1:02:43course as we produce more research, it
1:02:45gets out to the public more often. So,
1:02:46I'm really excited and encouraged that
1:02:48creatine has sort of taken on a life of
1:02:50its own in the last decade.
1:02:52>> And are there direct weight benefits if
1:02:55I'm trying to cut fat by taking creatine
1:02:57or is it indirect?
1:02:58>> It's indirect. So, it seems that if you
1:02:59increase lean mass, it might stimulate
1:03:01energy expenditure or turnover. And then
1:03:04in animal models, it has been shown to
1:03:05have some beneficial effects from a
1:03:07cellular perspective on fat, but at the
1:03:09end of the day if you are seeing a
1:03:10reduction in fat, it's likely that
1:03:12you're improving your metabolic health
1:03:13with lean tissue mass.
1:03:14>> Do Do think much about how to get these
1:03:16habits to stick? Because I imagine
1:03:18there's lots of people that are aware by
1:03:19now that creatine is a useful thing to
1:03:21take, but for whatever reason they still
1:03:24don't take it.
1:03:25>> Exactly, and I think that's one of the
1:03:26biggest reasons people don't. So, we got
1:03:28to come up with ways to maintain
1:03:30consistency, and I think whatever
1:03:32vehicle you want to choose to maintain
1:03:34that in the in the run of the day is the
1:03:36best. So, if it's putting in your coffee
1:03:37in the morning, cuz you won't forget it,
1:03:38great. If it's putting a little bit in
1:03:40Greek yogurt, if it's using the gummies,
1:03:41whichever it is, as long as it's a
1:03:43viable source of creatine that makes it
1:03:45very practical and consistent for you,
1:03:47that's the best way.
1:03:48>> Yeah, I found that having it en route to
1:03:51where I'm going
1:03:51>> Yes.
1:03:52>> being really, really important. So, when
1:03:53I come to my office in the morning, it's
1:03:54all on my desk.
1:03:55>> Yes.
1:03:56>> Um so, I have the supplements just on my
1:03:57desk, and actually even before I walked
1:03:59into the studio today, in the green room
1:04:01that I have, it's on the green room.
1:04:02>> Right.
1:04:02>> When I'm at home, it is [clears throat]
1:04:04where the coffee machine is.
1:04:05>> Correct, yeah.
1:04:06>> And that has radically helped me. Um
1:04:08otherwise, if it wasn't within my my
1:04:10routine, it would wouldn't happen.
1:04:12>> have a jar on the counter with all our
1:04:13other supplements. It's in the pantry,
1:04:15it's close by, because if it's in the
1:04:16garage, you're like, I forgot about it.
1:04:18>> I think the other thing is, with some
1:04:20things like creatine, it's hard to
1:04:21really notice the difference sometimes.
1:04:24>> Uh excellent point, yeah. This is not
1:04:25like caffeine, you know, with some
1:04:26immediate effect. So, unlike uh
1:04:29caffeine, creatine takes a while to
1:04:30notice the effects, and they come
1:04:31indirectly. You don't
1:04:33immediately notice a massive increase in
1:04:35energy or alertness. It's like after a
1:04:37week of weight training, or even two,
1:04:38you're like, "Wow, I did more
1:04:39repetitions. I could do more weight. Uh
1:04:41I recover quickly." is one that we hear
1:04:44uh quite often. You'll never notice with
1:04:46with your bone, but we have uh heard
1:04:48anecdotally with cognition, especially
1:04:50sleep deprivation, people do notice the
1:04:51effects. And I'm an N of 1, but I notice
1:04:54jet lag goes down quite a bit uh when I
1:04:56take a high dose of creatine.
1:04:58>> And you know, when you start taking it,
1:05:00if you start taking it today,
1:05:01>> Yes.
1:05:01>> if I start taking, say, 3 to 5 g of
1:05:03creatine today, am I going to notice the
1:05:04differences today?
1:05:06>> No, it'll probably With 3 to 5 g, you'll
1:05:08probably notice it in a few weeks, if
1:05:10not to a month, from a muscle
1:05:11perspective. From a brain perspective,
1:05:13that low, you're likely not going to
1:05:15notice any effect because the brain is
1:05:17probably making enough, but if you're
1:05:18really metabolically stressed, then you
1:05:21might notice some memory or cognitive
1:05:23benefits after a few days, but at such a
1:05:25low dose, you need to be a little bit
1:05:27patient. But again, 3 g could saturate
1:05:29your skeletal muscle in 30 days, so it's
1:05:31not that long of a wait.
1:05:32>> And on the cognitive side, the cognitive
1:05:34benefits that were observed when doing
1:05:35these strict tests,
1:05:37had they been taking it previously, or
1:05:39was it just administered on that
1:05:40particular day when the test happened?
1:05:42>> one was in a week in advance with a
1:05:43loading phase, so they really saturated
1:05:45the body to try to get the effects.
1:05:47>> Okay, so they were taking it for some
1:05:48time.
1:05:49>> But on the sleep deprivation study from
1:05:50Germany, they just gave it one bolus
1:05:52mega dose for 21 hours of sleep
1:05:54deprivation, and those individuals did
1:05:56perform better from a a number of tests
1:05:58like this the next day. So, if you're
1:05:59like, "Wow, I got something coming up
1:06:01Friday. Unfortunately, I'm not going to
1:06:03get any sleep at best one or two hours,"
1:06:05then a high dose might come into play,
1:06:07and then you can go back to your more
1:06:08consistent routine. I think what
1:06:10happened or is happening is a lot of
1:06:12individuals versus now thinking I need
1:06:14to take 20 or 30 g on a daily basis
1:06:16based on those studies, and I'm like,
1:06:18"Wait a minute, are you getting enough
1:06:19sleep the next day?" Because at that
1:06:21dose, we don't know if the neuron will
1:06:24swell with water, and if that's the
1:06:27case, is that potentially causing any
1:06:29detrimental effects in the long term?
1:06:31So, again, I would not
1:06:34recommend taking a mega dose for
1:06:35consistently over time. Could that
1:06:37down-regulate your natural synthesis?
1:06:39These are all questions that we need to
1:06:40look at, yeah.
1:06:41>> So, outside of the realm of creatine,
1:06:43outside of the realm of muscle, outside
1:06:45of the realm of, I guess, nutrition
1:06:46generally, what are you doing to keep
1:06:48yourself healthy? What is what is your
1:06:50routine?
1:06:50>> Yeah, so I'm religious with exercise, so
1:06:52I try to exercise at least three to four
1:06:54days a week with weight training, and
1:06:56add in at least 20 or 30 minutes of
1:06:58either moderate intensity cardio or like
1:07:01a spin class. I personally like to do
1:07:03alternating days. So, I'll do weight
1:07:05training like maybe Monday, Wednesday,
1:07:06Friday, and then cardio Tuesday,
1:07:07Thursday, and then on the weekends
1:07:09hiking, things like that.
1:07:11Um pretty religious with nutrients as
1:07:13well. Try to eat a really balanced diet.
1:07:15And my god, my failure is getting enough
1:07:18sleep. So, I've had to cut caffeine out
1:07:20quite a bit by past noon to allow me.
1:07:22I'm probably a slower metabolizer
1:07:24um with caffeine. So,
1:07:26uh I try to really optimize
1:07:28evidence-based research, take it into my
1:07:30daily life, and then try to promote it
1:07:31that way, yeah.
1:07:32>> And is there anything you're
1:07:33particularly excited about in the work
1:07:34and research that you do?
1:07:35>> I'm super fascinated with the movement
1:07:37from the neck up. I think we know a lot
1:07:39about the neck down with creatine and
1:07:41exercise or other nutrients. I'm
1:07:43fascinated with the ability What about
1:07:44concussion?
1:07:46You know, can an uh the UFC fighter take
1:07:48creatine before they get hit? Could that
1:07:51decrease CTE or concussion or brain
1:07:53trauma later on in life? I think of
1:07:55boxing, Muhammad Ali, uh things like
1:07:57that. So,
1:07:58there's evidence in in and rodents that
1:08:00if you take creatine before head trauma,
1:08:02it really speeds up concussion recovery.
1:08:04So, I'm fascinated with that as well,
1:08:05like almost a prophylactic. Anybody
1:08:07involved in head trauma, I think you
1:08:08should definitely look at creatine as
1:08:10something to be taken just in case you
1:08:12get hit. And then, of course, everything
1:08:13with Alzheimer's or other areas of
1:08:16depression. So, I'm fascinated that this
1:08:18nutrient, which was, you know, 1832 it
1:08:21was discovered, boring for the longest
1:08:24time because we thought we knew
1:08:25everything, and now it's taken a life of
1:08:26its own and it's having these profound
1:08:28benefits we never even thought would
1:08:29happen, yeah.
1:08:31>> A lot of [snorts] people consider you to
1:08:32be the sort of leading expert on this
1:08:33subject for many reasons.
1:08:35Do you think there'll be a time where
1:08:36you you stop researching creatine and
1:08:38you move on to something else?
1:08:39>> You know, that's interesting. I would
1:08:40have said yes about 5 years ago, but now
1:08:43No, there's too much to do even with
1:08:45skeletal muscle. If you were to say,
1:08:47"What's the best dose Darren to take?"
1:08:48I'd say, "I have no clue."
1:08:50Every creatine researcher said, "I don't
1:08:52know." We still don't know the best dose
1:08:54that every person can take that will
1:08:57check off all the boxes, especially in
1:08:58the brain. We're just giving an estimate
1:09:00that I take 10, maybe you take 12, some
1:09:03of you might take 15, but at the end of
1:09:05the day we still don't know the best
1:09:07supplementation protocol, the best dose.
1:09:10Uh so there's so many areas. So for the
1:09:11next 20 years I bet you'll still be
1:09:13focusing on creatine with other things
1:09:14as well, yeah.
1:09:15>> And on that doses, is that
1:09:17different for different people?
1:09:19>> Excellent question. So the thought was
1:09:21that the larger you are, yeah, you have
1:09:23more storing capacity in your muscle for
1:09:25creatine. So it makes sense if you're 50
1:09:27kg and 150 kg, you're going to have
1:09:30greater storing capacity. So the dose on
1:09:32a relative basis is likely higher there
1:09:34as well. The more stressed the person
1:09:36is, it's likely they're going to require
1:09:37more because their natural machinery in
1:09:39the brain can't keep up. So it is very
1:09:42individualistic.
1:09:43I think we give a general
1:09:45recommendations to make it easy, but
1:09:47again, some people can take it very
1:09:48scientifically and base it on body
1:09:50weight and you can't go wrong with both,
1:09:51yeah.
1:09:52>> I bet there's a lot of people that are
1:09:53this far into the conversation and their
1:09:55their central question is, right, I've
1:09:56got loved ones
1:09:57>> Mhm.
1:09:58>> that I really really want to start um
1:10:00considering
1:10:01>> Right.
1:10:01>> creatine supplementation for whatever
1:10:02reason. It could be cognitive benefits,
1:10:04muscular benefits, whatever, all the
1:10:05things we've talked about.
1:10:07They might end up sending this
1:10:08conversation to their loved ones.
1:10:10>> Right.
1:10:10>> Something that I do sometimes when I
1:10:11when I have episodes that are
1:10:12particularly moving for me.
1:10:14If their loved ones are now listening,
1:10:15>> Yeah. Yeah.
1:10:16>> and you had to make a case to their
1:10:17loved ones about why they should take
1:10:20>> creatine,
1:10:21>> Yeah.
1:10:22>> what would you say?
1:10:23>> I would say creatine is one tool in that
1:10:25health promotion um toolbox that might
1:10:28help you live longer and better and
1:10:31allow you to maintain activities later
1:10:32on in life which you wouldn't have been
1:10:34able to do and unfortunately that leads
1:10:36us accelerated aging in a poor way to
1:10:38go. It's like it's like saying I'm going
1:10:39to save everything for retirement. My
1:10:41question is why? You might not make it
1:10:43to retirement. So that's one of the
1:10:45things, yeah.
1:10:45>> Aging.
1:10:46>> Yes.
1:10:47>> What is aging in your definition of the
1:10:49word?
1:10:49>> It's catastrophic. Unfortunately, I'm
1:10:51going through it. You know, I've noticed
1:10:53ever ever since I hit the fourth decade,
1:10:54things hurt a lot more and muscle mass
1:10:56to retain a little bit harder.
1:10:58Um so unfortunately think of the body's
1:11:01ability to withstand stress is not as
1:11:03high and things start to break down
1:11:05quite fast. So, we all know, you know,
1:11:08things hurt more, we've lost muscle
1:11:09mass, I can't run as fast. So,
1:11:11biological aging is kind of the
1:11:13deterioration of the human body. We need
1:11:16to, with this conversation and others,
1:11:18come up with ways to stop the
1:11:20deterioration and if anything come up
1:11:23with ways to maintain that ability to
1:11:25live longer free of disease, young.
1:11:27>> We have a closing tradition on this
1:11:29podcast where the last guest leaves a
1:11:30question for the next not knowing who
1:11:31they're leaving it for. This one's quite
1:11:32a tricky question.
1:11:33>> Okay.
1:11:34>> What is
1:11:36reality? What do you think all of this
1:11:37is? All this stuff that we can see and
1:11:39all we experience. What do you think it
1:11:41is? Do you think it's a simulation? Do
1:11:42you think it's
1:11:43>> This is all real for sure because I
1:11:45think we can feel it. It's not a a big
1:11:47brother or anything that's a game show.
1:11:49We all go through different emotions and
1:11:51things like that. So, I think you can
1:11:52feel it, yeah.
1:11:53>> Are you religious?
1:11:54>> Yes, Catholic.
1:11:54>> Okay.
1:11:56And you're a family man, you've got got
1:11:58some
1:11:58>> I a French bulldog and a cat as we
1:12:00talked about and a wife at home, yeah.
1:12:02And really close to my family and stuff
1:12:03like that, yeah.
1:12:03>> And what is your goal? If we get to the
1:12:04end of your career and this was your
1:12:05last day and you had been successful
1:12:07>> Yeah, I think it would be a lasting
1:12:10impression on my students that wow, he
1:12:12changed my life in some way. And if I
1:12:15can make one person live longer free of
1:12:17disease and happier, I'm all for it. You
1:12:19know, when you start to see the human
1:12:21body as people get older, you're like,
1:12:23oh, that person used to be young and
1:12:25vibrant. And then when you hear other
1:12:27people that can't do activities they
1:12:29live in or they can't travel or they're
1:12:30afraid to, I'm like, you need to embrace
1:12:32today. I I love that quote from Morgan
1:12:34Freeman Shawshank, get busy living or
1:12:36get busy dying honestly, we have the
1:12:38ability with lifestyle choices to
1:12:41improve optimization and I want to see
1:12:43people live to be 120, 130, still
1:12:46active, still going and I think we're on
1:12:48the cusp with technology and I think
1:12:50awareness around nutrition, exercise,
1:12:52sleep, uh laughter. Oh, jeez, if I could
1:12:55ask anybody to do one more thing, it'd
1:12:57be just laugh more often. For me to be
1:12:59just a small piece of the the puzzle
1:13:01promoting it, I think it's if anything
1:13:04it's it's just beyond my belief, yeah.
1:13:05>> Why did this pull you in? I I I ask that
1:13:09in part because it tends to be the case
1:13:10that the things that draw us in or pull
1:13:12on our make us curious, there tends to
1:13:14always be a bit of a personal reason.
1:13:16>> Right, yeah.
1:13:17It was It was more that, you know, am I
1:13:19scared to death 100%? Yeah. I can't I
1:13:21can't think of it, yeah.
1:13:22>> Why not?
1:13:23>> I just think it's weird for me. I get to
1:13:25a point, uh maybe being religious, and
1:13:27then you think about it, and then I my
1:13:29brain stops. I can't think about it.
1:13:30>> Really?
1:13:31>> Yeah. And it's it's become it's almost
1:13:32like I want to live forever, and if I
1:13:34can think of ways to make me live and
1:13:36partially get there, obviously it's not
1:13:38reality. But yeah, I'm uh scared to
1:13:40death of dying, yeah.
1:13:41>> Have you always been?
1:13:42>> Yep, 100%. Scared to death of heights,
1:13:44and I can't even talk about the the
1:13:46death experience, yeah. Cuz I think it
1:13:47it sort of brings into perspective
1:13:49things that
1:13:51it it you just don't know.
1:13:53>> Did you ever lose anybody?
1:13:54>> Uh just uh uh friends and things like
1:13:56that, but nothing um specific like
1:13:57parents or anything like that yet. But
1:13:59it's always been there. I don't know if
1:14:00it's the Roman Catholic in me or not,
1:14:02but it's like, "Whoa, I don't want that
1:14:04at all, yeah."
1:14:05>> You can't even talk about it.
1:14:06>> Can't even talk about it, no. No, yeah.
1:14:08>> Really?
1:14:09>> Yeah. It's kind of like I can talk about
1:14:11it in a sense I understand and then it's
1:14:12realistic, but it's it's more um
1:14:16that for some reason I don't even want
1:14:17to think about it cuz I have so much
1:14:19passion for life that I don't even want
1:14:21to think about, "Oh, this could
1:14:22happen, yeah."
1:14:23>> And you believe you go somewhere after
1:14:24death?
1:14:25>> sure, heaven, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
1:14:27yeah.
1:14:27>> But if you do believe you're going to
1:14:28heaven, that sounds like a good place,
1:14:29no?
1:14:29>> Great place, yeah. I just want to spend
1:14:31more time here.
1:14:32There's still a lot of things to do,
1:14:33yeah, for sure.
1:14:34>> Makes sense.
1:14:35>> Yeah.
1:14:36>> Well, thank you. Thank you for doing
1:14:37this with me.
1:14:37>> This was great. Thank you. Yes.
1:14:38>> I have to say, you know, you've done so
1:14:40so much research on the subject that so
1:14:41many of my previous guests cite and talk
1:14:43about, and it's so it's it's great to
1:14:45have the source here himself, and I I
1:14:47applaud you for the work you've done
1:14:48because at the end of the day I think I
1:14:49think a lot of people do want to extend
1:14:51their health span, right? Which is to
1:14:53live healthier for longer. There's a
1:14:55real sort of epidemic of people having
1:14:57short health spans, being medicated from
1:14:59the age of 40, 50 years old and then
1:15:01having that sort of last couple of
1:15:02decades of our life being in you know,
1:15:04incapable of doing the things we care
1:15:05about.
1:15:06I think a lot of this research gives us
1:15:08an option if we choose to take it
1:15:10to live a to live a better life.
1:15:13Thank you so much. We're done. YouTube
1:15:15have this new crazy algorithm where they
1:15:16know exactly what video you would like
1:15:19to watch next based on AI and all of
1:15:21your viewing behavior. And the algorithm
1:15:23says that this video is the perfect
1:15:26video for you. It's different for
1:15:27everybody looking right now. Check this
1:15:29video out. I bet you you might love it.

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