Creatine and Testosterone: A Legitimate Supplement to Increase T Levels
Creatine and Testosterone Levels
You should know beforehand that a large percentage of testosterone boosting supplements aren’t genuine.
They claim that they boost testosterone levels but have many side effects.
Creatine is probably one of the only legitimate supplements left on the market.
It increases testosterone levels and enhances muscle strength and endurance. But how exactly does creatine increase testosterone levels and are there any studies to prove it?
Well, you need to read this article to find out.
What is Creatine?
Creatine is an organic acid that is manufactured in the liver and kidneys that plays a vital role in supplying energy to cells all over the body – especially muscle cells.
Creatine is not an essential nutrient, which means that the body can get it from the food you eat. It is produced naturally in the liver and kidneys through the amino acids arginine and glycine.
More than 95% of creatine is found in the skeletal muscles like the biceps and quadriceps.
Bodybuilders and fitness professional use creatine supplements for enhancing physical ability and improving performance. Creatine also helps in managing fatigue, which indirectly can help to boost testosterone levels.
Creatine and Testosterone Levels
Creatine is found naturally in the muscles and is quite beneficial for storing energy in the muscles.
An article was published in 2008 in the “National Academies” journal, which showed that creatine supplementation is very important for high-intensity exercises.
Creatine increases testosterone levels by converting it into a bio-available form known as dihydrotestosterone which is about 3 to 10 times more effective than testosterone. The DHT concentrations have been shown to increase by 56% in just 7 days.
I personally take my creatine before bed after a workout to aid recovery and muscle repair.
Related Studies on Creatine and Testosterone
Many studies prove that creatine supplementation increases testosterone levels in adults. Some of these studies have been mentioned below:
A study was done in 2006 in which the researchers measured the effect of creatine plus beta-alanine on the human body’s strength, composition, and hormone levels.
Researchers selected 33 male subjects for this study who were divided into one of the three groups.
The first group consumed creatine; the second group was given creatine plus beta-alanine; whereas the third group was kept as placebo.
Researchers noted that the testosterone concentrations of the subjects who took creatine supplements increased from 20.0 nmol/L to 24.4 nmol/L- this equals to about a 22% testosterone increase.
No other significant changes were found in the hormone levels of the three groups.
However, researchers noted that the testosterone to cortisol ratio increased from 52.4 to 66.4 in the creatine group. The researchers couldn’t explain the reason for this difference.
Another study was done in 2011 to find out the effect of caffeine or creatine supplementation on the skill execution of rugby players.
Ten elite rugby players were chosen for this study who did 10 trials on a skill passing test.
The rugby players were administered with either placebo tablets, 1 to 5 mg/kg caffeine or 50 to 100 mg/kg creatine before each trial.
The saliva was collected before each trial to find out the cortisol and testosterone levels. The results of the study proved that sleep deprivation affected the performance of rugby players.
But what was really interesting is that the study proved that salivary testosterone levels increased the most with an administration of 100 mg/kg creatine.
This shows the link between creatine and testosterone.
A Study was done by Van Der Merwe and his colleagues in which they found out the effect of three-weeks creatine supplementation on the dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players.
It was a double-blind study with a 6-week washout period.
About 20 college-aged rugby players volunteered for the study. The subjects were given about 25 g/day creatine or placebo (50 g/day glucose) for 7 days followed by a resting period of 14 days.
The results of the study showed that the testosterone levels didn’t change after 7 days of administering creatine.
But the DHT levels increased by 56% after 7 days. The researchers stated in conclusion that creatine supplementation increases the rate of conversion of Testosterone to DHT.
So creatine may not lead to a noticeable increase in testosterone levels but exerts the effect of converting testosterone to a more active form (dihydrotestosterone).
Lastly, a study was done to find the effect of creatine supplementation on muscular performance responses to short-term resistance training.
The study included 17 test subjects who were given about 0.3 g/kg per day of creatine monohydrate or a placebo while performing resistance exercises.
The results of the study proved that the creatine group had better output performance as compared to the placebo group.
The study also showed that the creatine group had higher free testosterone levels than the placebo group.
Other Health Benefits of Creatine
Creatine has many other benefits besides increasing testosterone levels. Some other health benefits you can receive from supplementing with creatine have been discussed below:
Creatine Increases Recovery – Researchers have observed that creatine has good post-exercise muscle regeneration properties. A study was done in 2004 in which researchers investigated the effects of creatine supplementation on endurance performance athletes. The results of the study showed that creatine supplementation reduces cell damage and inflammation caused by endurance exercises.
Creatine Increases Brain Function – Creatine improves overall brain functioning. Recently, researcher Wyss and his colleagues found out the effects of creatine on several neurodegenerative disorders. The researchers stated in the conclusion of their study that creatine supplementation gives a significant boost to brainpower.
Creatine for Parkinson’s disease – Creatine helps in slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease. In different mice models of Parkinson’s disease, it was found that creatine prevents the loss of the cells affected by this condition.
Creatine For Depression – You might be surprised to hear that creatine supplementation can help alleviate the symptoms of depression. Researchers at three different South Korean universities found that women with depression who included about 5 grams of creatine in their daily life experienced less depression as compared to the placebo group. There is now a lot of research that is showing that creatine can provide benefits to the brain.
Creatine Dosage and Side Effects
Just because creatine is natural doesn’t exactly mean it is entirely safe. Although approved by the FDA, it does have some side effects. Dehydration is a common side effect of creatine.
So if you do decide to take creatine, make sure you are drinking plenty of water to prevent dehydration.
You can take 3 to 5 grams of creatine monohydrate with a post-workout shake.
What you would do then is you would take this amount each day for a month then take 2 weeks off and repeat this cycle.
Seeing the many health benefits of creatine and the many studies done on creatine, there is no reason to exclude creatine from your diet.
So take this supplement if you are looking to enhance your testosterone levels and strength.
The best form of creatine to take that has been proven by studies is monohydrate.
Conclusion
As you can see there has been a large number of studies done on creatine to show that it can boost testosterone and increase strength.
With all the other benefits that creatine can give such as increased recovery and its effects on the brain mean that it is definitely a quality supplement for men.
Just make sure to get the quality pure creatine monohydrate form.
