Nuno Figueira

Ehehehe, Damned vegetarians always spreading crap around everywhere, next you're gonna tell us that our digestive tract has more similarities with the cow's one than with carnivores.

JGL53

Funny. The rumor I heard was that Atkins didn't slip, but was pushed from behind by Dean Ornish.

cheetah

I'm not a vegetarian, actually...I just had a nice juicy filet mignon last night. Turkey burgers for dinner tonight...

Nuno Figueira

Anyway, any ocasion is a good ocasion to pick on them....

Kvalhion

Not to change the subject, but I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts regarding supplementing with creatine. I am not looking to become a massive bodybuilder or anything, but the idea of putting on more muscle (which should help to burn more fat) is appealing. I have already been moderately weightlifting for the last two months I have been doing low-carb.

Anyhow, I am doing some reading regarding studies or risks/benefits and such and just thought I would ask.

Nuno Figueira

Creatine is great. It has been researched plenty and even in long periods of up to 3 or 4 years no side effects were noticed. I've only seen one study that advised caution for some reason I can't remember, it might be due to possible contaminants but I'm not sure.

Anyway, it's cheap and, protein aside, it's about the only supplement worth spending your money on.

Godot

I'm not keen on supplements in any form. But Nuno is right: creatine is one of the only supplements that actually has a physiological effect. However, the effect it has is slightly different than that which is believed. Creatine adds some mass to the frame mainly through water retention. It also acts to enhance recovery from intense activity of short duration, thereby allowing you to perform at maximal/near-maximal effort with a shorter recovery phase.
I did a quick search at http://gssiweb.com for creatine, and I came up with the following articles in their database: http://www.gssiweb.com/search.cfm?t=...=creatine&rd=a. Happy hunting!

alek0

Very mature behavior...

JGL53

That has been my experience, N.F. In the short term, while you are on very low carb, creatine might help with any lack of 'energy', if you experience that. I certainly found that the number of reps per set I could do (before muscle failure) increased noticably with creatine.

On the other hand, I don't know that you would want to use creatine long term - unless you are going for the gold, i.e, training for serious atheletic competition.

A loading dose is usually recommended and also that you should take creatine with a high glycemic carb drink to increase absorption.

I don't think the latter is necessary - just take it with a little food. And I never did the 'loading' - just used a level teaspoonful daily one hour before lifting, and that seemed to work fine.

Don't ever forget the more important concerns of drinking a gallon or more of fluid each day, having at least one or two rest days between lifting sessions, and always eating a high protein meal as soon as possible after lifting.

Also, don't get too carried away with the 'lean' protein. Fat is your fuel now, so eat some foods every day like eggs, full fat dairy, macadamian nuts, olive or flaxseed oil, etc.

Kvalhion

Thanks for the info! I ordered some capsules and will give it a shot. I doubt it is anything I'll do long term, as I am more concerned about losing fat than I am with building muscle. Other than water retention, it doesn't look like creatine would stall my fat loss, and a little extra boost in the gym while weightlifting wouldn't be a bad thing. I'll probably do the loading and a low maintenance dose (probably 5g day) for 8 weeks and see where I'm at. Apparently creatine doesn't help you much beyond 8 weeks. Some people reload at that point, others take a few months off before using it again.

The only problem I foresee is that I usually weightlift in the morning at work, and have been eating breakfast about 45 minutes before I work out rather than after. I can try to bring something with me and eat after I workout, I suppose, if that is what is necessary.

Thanks again!