MrSupplement.com.au Australia: ASN Nano Creatine FAQs

A. Yes, Creatine is a natural amino acid present in the body of humans and animals. The human body has 100-115 grams of creatine in the form of creatine phosphate. No negative side effects have been noted in the research with the recommended levels of supplementation.

Q. Are there any noted side effects?

(Posted: 16th June, 2005)

A. Creatine is so efficient at shuttling water into the intramuscular compartment, that an emergent side effect associated with it is that of muscle cramping. This most often occurs when too little fluid is consumed whilst supplementing with creatine. Muscle Cramping, strains and tears are all anecdotal evidence that are not supported by scientific fact. Creatine draws water away from the internal working organs and therefore if you take a lot with no water then a mild stomach cramp will occur.

Q. Is Creatine safe to take for long periods?

(Posted: 16th June, 2005)

A. In truth nobody knows although it does appear to be safe with no adverse effects reported in any study which we are aware of. Some people have been taking as much as 20-30 grams a day since it was first available in 1990.

Q. What is Adenosine TriPhosphate (ATP)?

(Posted: 16th June, 2005)

A. ATP is the organic compound found in muscle which, upon being broken down enzymatically, yields energy for muscle contraction. Creatine enhances your body's ability to make protein within the muscle fibres, which also increases your muscle mass (Creatine increases cellular hydration. The hydrated muscle has increased permeability, which allows more amino acids into the muscle cell). Building up a supply of these contractile proteins ( actin and myosin ) increases your muscles ability to perform physical work. The bottom line here, is that creatine will allow you to to perform more repetitions with a given weight. This will increase the time under tension, thus increasing the recruitment of muscle fibres, which will in turn increase the number of fibres stimulated. It also prevents your body from relying on another energy system called glycolysis, which has lactic acid as a byproduct. Lactic acid creates the burning sensation you feel during intense exercise.

Q. At the moment I am doing the Max-IT training program and using the NANO creatine, NANO Glutamine and HP-100. I have achieved some pretty good muscle gains and now with summer around the corner I would like to increase my fat loss a bit faster to cut up. I was thinking of using the Xtreme Cuts but I have been told that caffeine in the Xtreme Cuts will interfere with the NANO Creatine I am taking. Should I stop taking the NANO Creatine? I was hoping that you could tell me what else to do to get the best results for cutting up for summer?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. Taking Xtreme Cuts and Xtreme Energy can actually increase the effectiveness of the NANO Creatine, by enhancing its ergogenic effects, giving you increased performance enhancement.(1) A theory once was that because of the dehydration effect of taking old technology creatines, in relation to the osmotic effect of water being drawn into the intestinal area because of its poor bio-availibility, this robs fluid from the rest of the body, thus because caffeine also has a dehydrating effect, it was thought that this would cause a higher probability of causing cramps and decreasing exercise performance because of that. It has since been proven otherwise in scientific studies and it has been found that caffeine can actually enhance the effect of creatine in relation to increasing exercise performance. We would suggest not to change your routine, but incorparate Xtreme Cuts into your Max-IT training program. We would recommend you take 3 servings a day. One serving upon waking on an empty stomach, one serving around lunch time and another serving about an hour before you start your Max-IT training.

Reference:
1. Caffeine is ergogenic after supplementation of oral creatine monohydtrate.
Doherty M, Smith PM, Davison RC, Hughes MG,
Journal of Medicine Science & Sports Exercise, 34(11): 1785-92 2002

Q. I have purchased your NANO Creatine and your NANO Glutamine and have found them very effective. You are all the talk around the world at the moment. I was amazed at one of your seminars how the creatine and the glutamine just dissappeared when you rubbed it into your skin. I have read a little about the NANO Technology that you use, but I was wondering how it came about and how do you get the particles so small?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. As you can imagine, because we are the first sports nutrition company in the world to use a NANO Technology process to produce our products, we are very reluctant to give away 'our secret'. But as you have witnessed, these products are amazing. They came about because of the problems some athlete's had in the past when taking products like creatine. These athlete's use to have all sorts of problems when taking creatine. We know some athlete's thought they developed a stomach ulcer because of the heartburn produced through taking creatine. Once they stopped taking the creatine, the heartburn would cease. But like all scientific studies have found, creatine does help increase your performance and muscle gain. The problem was how to get the creatine into their bodies without the side effects.
As we know, when we ingest foods or supplements, the function of our digestive system is to break the foods and supplements down into smaller particles so it can be absorbed into our blood stream. Within our digestive system we produce substances to break down the foods into tiny particles. We produce bile which breaks down fat into tiny globules and various enzymes that break down protein and carbohydrates into particles small enough to pass into our bloodstream. What if during the manufacture of our foods and supplements, we produced the particles of the material small enough or better yet, smaller than what the enzymes break it down to in our digestive system. Answer; instant absorption! This is what 'NANO Technology' allows us to do.

Q. Does the NANO creatine need to be taken with a high glycemic carbohydrate?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. We get asked this question a lot. A lot of people seemed confused about taking creatine with high glycemic carbs or simple sugars. The reason why we take creatine with simple sugars such as Glucose ( Dextrose ) or high glycemic carbohydrates is to increase our Insulin hormone. It is not used to help the creatine get absorbed better through our digestive system. In simple terms, Insulin helps transport nutrients into our cells. Not only our muscle cells but also our fat cells. The higher you can ‘spike’ your Insulin level, the more nutrients you will get into your cells.
.
In regards to NANO Creatine, you do not have to have it with a simple sugar or high glycemic carbohydrate. It is still very effective when taken by itself. The NANO Creatine is absorbed directly into your body where it is able to be taken up by your muscle cells. Looking into creatine research you will find that creatine is actually sodium dependant and not insulin dependant. Sodium dictates creatine's uptake into the muscle cell.(1)

Now, if you want to enable an increase in storage of nutrients like NANO Creatine and glycogen way above normal levels within the muscle cell, which will in turn increase your recovery, you can either consume a high glycemic carbohydrate before you take your NANO Creatine or you can consume them together. The insulin spike from the high glycemic carbohydrate will increase glycogen and fluid within the muscle allowing you to store a lot more NANO Creatine than normal within your muscle cells, which will make you achieve results faster, taking you to a new level, than using NANO Creatine alone. This is why the NANO HPC formula was developed to maximize the benefits of using NANO Creatine.

HPC, which stands for High Performance Creatine is a NANO Technology enhanced insulin spiking, muscle hydrating, NANO Creatine Complex, with ingredients like, Taurine, B vitamins, mineral phosphate salts and pharmaceutical grade Dextrose. HPC is an advanced sports formula providing performance enhanced energy and fluid replenishing electrolytes to fuel you through your exercise workouts and help increase recovery rate, with insulin spiking ingredients plus the added bonus of performance and recovery enhancing NANO Creatine.

Reference:
1. Creatine uptake in isolated soleus muscle: kenitics and dependence on sodium, but not insulin
Willot CA, Young ME, Leighton B, Kemp GJ, Boehm, Radda GK, Clake K
Acta Physiol Scand, 166(2): 99-104 1999

Q. I’ve been told that the gains from NANO Creatine are basically water retention, is this correct?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. Years ago, some narrow minded people believed anabolic steroids did the same thing. Then once you stopped using the steroids all the water would leave the muscle making your muscles shrink. Science has since proved otherwise. After that some bodybuilding experts then believed that muscle could not be synthesized at a rapid rate unless anabolic steroids were involved. The only way some narrow minded people could explain creatine’s tremendous effects on muscle was water retention like that of steroids years ago. Today, we know this simply isn’t true. Research now shows that supplementation with creatine actually accelerates the growth of new muscle protein, right down at the molecular level. NANO Creatine enters the blood and is taken up by muscles where it stimulates muscle gene transcription factors that control protein synthesis rates and the manufacture of new lean tissue. Not only that but NANO Creatine also increases muscle phosphocreatine stores, the cell’s essential form of energy that is used in large amounts during intense exercise. An initial gain in muscle size may be due to increased fluid within the muscle after a day or so from using NANO Creatine but it is not related to further increases in size from long term muscle gains contributed with its continual use. In fact, Creatine has been shown in numerous clinical trials and other studies to enhance athletic performance and other important aspects of physiology. It’s one supplement that serious athletes shouldn’t be without.

Q. You recommend taking NANO Creatine before you exercise. I was told if you take creatine before exercise, you will end up with bloating, become dehydrated and end up with muscle cramps. Why is NANO Creatine any different?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. Once you open a tub of the NANO Creatine you will know why. The particle sizes of this creatine are so small, we cannot see one particle with our naked eye. The NANO Creatine floats on air and if it wasn't for its attraction to the other creatine particles in the tub, it would basically fly out! That's why we see it as a powder. The NANO Creatine powder is even finer than Talc Powder. It can be consumed about 15 minutes before training with no side effects because of its efficiency of absorption straight into your blood stream. However, for other creatine's this is not the case. This is related to its particle size. Scientific studies have been done on standard creatine and it was found that only 0.2-3% of the creatine ingested was absorbed over a 90 minute period.(1) That is to say if you consume 5 grams of creatine, only a maximum of 150mg of creatine are going to be absorbed over a 90 minute period. That means there is still going to be 4.85 grams of creatine sitting in your gut. Because of this inefficiency of absorption, fluid is then drawn into your digestive system, giving you a bloated look. Because fluid has been robbed from your body and into your digestive system, certain effects may take place. Loss of fluid from muscles causes dehydration and cramps during exercise. Excess fluid in the digestive system causes stress on the intestinal tract leading to increased bowel movements and diarrhea. Because water balance has been interupted within the body, overcompensation occurs after time to try and rebalance fluid levels, causing excess 'puffiness' of the tissues, leading to a bloated look. One would wonder, why take these creatine's? NANO Creatine is the ultimate creatine supplement! No stomach cramps, no bloating, no diarrhea! Just 100% results and 100% performance. "If it aint NANO, it aint nothing!"

Reference:
1.Evaluation of creatine transport - Dash AK , Miller DW , Huai-Yan H , Carnazzo J , Stout JR ;
Pharm Sci, 90(10): 1593-8 2001

Q. I've heard that creatine causes growth hormone levels to decrease, but I've also heard that creatine boosts growth factors within the body. My question is what is true and what is untrue in regards to creatine?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. There are a lot of misconceptions about creatine. A lot of this has been caused by the media and wrong advice given in fitness magazines. In regards to NANO Creatine, we know its effects and how it benefits athletes. In regards to effecting hormonal levels, researchers in Belgium have recently examined creatine's effect on growth hormone, testosterone, and cortisol secretion after heavy resistance training. This study showed that creatine does not affect the body's hormonal response to training. Blood was sampled from 11-men before, immediately after, and 30 and 60 minutes after weight training. Results showed there was no significant difference in hormonal response when the men took creatine or the sugar-based placebo. Serum growth hormone, testosterone and cortisol levels were all elevated by intense training and were not altered by creatine intake.Creatine exerts its powerful muscle building effects through various mechanisms such as increasing cell volume and transcription of muscle fiber DNA and by increasing exercise performance by increasing Phosphocreatine stores. It does not have any impact on hormonal output. Using NANO Creatine is completely safe and it does not decrease any hormone levels.

Reference:
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (33;3:449-53 2001)

Q. I read somewhere that the companies promoting Liquid Creatine's say that their creatine doesn't cause any side effects and is absorbed straight away into your body much like the NANO Creatine. How does NANO Creatine compare up against these liquid creatines?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. Firstly, before we answer that question we will give you a little background on creatine.
Creatine is present in the muscular tissue of many vertebrates, including man. It is a precursor of creatine phosphate (phosphocreatine), which in turn, acts as an energy store in the muscles; creatine phosphate is a compound with high-energy bonds and serves to maintain the supply of ATP necessary for muscle contractions.

Scientists found that our bodies can actually store more creatine in our muscle cells than we produce. Approximately 120 g of creatine is found in a 70 kg male, 95% in the skeletal muscle. Total creatine exists in muscle as both free creatine (40%) and phosphocreatine (60%). It appears that supplemental creatine monohydrate increases muscle total creatine, including both free and phosphocreatine. Phosphocreatine is the direct precursor for your energy system while free creatine is the direct precursor for phosphocreatine. This not only has the effect of increasing the availability of creatine to be used in your energy cycle but also it increases the fluid within the muscle cell associated with the osmotic effect of increased intramuscular free creatine. This increases the muscle cell size in which more nutrients can be transported and stored within the muscle to be used for energy and protein synthesis, increasing exercise performance, recovery and muscle growth.

Now to answer your question; Some companies that make Liquid Creatines claim that their product contains Creatine Phosphate or Phosphocreatine which is equivalent to an amount per serving of creatine monohydrate. This has caused some controversy in regards to their products actually containing ‘creatine’. Everything that they claim may be true, except for one thing they forgot to mention! Phosphocreatine is the direct precursor for your energy system within your muscle cell. Therefore, the liquid Creatines will be used straight away within your energy system and not stored in the muscle cell. Yes, it might help to increase your performance during exercise, but because it is not stored, it does not help one bit with recovery and muscle growth. One of the main reasons why we supplement with creatine is because we can store more in our muscle than we naturally produce. It is the free creatine that causes the associated osmotic effect, increasing muscle cell size which results in increases in nutrient stores producing increased recovery and growth. We not only use creatine to boost athletic performance, we also use it because of the anabolic effect it produces. Liquid Creatines are therefore useless for people wanting to put on muscle. Liquid Creatines are also dam expensive! Some containers boast every serve contains equivalent to 2.5g of creatine monohydrate. A bottle has around 30 servings. That means the total creatine content within a bottle is only 75 grams. Compare this with NANO Creatine in which you use 3g per serving, each container contains 166 servings and the total creatine per container is 500 grams and its retail price is cheaper! Liquid Creatines are nearly 7 times more expensive than the NANO Creatine and you don’t get any volumizing effect within the muscle cell to help you with growth and recovery. With NANO Creatine you get 100% bioavailability with direct absorption into your body, performance enhancement during exercise and the anabolic effect from increased creatine stores within the muscle. Add this all up and we think we know which creatine supplement you would pick to use. NANO Creatine wins, hands down, by a long shot. No other creatine supplement comes close!

Q. Firstly I want to thank ASN for bringing out the NANO Creatine. I’m a healthfood shop owner in Australia, whose creatine sales were down until the new NANO Creatine came out. Before a lot of customers complained that the micronised creatine gave them the ‘shits’ and pains in the gut. Now I don’t get any complaints at all. Why do people get problems with other creatines?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. As a developer and producer of sports supplements we are constantly bombarded with material manufacturers offering deals on their substances to be used in our products. They vary from high quality expensive materials to poor quality cheap materials….and I mean cheap! Some producers of sports supplements would jump at the chance to use these cheap supplements because of the large profit they can make very quickly. Unfortunately it is at the expense of the consumer. Plus the retailer doesn’t know it is ‘crap’ , they have been told by the companies that their product is the ‘best’. By then it is too late, the retailer has been persuaded to stock the product and is stuck with them to sell. At the moment there is some very cheap creatine being offered to the producers. It comes from China and is around $3 per kilogram. High quality creatine costs around $30 per kilogram. That makes a big difference in profit when you are a producer of sports supplements.

Unfortunately price is related to quality and the cheap creatines have a lot of impurities and metals in them which is what makes you sick. Once people use a creatine that makes them sick, they are not keen to try it again. The same goes for any sports supplement. Therefore the retailers lose a customer and their business slows down. It then takes a lot of hard work by genuine companies like ourselves to try and re-educate people that there are sports supplements that do work of high quality and don’t make you sick.

Creatine has so many health benefits and with the introduction of the NANO Creatine we can get people back to the health food shops and gyms buying creatine so we can all benefit from it.

Q. I have been weight training for over 25 years, but even now, I have learned new things from doing the Max-IT training program. I’m now experiencing new muscle gains and I was wondering about older guy’s like me using nano creatine. I’m nearly 50 years old, would there be any benefit for me to take the nano creatine?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. It’s great to hear you are still training all these years later. Most people who start weight training in their 20’s give up by the time they are 40. One reason why Max-IT training is so popular is because you see the gains quickly and this serves as a constant source of motivation to keep training and eating correctly. But also the 52 week training program is constant changing every 4 weeks so you can continuously make gains and not get bored of the exercises. It’s an extremely positive healthy habit to get into. Regarding using NANO Creatine, the truth is that any healthy adult that exercises would benefit enormously from using NANO Creatine, regardless of their age or fitness level.

Research shows us using creatine enhances muscular strength, growth and performance in people up to 91 years of age! This research also revealed that the mechanisms responsible for muscle growth do not diminish with old age. Some of these subjects experienced gains of 300-400% in strength accompanied by highly significant gains in lean mass.

A recent study of thirty men over the age of 70 examined the effect of creatine supplementation combined with resistance training on a variety of muscular performance tests, as well as body composition. The supplementation program consisted of a loading phase for 5 days (20-grams a day), followed by a 5-gram per day maintenance dose using the now obsolete micronised creatine. Remember you don’t get 100% absorption!

Results showed clearly that the men using creatine in combination with intense weight training increased muscle size, experienced strength gains, as well as experiencing greater power output and endurance capacity (published in Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 33;12: 2001.). If people in their 60s' and 70s' show such tremendous benefits from using creatine, we are definitely sure you will too.

Q. A scientist by the name of Dr. Cohen claimed research shows that creatine competes with protein for absorption and that athletes taking protein and creatine supplements together are wasting their money because the creatine is not getting into the body. Is this true?

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

A. Dr. Cohen was unable to provide one single study that shows protein consumption interferes with creatine absorption. This re-enforces that athletes must be very selective when seeking information on nutritional science. Athletes must scrutinize all the information they are exposed to. A misguided doctor's view is simply not good enough. Unfortunately someone in a position like his should know better with such misinformation.
The transport of amine (nitrogen) containing molecules into cells in mammals, is meditated by specific membrane-bound transport systems. Evidence to support the idea that creatine has its own highly specific transport system within cells can be found back as far as 1969.
Scientific research has confirmed that creatine does in fact possess its own exclusive transport system within human cells. The Creatine transport system only facilitates the entry of creatine into cells. Various amino acids (proteins) also have their own select transporters for entry into cells. Since both amino acids and creatine use individual, exclusive transport systems within cells, the concern for competitive absorption is completely unfounded. Plus because of the particle size of the NANO Creatine is so tiny, it is absorbed even faster than peptide amino acids. So by all means if you like, mix your NANO Creatine with HP-100.

(Posted: 11th July, 2007)

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