Creatine

            The quest for the perfect body and to be the best at performing has had people go to their limits of their physical capability. However, Science and Technology has made it possible to break these limits. Performance aids or supplements have become very popular among athletes. One such aid or supplement is Creatine. Creatine is a nutritional supplement that is designed to chemically improve athletic performance. Nutritional supplements, largely made up of naturally occurring compounds, are marketed as safe and legal performance-enhancing alternatives to banned agents.
             Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in our bodies to supply energy to our muscles. The chemical term for Creatine is "methylguaindo-acetic acid", "which is made through a chemical process of three amino acids: argentine, methionine, and glycine" (Jacobs 1999). Creatine is manufactured in the pancreas and kidneys. It is then transported in the blood and absorbed by muscle cells, where it is converted to Creatine phosphate or phosphocreatine. This reaction involves the enzyme called Creatine Kinase, which helps bond Creatine to a high-energy phosphate group (Jacobs 1999). Once Creatine is bound to a phosphate group, it is permanently stored in a muscle cells as phosphocreatine until it is used to produce chemical energy called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the primary source of fuel for muscular exercise. It is used before carbohydrates (sugars) and before fats. When the ATP is used in the muscles through exercise, it turns into Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). Creatine increases the availability of ATP by reacting with the ADP in the body and turning it back into ATP. The more ATP in the body, the more fuel muscles will have. This allows Creatine to be an energy rich metabolite that can be found mainly in muscle tissue (Jacobs 1999). It is responsible for supplying the muscle with energy during exercise.