Studies involving creatine suggest an extensive list of its therapeutic applicability. The benefits of its supplementation in different physiological processes as well as its performance in the most diverse populations, such as the elderly, are emphasized. Considering that, currently, this is a population with high rates of sarcopenia and diabetes, studies elucidate the mechanisms by which creatine supplementation becomes a strong ally in the clinic.
Sarcopenia
The loss of muscle mass begins from the age of forty and tends to worsen from the age of sixties. Thus, the individual who receives treatment and early care for sarcopenia arrives in the elderly with a more adequate muscle health and resistant to the physiological consequences of age. However, only creatine supplementation as a strategy to minimize the impacts of sarcopenia in the elderly is not enough, since one study compared four groups of mature adults over the age of fifty: one who supplemented creatine, another took placebo, another supplemented creatine and trained and another who took placebo and trained. The results indicated that the only group that had significance of increased muscle mass was the one that combined supplementation with exercises. Therefore, it is also up to the nutritionist, also, to indicate follow-up with a physical educator.
Diabetes
When insulin binds to its receptors and promotes a cascade of reactions in the cell, a correct translocation of GLUT4 is expected, responsible for capturing and transporting glucose to the intracellular medium. Mechanism that, in people with type 2 diabetes, is highly impaired. In this context, creatine supplementation can help since it induces the increase of GLUT4 in the body. But how do you get GLUT4 to go into the membrane and it opens the cells to receive glucose? It is precisely at this point that AMPK must act, as it has the role of “pushing” GLUT4 upwards to receive glucose. Thus, creatine supplementation presents excellent results in this demand. Benefits proven in studies that analyzed groups of diabetics who supplement creatine versus diabetics who do not supplement creatine, and the first group had results of decreased glycated hemoglobin from 7.5 to 6.2.
Clinical practice
The nutritionist can use three protocols for creatine prescription, all of which aim at the loading effect: 20g of creatine in the first 5-7 days, 3g of creatine for 20 days or 3-5g of creatine for 21 days.
Bibliographic references
Reading Suggestion:
What is creatine for?
Watch nutritionist Pedro Perim’s video on the Science Play platform –
Creatine supplementation: from muscle to brain, from heart to intestine, from sport to health
Article: Creatine and diabetes: Wallimann T, Hall CHT, Colgan SP, Glover LE. Creatine Supplementation for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Scientific Rationale for a Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2021 Apr 23;13(5):1429. doi: 10.3390/nu13051429. PMID: 33922654
