Should We Use Creatine While Losing Belly Fat?

Creatine is one of the most discussed supplements when it comes to improving your energy or building your muscles. It is highly recommended by certified and experienced trainers, especially for professional bodybuilders. However, it is also something that has always been in a controversial position when it comes to weight.

Since it builds up energy, it is often said that it also increases body weight and one should stop its consumption if trying to lose fat. But, does it really work that way? Well, it is nothing more than a misconception that has been spread by some self-proclaimed health experts.

If we go by the scientific data and interpretations, the conclusion is a bit different. You might be surprised to know that creatine can actually be a good addition to your diet if you’re trying to lose weight. We will see how in the upcoming sections. But before diving deeper into that, let’s have a look at how creatine actually impacts our body.

What does creatine do to our body?

Creatine, also known as creatine monohydrate, is a combination of three different amino acids namely arginine, glycine, and methionine. Found mainly in skeletal muscles, creatine helps to supply energy to our body. It is especially necessary for people who involve themselves into intense physical activities.

Our body naturally produces around 2 g of creatine and we need around 1 to 3 g of it every day. But the more energy you spend in exercise or training, the lower the level of creatine gets. It may lead the person to feel weak and out of energy. Therefore, it is suggested to have a diet rich in fish and meat to maintain the desired levels of creatine.

However, that might still be insufficient if you’re too much into physical exercise and body training. But, not to worry! If you’re short of natural creatine supply in your body, you can always take up supplements. This is what various athletes and sportspersons have been doing for years. Creatine helps them to enhance their physical performance, gain more strength and recover better. It also helps to bring and retain water in the muscles which makes it less prone to injuries and other damages. Therefore, creatine has a very intense role to play if you’re aiming for good health.

Creatine and Weight Loss

Considering that creatine helps increase muscle energy, it is often associated with an increase in muscle mass and body fat too. But, this is just a myth. There have been experiments and studies that suggest that the consumption of creatine supplements doesn’t have much impact on weight. Hence, it is not making you fat.

A lot of people also suggest to cut on creatine when dieting which is again just a misconception. In fact, it is better to have creatine supplements if you are on a diet. It can help you to make your fitness routine even better and would help you achieve your target sooner.

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Benefits of creatine while losing belly fat

Creatine can help you to lose your body weight faster and with minimal unwanted effects on your body. This is why it makes complete sense to include creatine in your diet. Here are a few advantages to back it further.

Keeps up the Strength

When you plan a diet to lose weight, you cut on carb consumption by lowering the calorie intake in your diet. It helps you to lose body fat but it also leads to lower strength and energy. However, creatine can help to minimize that effect to a great extent. One can continue to exercise and diet at the same time that way without losing strength.

Compensates for the Deficiency

When on a diet, a person often loses on various nutrients that are essential to the body including creatine. This is because you will cut on the creatine-rich food which also consists of fat. But, lower production of creatine in your body can make your muscles weaker and also make the tissues vulnerable to damage. Hence, supplements can help to compensate for that without resulting in increased weight.

Improves the Recovery Process

Cutting aggressively and rapidly can cause stress for your body. Also, it can have the opposite effect on your body and can result in extra weight gain when recovering after the diet. This is because it becomes difficult for the body to get low on energy all of a sudden and then increase it again. Therefore, creatine can help you stabilize those sudden changes and have a better recovery process.

Overall Health

Creatine has a lot of health benefits in general. From enhancing our arterial health to developmental neurology and from increased metabolism to cellular energy, it helps us in more than one way. Our body is affected in multiple ways when going through a diet which can have a direct impact on our health. So, creatine intake takes care of our overall health-giving us a green flag to continue with our diet.

Note: Taking creatine supplements has its own set of benefits rather than pushing your body to produce more creatine through dietary changes and other things.

Things to consider for using creatine while dieting

We have seen a lot of benefits of creatine and how it can be helpful for us while trying to lose weight. But then why have been people relating it to the increase in weight? Well, though it is a misconception, it is not entirely baseless. So, if you’re curious, here’s why.

As mentioned in earlier sections, creatine helps to retain water in the muscles which lead to increase in muscle mass. The extra weight caused to due to this might make people feel that they are gaining extra weight due to creatine. Consequently, it seems like a great hindrance when they are trying to lose weight. However, it is only for a short while.

The water retention caused by the use of creatine is only temporary. The effect goes away once you stop using it. Therefore, if you are looking for instant weight loss, it might not seem like a great option to you. However, from a long-term perspective, The Best creatine supplement is a must-add in your diet.

How much creatine should you take while cutting?

On average, 20 g of creatine supplement is suggested in a day for a month. One can take 5 g of it four times a day. After a month, when you have a sufficient amount of creatine stored in your body, you can reduce it to 3 to 10 g per day. It will help you maintain the amount of creatine in your body and keep up with the stored amount.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, creatine will prove to be of great assistance if you’re trying to lose some body weight. However, you should be clear about whether you need it in short duration or for a long term. Given all of this, it is still recommended to have a conversation about this with your trainer or health coach before finalizing things. This is primarily because they know your individual needs better and can help you the best.