Creatine for Women: Myths Busted in 10 Minutes - So Frickin' Mini

Hey, Donna.

Good morning.

How's it going, Megan?

Good.

I am on my second cup of coffee and my next cup of coffee will contain a supplement called creatine.

I. I assume you're familiar with creatine.

I mean, if you're alive and have some sort of social media or news or literally.

Anything you've heard of creatine.

I assume so, yeah.

I have it in my stack of supplements as well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This is one of those supplements that I hurt for a long time and I think most people, most women did who heard that creatine was something that like gym people who want to.

Well, I wouldn't even consider gym bros, just in general.

People who wanted to bodybuild in general.

So it was more like gym, gym, heavy weight training, focused supplement.

And the thing that I've been hearing over and over again is that like it's the most well researched supplement that we have.

Yeah.

Out there.

Which I was like, oh, okay, that's also not a bad thing.

Never.

And then it started up with women's health.

I think less than a year, it's been like, yeah, really diving into women's health.

Maybe it's a little bit more.

Maybe.

So anyway, so I thought we could talk about it for a couple minutes and see what we know about it and what we're doing with it.

So are you, are you using creatine as a regular supplement?

I used to use it on a regular basis.

I kind of stop.

I, I sometimes I kind of pause with supplements on and off.

So right now I'm at a pause.

But yeah, I definitely took it, especially when I went to the gym.

But then I heard an expert talk about how not only for women, but also just general brain health and for adhd, but for other things brain health related, that it's actually super helpful beyond the amount that you need to take for muscle building.

So the body actually reallocates it.

So yeah, I've done a lower dose, I've done a higher dose.

I've done kind of everything with creatine.

Probably not long enough to really, really feel or see a difference per se.

But there's a lot of research, as we said.

So yeah, it would be interesting to talk about it.

Yeah, I bought some and was trying, was playing around with it.

And so the people I listened to, I wouldn't say I researched anything because I did not.

People I listened to said that 5, 3 to 5 grams is what your body would use if you just go to the gym afterwards.

So if you want those effects and just to be clear, creatine essentially like as a precursor to energy for your muscles.

So, and I don't remember all of the mechanisms, but essentially it does not give you extra strength.

It just kind of gives your muscles like a 5 to 10% extra boost.

Meaning the way it worked in the gym is if you wanted to go lift some heavy weights that without creatine, maybe you could do five reps of a super heavy weight, but with the creatine, maybe you could do six or seven.

Just giving you that extra little boost.

And it was, you know, so it's not something where it's like you, you take it and you build muscle without doing anything.

It is literally enabling you to push past where your muscles might have fatigued earlier.

Right.

But if you take more.

So once you've saturated your muscles with the 3 to 5 grams, you can go up to, you know, somewhere between 10, 15 and even sometimes 20 grams.

Right.

That's when the creatine gets up to your brain because your muscles are saturated with this beautiful thing and then your brain, because it goes, I think it's going through the blood brain barrier.

And then it does the same thing for your brain.

It just gives your brain this like energy boost.

I think somebody equated it to like cocaine.

The effect of clarity and energy in the brain.

Right.

So you mean if your body is physically tired, that's not, you know, but like brain mental clarity.

And I think that's why it made such a big splash in the women's health area, because perimenopause and menopause topics are so hot right now because the women are just so fucking pissed that nothing's being done about it.

Yep.

They were looking everywhere.

And one of the biggest like symptoms or one of the symptoms that most women talk about is some kind of brain fog.

Unclarity and creatine could help with that.

Yeah, you've.

You've heard that as well?

I've heard exactly that.

I mean, I, I think.

How about we do this.

I don't know how long we have, but should we.

We have about, we're about five more minutes, maybe four hours.

Okay.

So.

But how about we do like a rapid fire, myth breaking kind of thing on creatine?

What do you think?

Is that a good idea?

Sure.

I mean, so the first one that I have, well, we just touched, right?

You need to load up on it.

I mean, it's kind of myth ish, but not.

There is a window where we want to stick to.

You don't want to go over 20 grams a day.

You can go lower in terms of muscle.

We want three to five in terms of brain.

Go slow.

Try what hits, you know, where it hits your sweet spot.

I would say.

Well, and I think part of that is also that there is some advice to load it over a period of time so that you, you're basically, that you've got a constant, more constant supply of creatine.

But with any supplement, I'm always wary about doing something like that because you then can disrupt your own production, production of the, of the thing because you're over, over flooding the body and your receptors with the supplement.

So I have felt effects without loading it and loading it.

Like, literally they're like, take it.

Three to five grams a day for a month is like a preload.

And then you do more on top of that.

Right.

So I agree with you.

I. I do not take it every day.

I take it basically during the times of the month when I know my brain is going to be slower.

Right, exactly.

That's smart working with my, with my system because I don't need it when I'm ovulating and I'm a. I'm a rock star superwoman.

Yeah, exactly.

I don't need any help.

Then I do have to say that I was my stupid self because that's how I do things.

Obviously.

If you don't know already, dear listener, then listen back to all of our episodes.

You'll learn it very quickly.

But when I heard, you know, do 20, it's great for your brain.

It also helps with, like, avoiding Alzheimer's, I want to say, and stuff like that, which I have in the family.

That's one of my kind of big fears.

So I immediately went from like 3 or 5 grams that I was taking to 20.

And no, no, do not do that.

So what happened?

I remember, like, it made me kind of, like, nauseous.

It kind of did react with my stomach, but it was also at a time where I, like, wasn't really eating breakfast and I would go to the gym first thing in the morning after maybe having a bulletproof coffee.

And then I would go to the gym and then I would drink it right after the gym.

So still my stomach was pretty much just liquids and fat and no good.

So, you know, I would say, you know, first of all, you don't have to take all 20 in one go.

Right.

You can do.

Right.

No, you can spread it out.

Exactly.

And it's like literally tasteless.

You can just put it in water, coffee, tea.

It's Actually slightly sweet.

Yeah.

If anything.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But that's another.

Yeah.

That was another thing, though.

A little myth, or let's say after effect or whatever about being bloated or constipated or whatnot.

Yeah.

So did that happen to you when you just slammed 20 grams?

So I was.

I. I get bloated very easily.

So I think, yes, people, probably people like me who have sensitive stomach, they would react to it much easier.

And of course, if you're stupid like me as well, and you take it on an empty stomach, you'll react even more.

So I think.

I think it's like, you know, the myth with real nuance kind of thing.

It's like, yes, some people may react to it, some people might not.

Just, you know, you.

You know, your stomach, just don't be stupid.

Like Donna, That's.

Well, like, with anything, you just gotta, you know, build it up a little gradually.

Yeah.

Over time.

But I think.

I think the point is that we're trying to make.

Or there's no point because we're just chit chatting.

But I think the.

The.

The thing is that if you're.

The point.

The.

It's a point.

If you're interested in it.

The point is that there's a ton of research about creatine.

You don't have to listen to us.

You don't have to listen to other people on social media.

Go find some white papers, go find some research.

Find your trusted source, a doctor or healthcare provider that is into this kind of supplementation and ask for it.

But it's also one of those things that's, like, extremely low risk to try.

Yeah.

So I'm trying to get my mom on it because I think it would help with her brain as well.

She's like, it's not for me.

That's for the gym people.

So you just kind of get over that.

Gym people.

So, yeah, I like to have it around.

Like I said, I use it sparingly whenever I need a boost or whenever I know.

Like, for example, my brain's got to go all day long, then I'll take it in the morning, and then I feel like I get a better boost.

But I think that's all.

We have a closing thought, Donna, because.

We got to go.

It's been more than 10 minutes.

I say try it out.

That's all.

That's all I'm saying.

It's not an expensive supplement.

That's true, too.

It is pretty tasteless.

Or like, I like the flavor anyways.

Yeah.

And, yeah, like, oh, maybe in the last note is that the.

The monohydrate version is the one that's been tested, and it's cheapest, so you don't have to go fancy.

It's just a white powder that dissolves into anything.

Exactly.

Which don't take in your luggage when you travel.

Unless you want ice to catch you.

Okay.

All right, Donna, I'll see you next time.

Bye, Megan.

Bye.