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Looking into supplementation of creatine for mitochondrial energy enhancement and fatigue relief. Anyone using creatine monohydrate supplements?


http://www.scq.ubc.ca/creatine-from-muscle-to-brain/


While the role of creatine in preventing muscle (peripheral) fatigue for high performance athletes is well understood, its biochemical role in prevention of mental (central) fatigue is not. Creatine is abundant in muscles and the brain and after phosphorylation used as an energy source for adenosine triphosphate synthesis. Using double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm, we demonstrated that dietary supplement of creatine (8 g/day for 5 days) reduces mental fatigue when subjects repeatedly perform a simple mathematical calculation. After taking the creatine supplement, task-evoked increase of cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin in the brains of subjects measured by near infrared spectroscopy was significantly reduced, which is compatible with increased oxygen utilization in the brain.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11985880

AC

Have you ever tried Acetyl-L-Carnitine AC?
It's better than other supplements for fatigue, I use the "endurance" formula from www.biosynergy.com that contains also ALA and Q10!
You should use at least 4x500mg per day every 3-4 hours or if you find other liquid type Acetyl-L-Carnitine take every two hours a small dose with the total amount been more than 2 grams per day.

Hi Dimitris-
Yes, we're doing Acetyl-L-Carnitine, but at a lower dosage (500mg.) Might try to bump it up. Thanks!

Going to add 3g. of creatine to the mix, see how Jeff feels.

"The body's creatine kinase (CK) system -- one of a number of unique systems responsible for providing energy to living cells -- is designed to deliver energy to those tissues that have sudden and/or high energy demands such as the brain, skeletal muscles, the heart, and various skin tissues.
The CK system converts creatine to phosphocreatine, which, in turn, transforms adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This occurs in the mitochondria ("Powerhouse of the Cell"). ATP, the basic energy source of the human body, then exits the mitochondria and is used to meet the immediate energy needs of the cell."

In order to satisfy normal energy needs, the human body requires
approximately 2 grams of creatine per day. However, the typical daily diet only provides the body with up to 1 gram of creatine. Accordingly, creatine supplementation is able to increase the body's level of creatine and phosphocreatine, which in turn increases ATP (energy) levels."

From Avicena Group, a biotech company- currently in several clinical trials with their creatine research-
http://www.avicenagroup.com/

AC

sushi time! yum now i have an excuse ;)

Food Sources. Red meat (beef) and fish are rich in creatine. A large serving of meat provides only 1 gram of creatine. [4] Because creatine is sensitive to heat, normal cooking preparation may result in the substantial loss of available creatine from meat and fish, particularly if the food is fully cooked, which generally is advisable.

looks like veg sushi would be good too... body makes creatine from arginine, glycine, and methionine - all found in seaweed... actually it looks like the typical nori sheets they use have *all* the amino acids in some amount, not just those three

Carnitine works the same way regarding ATP production, if you search publications there are many of them available of course if you take them together is better but bear in mind carnitine makes much more difference than creatine.

and our bodies make carnitine from lysine and methionine, so to stock up on those ingredients as well... let me check here... turkey eggs and tuna (LOTS of fish results actually) look best so far:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-0000 ... 00000.html

eeewwww seal, dolphin, are they serious? i can deal with the moose and ostrich but um... not the uber-cutelings. or the sea insects (not a shellfish fan)

i'm scanning the results looking for the start of the non-animal products that are highest in these two aminos. i'm 12 pages in and it's still all beef, fish, shellfish etc. no wonder that stuff is called "carn"itine.

well, out of luck. it only displays the first 999 results and the closest it got to a vegetable was a salad with shrimp in it :S hehe!

Thanks so much for the nutritional info, Jimmy and Dim! Jeff gave up red meat with his MS diagnosis, but we do eat fish 2x a week, lots of turkey, eggs and tuna. You're right on the "carn" itine, JL.

We eat flipper here, JL Mahi-mahi. I know, we're evil!

So, I put 5g of creatine powder in Jeff's morning juice (no taste, so I didn't tell him, I am truly evil) He just came up to the house from his writing studio...all full'o smiles and energy.
"Hey! I feel great today, don't even think I need the provigil!"

We'll see if the creatine adds a little oomph to those mitochondria.

later,
AC

that's so great to hear cheer!
holy crap i never realized mahi mahi was dolphin lol - i used to work at a family friend's restaurant, back in the dawn of time, and it was on the menu

JL--Dolphin fish is NOT Flipper! People were confused by the name, so the industry changed the name to mahi-mahi several years ago.

ohhhhh good!!! several indeed.. i think i worked in that restaurant in 1990? i reckon cheer eats real dolphins and she's just trying to cover up ;)

cheerleader wrote:Thanks so much for the nutritional info, Jimmy and Dim! Jeff gave up red meat with his MS diagnosis, but we do eat fish 2x a week, lots of turkey, eggs and tuna. You're right on the "carn" itine, JL.

We eat flipper here, JL Mahi-mahi. I know, we're evil!

So, I put 5g of creatine powder in Jeff's morning juice (no taste, so I didn't tell him, I am truly evil) He just came up to the house from his writing studio...all full'o smiles and energy.
"Hey! I feel great today, don't even think I need the provigil!"

We'll see if the creatine adds a little oomph to those mitochondria.

later,
AC

That's very good Cheer, my wife experienced some more fatique since her last two colds but after a period of two weeks she is again full of energy, only when walking in high temperatures feels mild fatigue but I guess this is normal for everyone with MS and explains why she feels the same last two-three years before diagnosed.
On the other hand LDN she takes reduces remarkably fatigue and probably this is why she never has such problems, who knows.
By the way we eat at least four times per week fishes (tuna, salmon, sardines, cavalla, mackerel etc) one-two times white meat and once liver (veal) as it is allowed although red meat (except game meat) is forbidden!

Mahi Mahi is not dolphin!!!! It's "dolphin fish"
Oh man, do I feel less evil and cruel hearted (for today.)
The first time I ate dolphin fish was at my wedding rehearsal dinner in June 1984!!
So the name change must have been after that....
My brother couldn't believe "Flipper" was on the menu.

Appreciate the clarification, Lyndacarol

http://www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/mahi.html
"Mahi-mahi is a Hawaiian word that means "strong-strong" for dolphin fish. Dolphin fish are not to be confused with porpoises, which at times are also called dolphin. Dolphin fish (mahi-mahi) are cold-blooded members of the fish family, while porpoises are mammals and are protected by law."


phew,
AC

Jeff's painful nightly muscle spasms are back with a vengeance. No sleep and jumping legs. We are not sure if this is a seasonal thing, since the last time they were this bad was last summer.

We are stopping the creatine supplement, to see if the spasms calm down.

So hard to know what causes what.
eek,
AC

the dolphin fish is the big green one that looks like it's been chasing parked cars!