October 16, 2024 • 14 mins
Could a simple amino acid supplement be the key to thriving through perimenopause and menopause? Join me as I discuss the remarkable benefits of creatine for women navigating in peri and menopause.
Traditionally used mainly by athletes and body builders, creatine is proving to be a powerhouse for boosting bone density, brain health, and overall energy when paired with resistance training. Imagine maintaining vibrant muscle mass and robust bone health well into your later years while enhancing your brain function and reducing the risks of injuries. The secret lies in creatine's ability to amplify ATP production, making it an essential ally for healthy weight management and mobility.
Listen now to this short but impactful episode that might be a gamechanger for your health and longevity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women
(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to Q&A Thursday with me,
Susie, and today I wanted totalk a little bit about creatine
(00:44):
, mainly because I've beengetting a few questions about it
from clients and there's been alittle bit of talk about it on
Instagram with a few of themenopause influences, so I
thought I would talk aboutcreatine.
So creatine is an amino acid,so it's a building block of
protein and you get it from food, mainly the higher protein
(01:09):
foods such as meat, seafood,that kind of thing.
And when I was more of ageneral nutritionist, creatine
really was something I used withathletes and people that wanted
to improve their muscle mass,their sports performance, and
it's taken in supplemental formfor those people.
(01:31):
So I was kind of used to usingit in that context, not so much
in our perimenopausal andmenopausal women.
But what I have found sinceexploring creatine a little bit
more is that it might actuallybe quite valuable to take as a
supplement daily, whether or notyou're actually a bodybuilder
(01:54):
or someone like that.
But I know for me personally,when I entered into
perimenopause, I really noticedmy muscle dropping, my muscle
mass dropping.
Menopause I really noticed mymuscle dropping, my muscle mass
dropping and, you know, eventhough the exercise I was doing
was the same, it was really hardto actually grow muscle.
And I remember a PT saying tome when I was in my early 40s
(02:17):
that you know, once you get over40, it's very, very difficult
to build muscle.
I've since learned that it'sactually not 100% true.
You can still absolutely buildmuscle.
It is a little bit morechallenging.
You do have to work hard at it.
You have to get the nutritionright as well as doing the
lifting of the heavy things withresistance training.
(02:39):
But it is possible.
But creatine seems to be ableto help.
It's certainly in terms ofmuscle energy and therefore, you
know, being able to lift heavythings in the gym.
So if you're looking atcreatine itself where it is in
the body, about 95% of it is inyour muscles and about 5% of it
(03:03):
is in your brain and that, eventhough it's only 5%, that's
actually really importantbecause when you're looking at
the research around creatine, itseems to be some additional
benefits in terms of brainhealth.
So let's get into it.
Let's start with what itactually does in the body.
So, as I've mentioned, it doeshelp with your muscles and it
(03:24):
serves as an energy reserve inthe body okay, and it gives you
more energy in your muscles.
It helps to create more.
Let's take the simple routehelps to create more ATP.
So if you've done biology atschool back in the day, you
probably have heard of ATPbefore.
That's our energy in our cells.
(03:45):
That's what we use for energyin our cells.
So taking creatine helps tocreate more ATP, which is our
energy in our cells.
And what creatine can be usefulwhen we're looking in
perimenopausal and menopausalwomen is that studies have shown
(04:06):
that women who are doing aconsistent resistance training
program and then add in creatinesupplementation, these studies
have shown an increase in bonedensity, which is super
important muscle mass andperformance.
When this creatinesupplementation is added.
You do have to get the dietright and you do have to get the
(04:27):
resistance training happeningas well.
This is not just a magic kindof potion that's going to
suddenly have you looking likePopeye, but I reckon when we get
to this sort of stage of life,any incremental benefit is going
to be worth it, particularlywhen we're looking at bone
health as well, and particularlyI know from my own experience
(04:50):
of losing muscle mass, anythingthat I can take that's going to
help get that back.
I'm going to do it because itjust it's so good.
It's not just about what youlook like in terms of getting
some muscle definition, althoughthat's really nice.
The more muscle mass you have,the more energy you burn at rest
, so it's very important whenwe're looking at healthy weight
(05:10):
management.
It's also fantastic for makingsure that, as we get older, that
our mobility stays at the levelthat we want it to stay.
I don't know about you, butcertainly, as I'm getting into
my fifties and I'm sure mysixties, seventies and beyond, I
still want to do fun things.
(05:30):
I want to go hiking, I want togo traveling, I want to be able
to lift my luggage, I want to beable to do my reformer and do
my yoga and all the things Ireally enjoy in life.
And if I lose my muscle mass,it's going to make it
increasingly difficult.
Also, as we know, as we getolder, with that mobility kind
(05:51):
of reduction, reduction inmuscle mass makes us more
inclined for injury and fallingthat kind of thing.
I don't want to be falling overand breaking a hip.
As a nurse when I worked in ahospital, I saw so many older
women doing that falling over,breaking a hip, ending up in
(06:12):
hospital and then complicationshappen.
It's really not.
It's kind of it can be a veryslippery slope if that happens.
So, keeping that muscle massand our bones healthy, super
important.
And then with creatine, if wehave this extra benefit of an
increase in brain functionbecause, remember I said, 5% of
(06:32):
creatine is actually in thebrain and there have been some
studies that have shown thattaking creatine may actually
improve brain function in olderwomen, especially if you're not
getting enough sleep, which formany of us in peri and
postmenopause sleep is a massiveissue.
And what these studies showed?
That there was an improvementin memory, particularly after
(06:55):
sleep deprivation.
So often we have something thatwe call brain fog and often one
of the signs of brain fog is aninability to remember people's
names, inability to rememberwords.
You get kind of a little bitlost in a sentence and can't
kind of remember how to finishthe sentence.
It can also enhance cognitionand processing, so it helps you
(07:15):
think more clearly, helps youthink more quickly and also the
studies have shown it can combatage-related cognitive decline,
so it can help you, as you getolder, maintain your mental kind
of acuity or sharpness.
Another study showed that ifyou're taking creatine
supplements it can help withtasks that require quick
(07:40):
thinking and even it didn't evenhave to be older people.
One of the studies was youngadults either on creatine or a
placebo for six weeks and peoplethat were on the creatine
scored higher on tests ofintelligence and working memory.
So I don't know about you, butif I can do stuff that's going
(08:02):
to make me a little bit smarter,I'm going to do that, and
particularly because creatine isjust a really easy supplement
to take, and particularlybecause creatine is just a
really easy supplement to take.
Another benefit of taking it isimproved mood.
We know, obviously, that as ourestrogen and our progesterone
drops, we have lots of estrogenand progesterone receptors in
(08:22):
our brains and when thosehormones drop then that can
really impact our mood.
Our ability to handle stressdrop, then that can really
impact our mood, our ability tohandle stress.
No-transcript, and studies haveshown that taking creatine
might help actually improve mood, might reduce depression
(08:43):
symptoms, which is pretty cool,and also it could.
Some research has shown thatthe creatine could even treat
mood issues faster thanantidepressants.
So you know we know withantidepressants they take around
four to five weeks to work.
So often with many medicationsactually, it can take time to
(09:05):
work.
With creatine you can actuallypotentially feel better much
quickly.
So that might be something tothink about, particularly if you
do have mood issues it's notjust all about muscles.
If you do have issues with yourmood, particularly low mood,
then just taking some creatinemight be something really easy
(09:26):
and effective to help you.
Now, how do you take creatine,how much to take?
Because generally when you buycreatine it's just in a bag and
you may not know how much totake.
In the studies, generallyspeaking, they're using five
grams and usually that's I know.
For me I'm taking just a bit ofa teaspoon, maybe just a little
(09:47):
bit more than a teaspoon.
I'm putting it in.
You can put it in yogurt, youcan put it in, I put it in my
smoothies, that kind of thing.
Just put it in some fluid andhave it.
Some of the sources that I readabout creatine says that you can
actually load it.
So what that means is you takea higher dose for a short period
(10:10):
of time to really bring up thestores in your muscles and in
your brain.
So the recommended loading doseis 20 to 25 grams of creatine
every day for just like five toseven days, and that can really
rapidly increase your stores.
And then you drop it back downto five grams a day for
maintenance.
Now I didn't bother doing aloading dose because, again,
(10:32):
research has shown that you canjust take the five grams a day
and you will maximize yourstores of creatine.
It might take a little bitlonger and you will maximize
your stores of creatine.
Might take a little bit longer,but you know I didn't feel like
doing the loading of it, so youdefinitely don't have to.
But I think that's probablyabout all I want to say about
(10:52):
creatine.
Obviously, this is generaladvice.
It's not taking into accountany of your personal
circumstances.
So if you're not sure whetheryou know if you have medical
conditions, if you're onmedications, you may want to
chat with a healthcarepractitioner about whether or
not, creatine is somethingthat's suitable for you.
(11:15):
Yeah, I just always like tokind of put that out there.
Just don't go and smash thecreatine, um, just in case it's
not right for you.
But, as I said, you're gettingit in your diet anyway, but it
is good if you are um in thatperimenopausal or menopausal
stage that you might want to um,just increase it a little bit.
(11:38):
Actually, there is one morething I did want to say in terms
of your timing.
It used to be that we thoughtthat you needed to take creatine
pre kind of workout orimmediately post workout, and
you can do that.
But in this context that we'retalking about in peri and post
menopause, you can just take itas a daily supplement.
(11:59):
You just need to take it in thepresence of carbs.
So like that's why putting itin some yogurt, putting it in
some like a smoothie, that kindof thing, any kind of food,
really is going to be helpfulfor its absorption.
But yeah, that's something thatI'm doing that you may want to
consider.
So I hope that's been helpful.
(12:22):
If you have any questions,please let me know.
Otherwise I will see you nextweek on the pod.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked today's episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple Podcasts, or the follow
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
(12:43):
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
the link to receive my freeRadiant Reset Hormone Detox
Guide for Perimenopausal Women.
Or if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
Instagram and DM me atSusieGardenWellness.
I'd love to connect with you.
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women
(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to Q&A Thursday with me,
Susie, and today I wanted totalk a little bit about creatine
(00:44):
, mainly because I've beengetting a few questions about it
from clients and there's been alittle bit of talk about it on
Instagram with a few of themenopause influences, so I
thought I would talk aboutcreatine.
So creatine is an amino acid,so it's a building block of
protein and you get it from food, mainly the higher protein
(01:09):
foods such as meat, seafood,that kind of thing.
And when I was more of ageneral nutritionist, creatine
really was something I used withathletes and people that wanted
to improve their muscle mass,their sports performance, and
it's taken in supplemental formfor those people.
(01:31):
So I was kind of used to usingit in that context, not so much
in our perimenopausal andmenopausal women.
But what I have found sinceexploring creatine a little bit
more is that it might actuallybe quite valuable to take as a
supplement daily, whether or notyou're actually a bodybuilder
(01:54):
or someone like that.
But I know for me personally,when I entered into
perimenopause, I really noticedmy muscle dropping, my muscle
mass dropping.
Menopause I really noticed mymuscle dropping, my muscle mass
dropping and, you know, eventhough the exercise I was doing
was the same, it was really hardto actually grow muscle.
And I remember a PT saying tome when I was in my early 40s
(02:17):
that you know, once you get over40, it's very, very difficult
to build muscle.
I've since learned that it'sactually not 100% true.
You can still absolutely buildmuscle.
It is a little bit morechallenging.
You do have to work hard at it.
You have to get the nutritionright as well as doing the
lifting of the heavy things withresistance training.
(02:39):
But it is possible.
But creatine seems to be ableto help.
It's certainly in terms ofmuscle energy and therefore, you
know, being able to lift heavythings in the gym.
So if you're looking atcreatine itself where it is in
the body, about 95% of it is inyour muscles and about 5% of it
(03:03):
is in your brain and that, eventhough it's only 5%, that's
actually really importantbecause when you're looking at
the research around creatine, itseems to be some additional
benefits in terms of brainhealth.
So let's get into it.
Let's start with what itactually does in the body.
So, as I've mentioned, it doeshelp with your muscles and it
(03:24):
serves as an energy reserve inthe body okay, and it gives you
more energy in your muscles.
It helps to create more.
Let's take the simple routehelps to create more ATP.
So if you've done biology atschool back in the day, you
probably have heard of ATPbefore.
That's our energy in our cells.
(03:45):
That's what we use for energyin our cells.
So taking creatine helps tocreate more ATP, which is our
energy in our cells.
And what creatine can be usefulwhen we're looking in
perimenopausal and menopausalwomen is that studies have shown
(04:06):
that women who are doing aconsistent resistance training
program and then add in creatinesupplementation, these studies
have shown an increase in bonedensity, which is super
important muscle mass andperformance.
When this creatinesupplementation is added.
You do have to get the dietright and you do have to get the
(04:27):
resistance training happeningas well.
This is not just a magic kindof potion that's going to
suddenly have you looking likePopeye, but I reckon when we get
to this sort of stage of life,any incremental benefit is going
to be worth it, particularlywhen we're looking at bone
health as well, and particularlyI know from my own experience
(04:50):
of losing muscle mass, anythingthat I can take that's going to
help get that back.
I'm going to do it because itjust it's so good.
It's not just about what youlook like in terms of getting
some muscle definition, althoughthat's really nice.
The more muscle mass you have,the more energy you burn at rest
, so it's very important whenwe're looking at healthy weight
(05:10):
management.
It's also fantastic for makingsure that, as we get older, that
our mobility stays at the levelthat we want it to stay.
I don't know about you, butcertainly, as I'm getting into
my fifties and I'm sure mysixties, seventies and beyond, I
still want to do fun things.
(05:30):
I want to go hiking, I want togo traveling, I want to be able
to lift my luggage, I want to beable to do my reformer and do
my yoga and all the things Ireally enjoy in life.
And if I lose my muscle mass,it's going to make it
increasingly difficult.
Also, as we know, as we getolder, with that mobility kind
(05:51):
of reduction, reduction inmuscle mass makes us more
inclined for injury and fallingthat kind of thing.
I don't want to be falling overand breaking a hip.
As a nurse when I worked in ahospital, I saw so many older
women doing that falling over,breaking a hip, ending up in
(06:12):
hospital and then complicationshappen.
It's really not.
It's kind of it can be a veryslippery slope if that happens.
So, keeping that muscle massand our bones healthy, super
important.
And then with creatine, if wehave this extra benefit of an
increase in brain functionbecause, remember I said, 5% of
(06:32):
creatine is actually in thebrain and there have been some
studies that have shown thattaking creatine may actually
improve brain function in olderwomen, especially if you're not
getting enough sleep, which formany of us in peri and
postmenopause sleep is a massiveissue.
And what these studies showed?
That there was an improvementin memory, particularly after
(06:55):
sleep deprivation.
So often we have something thatwe call brain fog and often one
of the signs of brain fog is aninability to remember people's
names, inability to rememberwords.
You get kind of a little bitlost in a sentence and can't
kind of remember how to finishthe sentence.
It can also enhance cognitionand processing, so it helps you
(07:15):
think more clearly, helps youthink more quickly and also the
studies have shown it can combatage-related cognitive decline,
so it can help you, as you getolder, maintain your mental kind
of acuity or sharpness.
Another study showed that ifyou're taking creatine
supplements it can help withtasks that require quick
(07:40):
thinking and even it didn't evenhave to be older people.
One of the studies was youngadults either on creatine or a
placebo for six weeks and peoplethat were on the creatine
scored higher on tests ofintelligence and working memory.
So I don't know about you, butif I can do stuff that's going
(08:02):
to make me a little bit smarter,I'm going to do that, and
particularly because creatine isjust a really easy supplement
to take, and particularlybecause creatine is just a
really easy supplement to take.
Another benefit of taking it isimproved mood.
We know, obviously, that as ourestrogen and our progesterone
drops, we have lots of estrogenand progesterone receptors in
(08:22):
our brains and when thosehormones drop then that can
really impact our mood.
Our ability to handle stressdrop, then that can really
impact our mood, our ability tohandle stress.
No-transcript, and studies haveshown that taking creatine
might help actually improve mood, might reduce depression
(08:43):
symptoms, which is pretty cool,and also it could.
Some research has shown thatthe creatine could even treat
mood issues faster thanantidepressants.
So you know we know withantidepressants they take around
four to five weeks to work.
So often with many medicationsactually, it can take time to
(09:05):
work.
With creatine you can actuallypotentially feel better much
quickly.
So that might be something tothink about, particularly if you
do have mood issues it's notjust all about muscles.
If you do have issues with yourmood, particularly low mood,
then just taking some creatinemight be something really easy
(09:26):
and effective to help you.
Now, how do you take creatine,how much to take?
Because generally when you buycreatine it's just in a bag and
you may not know how much totake.
In the studies, generallyspeaking, they're using five
grams and usually that's I know.
For me I'm taking just a bit ofa teaspoon, maybe just a little
(09:47):
bit more than a teaspoon.
I'm putting it in.
You can put it in yogurt, youcan put it in, I put it in my
smoothies, that kind of thing.
Just put it in some fluid andhave it.
Some of the sources that I readabout creatine says that you can
actually load it.
So what that means is you takea higher dose for a short period
(10:10):
of time to really bring up thestores in your muscles and in
your brain.
So the recommended loading doseis 20 to 25 grams of creatine
every day for just like five toseven days, and that can really
rapidly increase your stores.
And then you drop it back downto five grams a day for
maintenance.
Now I didn't bother doing aloading dose because, again,
(10:32):
research has shown that you canjust take the five grams a day
and you will maximize yourstores of creatine.
It might take a little bitlonger and you will maximize
your stores of creatine.
Might take a little bit longer,but you know I didn't feel like
doing the loading of it, so youdefinitely don't have to.
But I think that's probablyabout all I want to say about
(10:52):
creatine.
Obviously, this is generaladvice.
It's not taking into accountany of your personal
circumstances.
So if you're not sure whetheryou know if you have medical
conditions, if you're onmedications, you may want to
chat with a healthcarepractitioner about whether or
not, creatine is somethingthat's suitable for you.
(11:15):
Yeah, I just always like tokind of put that out there.
Just don't go and smash thecreatine, um, just in case it's
not right for you.
But, as I said, you're gettingit in your diet anyway, but it
is good if you are um in thatperimenopausal or menopausal
stage that you might want to um,just increase it a little bit.
(11:38):
Actually, there is one morething I did want to say in terms
of your timing.
It used to be that we thoughtthat you needed to take creatine
pre kind of workout orimmediately post workout, and
you can do that.
But in this context that we'retalking about in peri and post
menopause, you can just take itas a daily supplement.
(11:59):
You just need to take it in thepresence of carbs.
So like that's why putting itin some yogurt, putting it in
some like a smoothie, that kindof thing, any kind of food,
really is going to be helpfulfor its absorption.
But yeah, that's something thatI'm doing that you may want to
consider.
So I hope that's been helpful.
(12:22):
If you have any questions,please let me know.
Otherwise I will see you nextweek on the pod.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked today's episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple Podcasts, or the follow
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
(12:43):
delivered to you every week.
If you like free stuff, thenhead to the show notes and click
the link to receive my freeRadiant Reset Hormone Detox
Guide for Perimenopausal Women.
Or if you'd like to continuethe discussion, head over to
Instagram and DM me atSusieGardenWellness.
I'd love to connect with you.
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