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Change Agents Community with Dr. James Rouse
Creatine is Leaving the Gym
(upbeat music) - Well hello everybody, welcome to Love in Life Elevated. I'm Dr. James Rouse. - Hi, I'm Dr. Deborah Rouse. - So good to see you today, honey. - You too, this is take two because I didn't push record before and so there you go, there you have it. - Luckily, it's one of our shorters. - Behind the scenes, okay. So today we're gonna talk about something that I'm really, really excited to share with you because this is a supplement. It's probably the first supplement I ever took. It's way, I started taking it way back in my teenage years and it's creatine and creatine back then was all about building muscle, it was the bodybuilder's favorite supplement, it basically never left the gym. And for decades, all the research has been built on muscle and performance until recently. - That's great. We had a longer build last time to keep you in suspense but he just like told you what we're talking about today. But yeah, so what's been really funny is in my, you know, you get those targeted ads on social media, Instagram in particular, so many of my ads lately have been about creatine and of course, you know, everybody's listening all time. So maybe it has to do with our conversations or conversations I've been having with my patients. But I think what's so cool is, but I don't know how cool it is, but they're really targeting women and women's use of creatine. And so I wanted to do a deeper dive on that because for years, I was a little judgy, I would say, or concerned that James was taking creatine for so long and I was like, you need to take a break, we need to monitor your kidney function and guess what, over the last 30 plus years, his kidney function has been perfect and fine. And so it's really has worked for you, but now that I'm doing, I've done more of a deep dive myself in the last three months, I would say, I actually jumped on the bandwagon and-- - Welcome aboard, sweetheart. - Thank you. I've been using it, but actually I said to you recently, I wasn't really using it probably in the best way for me. And also I had different ideas of, oh, maybe I don't take it on the days, I'm not doing a heavy workout, well, that's not true. And so let's get into it. - Yeah, I think to begin with, creatine is naturally occurring in our muscles. So it's already there, it is something as natural to our muscles, our muscles, hold onto it, it stores it, and it creates it within itself. We can also consume creatine with animal proteins, cold water fish, poultry, pork, beef, all of those also contain creatine, but-- - And our brain also produces creatine and our testes, your testes. - My testes, that is really good. So you may be wondering, well, if you can get it in your diet and it's already in your muscles, why should you supplement? Why should you consider supplement? Because you cannot get enough in your food and you certainly do not create enough or manufacture enough naturally within your muscles. - No, I don't know if that that's a certainty, like that word, you can't produce enough, right? Like I don't, I don't know if it's a blanket semen that everyone needs it, but I'm sure a lot of us could use it. And just to follow-- - That's better put. - Piggyback on what you were saying about the sources and everything, that vegetarians probably do fall short, right? - That's true. - Because they're not getting it in their diet, so even though yes, their brain and muscles are producing it, it may not be enough and quick to point out and then sorry to interrupt you. The supplementary creatine is generally not made from animal products, it's made in a laboratory, and so it is safe for those who really prefer their supplements to be vegetarian source. - So who may be deficient? Interesting enough, so if you're a high-training, bodybuilding, endurance athlete, this is where we can see creatine stores going low or becoming, not where they need to be for optimum performance, that's one of the reasons why people started supplementing creatine decades ago and that research continues to support athletes to do so. Again, your sport on the idea of being vegetarian may not be able to get it through your food. That's also a person. Interesting enough, so the emerging science on people who are non-athletes who may be susceptible due to something called sarcopenia, which is the loss of lean muscle or not even necessarily the disease of sarcopenia, just someone who's not training, not exercise, not keeping their lean muscle on their body, that person can also benefit from creatine. So these are all the different people who could. Interesting enough, so what does creatine do for a living? What's its job description? It is helpful to actually create ATP. It feeds ATP, which is- - But what is ATP? - ATP is the way in which we create energy in our muscle. - Energy, yeah. - It's part of the Krebs cycle, something we learn about medical school where we had a- - Why don't we get into a science lesson? I just wanted you to talk about ATP as energy. That's all we need to know. - So the beauty of ATP is that we can build it, it's the way we get energy, it's stored in our muscles, and the more that we have this ATP, and if you will, creatine being one of the great builders of ATP, which again, feeds the energy source in the muscle called mitochondria, that is how we get the performance of creatine to happen. - Well, so creatine also is beneficial for cognition and mental health, so it has anti-depressant effects, and it is good for our bones. So that was what was new evidence for me that really was the aha, okay, I'm on this bandwagon as I'm really into healthy aging, I'm into those years of the pause, and creatine really can benefit women on those levels. I think that's the key distinction of getting our mindset out of the gym and into our lifestyle. - And some interesting research as well, talking about the fact that there may be help for people who are with dementia or trying to help to prevent dementia, as well as Parkinson's disease. So we're seeing more evidence that creatine helps to offset neurological diseases and even just neurological declines. So there's a lot of hope around creatine, but I think it all comes back to something really, really powerful. I am seeing more and more research coming around the idea of metabolic health, anything to do with the mitochondria, anything to do with energy production, and the more that we see this, we're seeing how it applies to mental health, neurological wellbeing, physicality in terms of lean muscle mass. So I think all of us have to really look at the data right now and say, what am I doing to support my metabolic health? And lean muscle is something can stay with us our entire life. There were times, I think people believed at some point, maybe it was age 50, 60, 65, where, oh, I guess I'm in decline, I'm losing my lean muscle. I guess this is just how it goes. That is absolutely not the way it goes. In fact, Harvard did a research piece, gosh, close to a decade ago, where they took in folks all over 80 years old, some of them over 90 years old, these are people who had not been exercising, they brought them into the gym, some were literally brought in on wheelchairs, brought in using walkers, and they literally hadn't just started doing light resistance training. In the course of just three months, there was nearly on average a 300% increase in strength, and nearly an 80% increase in muscle size, just in three months, because these people who are 80, 90 plus years old, they just started exercising. So really give yourself permission, no matter where you are in the spectrum of aging, to look at muscle as your number one friend, the number one biomarker for healthy aging, and the way in which we really give ourselves permission to be on the planet well and thriving. - I'd like to introduce our guest of the day. - I didn't see Bode come in, hi Bodeers. - This is Bode. - So let's talk about dosing. So the average dosing for creatine, it usually comes in the form of a powder, it's the easiest way to supplement it, and it's three to five grams creatine monohydrate. It is best taken after a workout, or you don't even have to work out, it doesn't really have to be associated with your workout if it's an off day, or you're just not someone who is in that daily grind of exercising, whether you're doing yoga, Pilates, taking a walk, it really is beneficial for everyone, and I would just do it afterwards, and let's talk about who creatine may not be the best for. - There's an audience here that really want to pay attention to this. So right out of the gate, anyone who has issues with their kidney function, if you have kidney disease, something you know that your kidneys do not, how should we say, function optimally, filter function optimally, you wanna really be mindful about creatine supplementation, work with your nephrologists, work your family physician to make sure that's something that can be beneficial and you should be using. Statin users, statin medication can also be a contraindication, actually helps. - Well, it's because, you know, one of the side effects of statin medications is that muscle are througant and joint pain, so muscle pain, joint pain, we don't want creatine to interfere with that, or even increase it. - Or even increase it. - Exactly. - So statin use. - Chemotherapy. - Certain chemotherapy. - And seds. - And seds, ibuprofen and so forth. So it's very important if you're using creatine as a supplement, just to monitor your kidney function at least twice a year. Don't forget to tell your healthcare provider that you are supplementing creatine so they can keep that in mind, and remember to look for, there's something called a GFR on your blood test, and then kidney function liver function, those are just key at top of the list. But also women, if you start supplementing creatine, make sure you're checking bone density once a year. Let's see if it's helping you. If it's helping, you know, stop bone loss, helping like preserve bone, that is such a cool side benefit of using creatine. - Yeah, and I think when we push go button today, one of the things that Deb and I love to do is we always set an intention of what we want to have happen based on you viewing. Where do you go from here? So I think there's three things I'd love for you to walk away with. Number one, creatine's been around for decades. It is finally leaving the gym and making its way into mainstream health and wellness. The research is impeccable. In fact, interesting enough, we have found out that creatine right now is arguably one of the most well researched of all the supplements out there. That's how well researched it is, and a safety profile is pretty impeccable based on what we've already talked about if you're not part of those communities having those issues. So that's number one. Number two, I think, which is really fascinating for a lot of us to consider, is how it is that for people in the age group of 50 and above, we're obviously looking for ways to keep lean muscle mass on our body. So this is people who are exercising or not exercising, but there was an interesting study that was done that talked about the fact that someone who wasn't necessarily an exerciser started to get creatine stores built in their body, and they felt the energy because ATP and mitochondria are coming alive, and that actually gave them sort of the impetus to want to get back exercising, starting with walking, moving into yoga, doing some light resistance training. And thirdly, I think that for a lot of people who are wondering whether or not creatine is the right supplement for them, there is now data to support the fact that this is something that there are products out there that you want to be mindful of that go through a lot of scrutiny, third party testing. So Deb and I are going to leave some information here with this podcast. So you will know what ways you'd be looking for so you get a product that's clean, efficacious, and has been tested. - Basically, what do you say? We're just going to give you a link to what we use. That was a very long way of saying. - I just want to make sure you guys know that we care about you, and we always want to do the best we can to support you. So yeah, creatine's a part of our house now for both of us. - Yeah, it's so cool, I'm finally on board. - You're finally on board, and I'm feeling like, oh my goodness, my sweetie's finally with me, I don't have to have the scrutiny under me. And it made me feel again that much more inspired by the fact that this has all these other benefits that I didn't even know about. And I'm feeling great that you and I continue to do research. We get a chance to share it with you. But before we say goodbye, one of the things that we were talking about this morning, please let us know if there's something you would love for us to talk about. And if we don't know the answer, we will go ahead and do the research because we are always learning and growing right alongside of you. It's an honor to be building this community alongside of you. - And thank you for inviting me into your Wednesday world and your Change Agents community. It's been really fun being here, and thanks everyone for your positivity and welcoming me in. I love you so much, and this is just really fun to do together. - It sure isn't, so grateful that you came on board, sweetie. It's been so much better having you here. So we will see you next Wednesday, and until then, much love, every blessing, bye for now. - Bye for now. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (gentle music) [BLANK_AUDIO]