February 25, 2025 • 35 mins
Curious about why creatine is the buzz supplement of 2025?
On this episode of The Nutrition Couch, Leanne Ward and Susie Burrell break down everything you need to know about creatine and why it’s not just for bodybuilders anymore. Discover how this powerful supplement can boost your energy, enhance mood, and even improve cognitive function, especially for women at every life stage.
Tune in to learn:
- Why women naturally have lower creatine stores and how this impacts energy and mental clarity.
- How creatine supports hormonal balance, cognitive function, and mood regulation, particularly during pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause.
- Who can benefit the most from creatine, even if you don’t exercise.
- The truth about weight gain and bloating myths surrounding creatine.
- How to choose the right type of creatine and why sourcing matters.
- Expert tips on how and when to take creatine for maximum benefits.
Plus, in this episode:
- A new study exploring the link between LDL cholesterol and menopause.
- Our latest supermarket find: a light, high-protein lunch on the go.
- A deep dive into protein water—is it actually beneficial or just another marketing gimmick?
Join us as we separate fact from fiction and explore how creatine can help you feel energised, focused, and balanced.
Listen now and join the creatine conversation!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Do you know what creating is or do you know
why everybody is talking about it being the buzz supplement
of twenty twenty five, or more importantly, do you know
how some people may actually benefit from taking creating? On
today's episode of The Nutrition Couch, we chat all things
creating and the signs that may be worth taking to
potentially optimize your energy, your mood and even your body composition. Hi,
(00:25):
I'm Leanne Ward and I'm cd Burrow, and together we
bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that keeps
you up to date on everything that you need to
know in the world of nutrition, as well as the
benefits of creatine. Today we have a new study that
looks at the links between LDL cholesterol and metopause. We
also have found a new light high protein lunch on
the go option in the supermarkets. And our listener question
(00:48):
is all things protein water and if it's actually beneficial.
But to kick us off today, Susie, we're talking all
things creatine because we're still getting so many questions about creating.
But we do have a new creatine love to the party,
don't we, Soothie?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, I had worked with creat you know twenty years
ago with athletes, so I was very familiar with it,
and you had said to me that you'd been taking
it after you had Tilli, and I was like, oh,
you know, Land's pretty lean.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And then we launched it and.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It just went crazy before Christmas, Like I don't think
I've ever been so busy. And we're so grateful to
the support from our nutrition podcast family in our Design
by Dietitians range. But the stock arrived just before Christmas.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
We had boxes.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Everywhere, we had orders everywhere. It was like chaos, and
I literally until the kids went back to school, I
hadn't been to the gym, like I just have not
had a moment to myself. So finally last week I
went thought, right, I'm going to get into the gym.
I took the Energy, that's my preferred flavor. I know,
we've got Pure which is flavorless you can add to
smoothies and things, and then we've got Vitality, which has
(01:53):
a gorgeous watermelon berry. But I am a tropical girl.
I like the tropical idea. So off I went to
the gym last Monday afternoon with my taco dog cup
and my little serve of our product, and I was like, oh, like,
I really felt good, And of course you think, oh,
maybe it's anecdotal, but no word of a lie. I've
(02:14):
been really feeling much better on it. Usually in the afternoons,
I would feel pretty tired, you know, juggling a lot
of things. I would normally have some diet soft drink
or a coffee some days, and I have not done
that one day, and I've just been really looking forward
to having it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I'm certainly perry, if not pretty close to menopausal. I
would say, I don't know what's going on down there,
but not a lot. So yeah, I'm a big fan
of the Creating supplements. I think it's working really well.
So of course we popped it up on our Instagram
over the weekend and it just went crazy. So there's
certainly interest in it. And we thought that because it's
(02:49):
kind of whilst it's an old supplement in the sense
we've used it for athletic performance, it's certainly new in
the world of women's health and nutrition, and we thought
we'd get so many questions on our Instagram and dms
and emails asking us whether it's right for them, And
so I thought it was really good to chat to
our listeners about just going through. We have got a
whole podcast on it, but this is a bit more applied.
(03:11):
What is it, who will it benefit and how do
you know if it's worth trying for you? So you
kick yourself there and you know, run us through what
it is, and then I can talk about you know,
who I think potentially can benefit and how is the
best way to take it?
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah. Sure, So Creatine is the most studied nutritional sports
supplement in the world. It's also one of the quote
unquote safest as well. It's been around, as you mentioned,
for a really really long time, so we know that
it works. We know athletes and people who are exercising
really benefit from it. But what a lot of people
don't know is that creating is a really naturally occurring substance.
(03:48):
So it's found in the body. Creatine's even naturally found
in mum's breast milk. And I know a lot of
people are like, oh, and this was myself for so
many years, Susie, Like, I remember I had my PT
suggest I take creating years ago before my wedding because
I was like, I want to be really you know,
like leaning like you know, quote unquote shredded for like
my honeymoon, and he's like, why don't you take some creatine?
And I was like nah nah, nah nah. And this
(04:09):
is years ago, but I must say I really joined
the creatine train. Now I'm really a massive fan of it,
but I never really understood how naturally occurring it was.
And when I learned that there was creatine naturally occurring
in mum's breast milk, I was like, ahh. And it's
in a lot of the foods as well, like most
animal based products. It's in dairy, it's in our meats,
it's in our you know, chickens and fish in that
kind of thing. So, creatine is a naturally occurring compound
(04:33):
which is found within our muscle cells in the body,
and it helps the body to produce energy during high
intensity activity. Basically, so creatine increases our phospho creatine stores
within the body and without getting two sciency on our listeners,
that facilitates the production of our ATP cycle. And this
ATP cycle provides the body's primary energy source. Basically. Now,
(04:55):
why we love it for women and why it's so
important is because that women typically have seventy to eighty
percent less endogenous creating stores than men. Women also consume
less dietary creating typically than men, because we tend to
eat far less meat than what our male counterparts do.
So that is backed in the research. It's backed by size.
(05:16):
Women don't eat enough creating, and we certainly don't store
or hold enough creating within our body. Now, there's been
emerging research for quite some years now that has really
highlighted the benefits of creating across the women's entire lifespan.
We're talking about pregnancy, we're talking about the postpartum period,
during you know for women during really heavy menstrual cycles,
(05:36):
we're talking about perimenopause, actional menopause, and also postmenopause as well.
So not only does it support energy production, it also
supports muscle strength and recovery. But what I'm most excited about,
particularly for women's is the emerging evidence that shows that
creating has a potential role in cognitive function and also
mood regulation. So that's where for men who were busy,
(06:01):
who are juggling, who are experiencing that brain flog, whether
it's in the postpartum period or whether it's like just
going through those periy years, or just that busy juggle
that so many women are doing. This is where creating
can really give us some benefit. And one of the
top questions that we've been getting is I don't exercise,
can I still take creating? And I remember saying to you,
(06:21):
and I was like, have you tried it? Have you
tried it? Have you tried it? And then what you'd
finally started the creating, You're like, no, I'm waiting till
I go back to gym. And I said to you
don't have to, like, you can take it. You're going
to get the benefits from like a brain boost and
a cognitive perspective. And then when you started taking it
and you were like, oh, trually good, I was like,
come on, I've been telling you for months now. Please
I'm honest.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Though, I think it's good to be honest and authentic
with our audience, you know, in terms of you know,
I'm at that age a lot of our listeners are
wondering if it's right for them. And I'll just think
back to a belief is that creating will put weight
on all fluid weight and certainly in the old days
of using it with athletes, if you loaded athletes they
would gain a quit lord to a fluid in the muscle.
(07:02):
But it's very different from the way we're prescribing it
now for women and performance. So those doses were much
much higher, you know, twenty grams at some points per day,
followed by a five gram load continual dose. So I
had someone message me online and they said, I've put
on two kilos, and I said, no, it should not
do that. Like, I haven't noticed any change, and I'm
(07:22):
trying to get into address for the weekend, so I'm
closely monitoring my fluid status on a daily basis, and
I haven't seen any change in my body. I haven't
felt bloated or anything. And when I asked her, I
was glad I did because she said she was taking
five or ten grams a day, and I was like,
oh no, no, no, no, no, that's way too much. Just
three grams a day is clinically proven to yield these
cognitive benefits, which is really just very low. Like I
(07:42):
had someone else tell me that they have stomach distress
from it, and I actually question that, Like in all
my years of working with people, it should not cause
stomach distress. There is nothing in that substance that should
cause issues, and we'll talk about quality in a minute,
you know, and using our own product, which is Career Pure,
which is one of the strongest types of creation and
because it's German sourced. Leanne'll talk about that in a minute.
(08:04):
But there should be no stomach problems from it. If
you're having stomach promitts from it, I would argue that
it's been consumed in a form with other foods that
might be giving you stomach distress. So if you're putting
it in smoothies and things, or if you're not using
our brand designed by dietitians, you know, if you're using
products that have different types of sweetness or additives, possibly,
but certainly in the mix that Leanne and I have formulated,
(08:26):
there is no reason that any of those should be
giving any level of stomach discomfort because it's just nothing
really in it. It's just very simple. It's mostly water,
and the pure substance is not associated with any form
of abdominal distress. So I would be questioning what else
you're eating if you feel that it's affecting you. I've
only felt no issues whatsoever with it. And then so
(08:49):
the other questions that are coming up a lot, is
when should you take it now? Really, it doesn't actually
matter because a lot of what we're trying to achieve
is getting rid of the brain frog, improvement in mood,
cognitive function. Myself, if I'm going to the gym, because
I like to take it with a lot of water,
I will put it in my drink bottle at the
gym because I'll be drinking a lot then and I
find it really refreshing. But if I haven't gone to
(09:10):
the gym, I'll have it usually through the morning, similar
to a coffee, or if I haven't, like I'm having
it today, we're recording at eleven or in the afternoon
again when you're having that kind of afternoon lull. And
I'm going to talk about protein water later and my
concern with how people consume it. But in the case
of this drink, I have no concern with people drinking
it over a relatively long period of time. It's very
(09:31):
low calorie, there's very little in it. If you sip
it over several hours, I don't have any course for concern,
do you.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I prefer my clients to drink it relatively quickly, not
over the course of a few hours, just because creatine settles, right.
We know that creatine isn't something that completely dissolves, so
you may find that if you're sipping on it over
the course of an hour, you're going to find some
white sediment in the bottom of your cup. That's the
creating And we really need you to get in all
three grams of the dough. So the minimum dose to
how a clinical effect is three grams. There is a
(09:59):
smaller out of emerging research, very small that if you're
going through menopause or postmenopause, you may benefit from a
little bit higher dose, such as five grams of creatine.
But I would always start at three and then taper
up to five if you feel like you need it
more so for the cognitive benefits basically, So that's the
only reason I would say to drink it relatively quicker,
(10:19):
or each time you have give it a good stove,
give a little wiz with your hand whizzer, because it
does tend to settle on the bottom, and if you're
then just chucking that out, you're actually losing some of
that creatine. That's the only concern I would have. If not,
I don't really mind how long it takes you to drink,
but make sure whatever sediments on the bottom, you are
just adding a dash more water and trying to get
that down because if not, you're just losing that valuable creatine.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, it's a good point. So because what I do,
I like things really cold, so I continually add ice
and water and keep mixing it. So that's just naturally
how I drink something like that. What I would say
is which type is right for you. So if you
are someone who doesn't like sweet drinks, you don't drink
ever soft drink or flavored drinks. You struggle with water,
I would say you're best to get pure and add
(11:00):
it to something else. So add it to you smoothie
in the morning, add it to your breakfast bowl, because
then it won't be effort to drink it. I find
because I probably need to drink more water, it's a
good way for me to increase water intake. So if
you either are used to having a water bottle on
your desk it or need to drink more water and
quite like something sweet. So I've got a client of
mine who loves I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I
(11:20):
said it. She feels she's addicted to v like We've
tried several interventions to get off the V. She's tried
the iced coffee is like, she just loves it, and
she's got a really stressful job and it really she
doesn't drink a lot of coffee, so it's her little thing.
But she's been trying to get off it because of
the growing data on gut issues and energy drinks. Anyway,
for her, a swap to a flavored form like Our
(11:42):
Vitality or Our energy's smart because if she's able to
swap that four a diet soft drink or a V
that's a massive win for her nutrition. But it depends
what kind of person you are, each to their own.
I have many friends I'll shout out to Michelle Tapower,
who won't mind me mentioning her name and her brand
not Stationary. She doesn't like flavored drink, so she loves
pure because she has smoothies in the morning or protein shakes,
(12:04):
and she was just not keen to have any kind
of flavored drink. So I think it's more if you're
a person who likes flavored drinks or not, go for
Energy or Vitality. But if you're someone who prefers just
a smoothie or shake or breakfast bowl added into that.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, give it a go.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Like I think my common observation of women, we work
with women, we are women of these ages, we are
juggling kids, businesses like we know, we get it. I
think we're just looking for anything to make us feel
a little bit better and for me nutritionally, if that
is a substance that has a growing evidence space for it,
(12:39):
that's going to be a million times better than a
soft drink, some chocolate and all the other things we
grab for when we're looking for an energy hit. So
I think it's just well worth a go. And the
reason that designed by dieticians is superior is that we
have really invested in creer Pure, which is the German creatan,
which is you talk about how it's better because you're
(12:59):
more cross the science of it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
So you can get creatine basically throughout the words. You
can source it from two places. You can source it
from China and you can source it from Germany. So
our brand is sourced from Germany and the German creatine
is create Pure. If you see create Pure on the label,
it's been sourced from Germany and it's ninety nine point
nine percent purity. Now, most brands, because it's far cheaper
and it's also mixed and cup with other things, will
(13:22):
source their creatine from China. Now, if a brand doesn't
say where it's from, even if they say it's one
hundred percent creating monohydrate, Susie's laughing at me. I'm very
passionate about this in case you guys could tell it's
cut with other things like this, and it's also the
Chinese creatine as also, doctor Cecims talks about this. It's
(13:42):
been acid washed as well. She was talking about it
on the Hovemann podcast, very very reputable nutrition sclientists. It's
they both swear by you only take German creating. The
Chinese creating is not pure. It's not good. You don't
know what's in there, and that's why so many people.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
And it's also associated with some gut discomtred percent.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So if the brand hasn't said where it's from, it's
from China. I can promise you that because German creating
create pure is so much more expensive that if a
brand is sourcing it from Germany, they will tell you.
It will have creer pure written all over the label.
It will say German source like Susie and Als does
all over the label and the brand will be proud
to say that. If the brand doesn't say where it's from,
(14:22):
or it just says one hundred percent creatine monohydrate, that's cool,
but it's still not from Germany. It needs to say
either source from Germany or have the Creer Pure logo
on the packet to ensure that it is the highest
purity in the world, and you can actually notice the difference.
I didn't really understand this until I really deep dived
into creatine. I was just buying what I thought was
(14:43):
the best creatine. I was buying a brand that said
one hundred percent creatine monohydrate on the label, thinking that
that was top quality, and not understanding that it was
still sourced from China. And then once I learned about
create Pure and I just bought Creer Pure, I compared
both of the different textures. You can actually notice the
texture difference, and then I also notice it from a
bloating perspective as well, So it's really important that you
(15:03):
source it from Germany as well. Now I've got a
couple more points. One quickly, just in terms of creating
is a supplement, So We don't really recommend supplements unless
you're a healthy individual. If you do have some medical conditions,
if you are taking different types of medication, absolutely touch
base with your dietician or your doctor and just make
sure that that's appropriate for you, particularly if you are pregnant,
you are breastfeeding, you have different types of medical conditions,
(15:26):
make sure you check with your medical professional. The other
thing is that pure. We get a lot of questions
because it's unflavored. Can you just take it by itself
in water? It's unflavored, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's flavorless, Susie,
So I wouldn't. I personally wouldn't take it in water
because I'm kind of like, oh, it doesn't to me
taste that good. I would be adding it into my
(15:46):
overnight odes smoothie. Just have it without nourish protein powder.
That's how I would take the pure, unflavored version of it.
You can add it into your tea and coffee. We've
had a lot of emails from women asking if they
can add it into their hot drinks. Hot or warm, yes,
not boiling, So make sure you're not adding it into
boiling liquid or fluid, but warm or sort of like
(16:06):
more room temperature is completely fine. And the last thing
is I'll come back to your point about timing, Susie.
So the most important thing with creatine is that you
need to take it daily because females don't retain it.
It needs to be taken consistently on a daily basis.
If you're just going to sporadically take it two three
times a week whenever you remember, sometimes for a couple
of days, sometimes forget for a few days, you will
(16:28):
not get the full benefits from actually supplementing with creatines.
If you're going to take it, you absolutely need to
be consistent about it. Try to take it at the
same time each day, so you're getting that regular supply
into the body, You're getting the regular benefits from the
energy production, the cognitive benefits, and then you're continuously retopping
that up at a similar time most days. The timing
doesn't so much matter. You just need to take it
(16:50):
each day if you are looking for the exercise boost
alongside the brain and cognitive boost. There is a small
amount of research that says that creatine is better up
taken with a one as to one ratio of carbs
and protein. The best way to do that is to
take your creatine with a meal. So go to the gym,
do your training session, come back, have your breakfast, your
lunch or your dinner, have your main meal and take
(17:11):
your creatine after that. That's a good way to have it.
Or come back and have a protein shake creatine inside
it and have a banana or something that'll do the
same sort of benefit. That's really only if you're looking
for some of those hashtag gains in the gym, which
we know that creatine is really great in terms of
providing as well, particularly for females. That's one of the
biggest questions we get, isn't it so far? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I like the one about the hot drinks. I actually
didn't know that. So you're here educating me all the time.
I'll put that down for my professional development, lean But
what I will say is that, you know, when it
comes to supplements, this is really important. You have to
get supplements from people who are qualified to be developing them,
and Leanne and I are on a bit of a
crusade to bring some credibility to wellness. You know, this
(17:53):
has all been in the media recently because of the
Bell Gibson It's not a documentary. It's a series, Isn't
an Apple Side of Vinego? Which I'm really enjoying actually, just
to such a reminder that there are so many people
out there who are not qualified to be delivering personalized
nutrition information. And they may be famous, they may be
very beautiful, they may talk the talk, but if they
(18:14):
don't have a science degree, don't buy their supplements. And
I feel really strongly about that because our work is
evidence based. We do a lot of research to make
sure that we have a reason for everything that we design,
and we just don't want you to waste your money
and make sure that if you are spending your heart
earned on supplement products to help you feel and look better,
that you're actually getting what you pay for. So buyer beware,
(18:35):
and yeah, make sure it's credible whenever you're spending your
money on it. All rightly, and well, I've got some
new research to talk about which our listeners are going
to love. It's from our good Well i'll say good
friend because I'd like to be friends with her. But
Mary Fair Harbert, who is of course the menopausal guru internationally,
and she puts up some I don't know how she
gets so much content up whilst doing her job, like
(18:56):
she records so many videos, like you know, she's the
doctor kid, She's amazing. But she publishes some great research
study which is really relevant to anyone who is in
their late thirties and beyond because it started to really
take a closer look at the changes in cholesterol levels
in women through the lifespan and the correlation between increasing
levels of inflammation and it being indicative of the menopause
(19:19):
or phase you're in. Because one thing I'm seeing a
lot of well, I always see doctors routinely do cholesterol checks.
They don't routinely do a HbA one C or glucose,
but they always seem to do cholesterol. Now I don't
I think it's just taking the box because in some
cases you'd be like, if you haven't had a history
of our cholesterol and you have a blood test every year,
you probably don't really necessarily need it. But it's just
something that's easy to do and people keep an eye
(19:40):
on it. But what this study is showing is that
there is a gradual increase in LDL levels, which is
indicative of the menopausal changes. So you can act and
sort of prevent or help to reduce the information that
occurs in these phases in life from dietary changes very
early in the piece, rather than waiting ti cholester rolls
really high before you do anything. Because one of the
(20:02):
issues I'm also having is a lot of women are
using HRT or I have had a marina put in,
and hence they're not necessarily aware what's happening with their
natural mentrual cycle. So they don't know if they're still
getting a period or not. But they've been told there's
benefits to take versions of HRT, whether it's the pill
or gels or whatever they're using, so they actually don't
even know, and that can be misleading from a blood perspective,
(20:24):
and you just don't know where you're up to in
terms of information. So the study is published in it
just recently, very very recently in Frontiers in Endochronology in
January this year, and it took a closer look at
the small particles, the very inflammatory low density or LDL
lipoprotein and cholesterols across the cross section of women over
two thousand, which included women twenty percent who were in
(20:48):
premenopause four point two percent in perimenopause, and then seventy
four percent who are actually postmenopausal. And basically, the studies
showed that the levels of Eldier cholesterol gradually increase over
those different time frames in.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
A woman's life.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And why I thought that was really interesting was that
if you routinely get an annual or buy in your
blood test and you've noticed your cholesterol creeping up over time,
it's an indirect measure of the stage of menopause that
you're in. And as I said, because the general menopause
will shift is pro inflammatory in women, and this is
why so many issues come up in your late forties
(21:24):
and fifties, when it comes to joints, when it comes
to sleeping, when it comes to blood sugar, when it
comes to weight control, when it comes to cholesterol, and
our disease risk increases so significantly because the whole system
in our bodies is pro inflammatory. So basically the take
home message today is if you've started to notice your
LDL cholesterol creeping up, I don't care so much about
(21:45):
the total. Your HDL might be quite high, you might
have had a calcium score done, you've got no family
history of heart disease, you're not worried. But if it
is creeping up, it is probably then worth taking a
closer look at your estrogen levels progesterone in general, having
some specialized advice on managing the peri and menopausal period
to keep on top of it, because like all things,
(22:07):
it's much easier to bring down some ld or cholesterol
early in the piece. You know, you can add some
plant sterols in, we can add some walnuts, we can
reduce the animal product in your diet. There's a lot
of dietary strategies to keep on top of it before
it blows out and certainly be causing damage to the
heart over time. So I think, yeah, go back on
some old blood tests and just check and if if
(22:27):
your LDL isn't increasing, quite likely you're not even in
perimenopause yet. But if it's starting to creep up, it's
a sign you might want to proactively see a dietitian,
get some specialized dietary advice about it, or really look
into eating for inflammation to help reduce that process which
will naturally occur in the body. But we can certainly
be on top of it, and that's really relevant for
anyone who is using HRT or has a marina and
(22:50):
you just don't even know if you're still getting your
periods or not to really keep an eye on it.
So I thought it just really interesting association between LDAL
specifically and inflammation and the menopausal phases.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Yeah, I agree, and I think it's always really interesting
because I do, certainly as well, have a lot of
clients who are going through those perry and those metopaus
or years are also out the other side, and they
do report increasing cholesterol levels despite not changing anything with
their diet. And I think that's the most indicative sign
that you're reaching those menopause or years is when you
haven't really changed anything different, but your cholesterol is increasing,
You've got a lot more you know, brainfall, cognitive issues,
(23:23):
and then also you're experiencing a little bit of weight gain,
particularly around that you know, that abdominal area as well.
So just another really great research to kind of, I guess,
a paper that shows us what we already know clinically,
don't we were seeing this reported in our in our
female clients already. But also a really good point Susie
to actually go and proactively book in with a dietitian
because there's so much we can do from a cholesterol perspective.
(23:45):
There's also more research coming out about, you know, nutrition
strategies for cholesterol as well. And it's not just food,
there's some lifestyle strategies as well. So a really good
important I guess measure to just go and find a
great dietitian to book and with to just give your
diet a bit of a once over before your cholester
gets to the point where the doctor says, all right
now we need medication. All right now, this is getting
a bit dangerous. You want to catch the trend before
(24:07):
it kind of becomes too late, don't we. True?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
True, And yeah, I think we often underestimate the power
of diet in cholesterol, and it's quite powerful. But even
just general anti inflammatory eating is imperative once you reach
those peri and menopausal years. So there's plenty of content.
We've covered it before, we'll cover it again, but being
on top of those changes and getting them early is
key in positive aging, I guess for one of a
(24:30):
better word.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, all right then, And our latest supermarket find is
something that my mum, Sophie was eating the other day.
She came over and helped me look after the kids,
and she said, oh, have you seen this, and she
threw it into a bowl and put some spinach and
some tomatoes and beefed it out a little bit and
it looked great, and she showed me. It's the new
subcol pouches of tuna. But they've got some additions to them.
So there's I think two or three in the range.
(24:52):
One of them is a red bean and quinoa one
and the one that she had, there's another lentil and
black rice one, and then I think there's another one
with a few x beans and maybe like a little
bit of chili or something in it. She had one
that was sort of like a pery pery flavor or something.
It was quite tasty. So they are pretty light, they
are great on the go lunch option, they don't need refrigeration.
They're fairly affordable, like budget wise. So the one that
(25:14):
we're going to do today, Susie is the lentils with
sweet corn and Thaie black rice. So at retails in
Woolworths currently for three dollars fifty for one hundred and
sixty gram pouch. And you would argue that you would
eat the whole pouch. It's only small and then per serving,
so for the full one sixty gram pouch. It's seven
hundred and seventy six kilogel, so not even two hundred
calories like they're very light. Seventeen point three grams of protein,
(25:36):
which is quite high protein. Two point six grams of
that with only point six of that being saturated. Two
thousand milligrams of amgis free, which is great from our tuna,
with twenty one milligrams being EPA and one hundred and
forty three milligrams being DJ. Twenty one point three grams
of carbohydrate perserve predominantly coming from the additions of the beans,
the legumes of the corn, six point nine grams of
(25:59):
s I think there's a very small amount added in
terms of Mediterranean vinegarrette, and the rest is just naturally occurring.
Four point four grams of dietary fiber, which is actually
quite good for like a small pouch, let's be honest.
And four hundred and eighty five milligrams of sodium. So
I quite like this, Suzia. I think they're a great
little option. They're a good option for snacklet. I wouldn't
(26:20):
really call this a meal. I would call it a
very light lunch option that you would add stuff to
to bulk it out, or it could be a great
little high protein, high fiber snack for a lot of
women in between meals, just to kind of get them
through a couple of hours until meal time. So looking
at the ingredients, we have got twenty five percent skip
jack tuna, followed by twenty percent Mediterranean vinegarette, which is
(26:42):
made up of water, sugar, vinegar, salt, garlic, sunflower oil.
Though we've got a lemon concentrate, some citric acids, herbs
and spices, thick and a natural color paprika, some green
lentles at twelve percent, Thai black rice at twelve percent,
twelve percent sweet corn, carrot, and red capsicum. So great
addition of a lot of whole food type ingredients, different
(27:03):
types of carbohydrates, fibers, and some plants in there as well,
which is really nice to see. So I quite like them.
I would just be hesitant to call it a lunch
option because it is very light. I would be adding
that to a bowl with perhaps a bit of feta,
bit of avocado. You could put that into a wrap.
You could add definitely some more veggie just to balk
that out, some greens, a bit of tomato, a bit
(27:24):
of capsicerm to really bulk that meal out a little bit,
because the volume of it is quite small. When the
calorie loaded, that is quite small too. And although it's
good protein, particularly for a snack, seventeen grams is amazing,
it's not enough protein for a meal. And again a
lot of people would think, oh, that's a great high
protein meal. We know that most women at a minimum
need twenty grams of protein per meal, ideally thirty and
(27:47):
if you're in a large body or you're a male
new training really hard, you might even be looking at
upwards of thirty grams potentially thirty five forty grams of
protein for me. So for me, they get to give approval.
I really like them, but I do think that careful
with how you use them, because to me, they're not
really a complete meal. They're a bit light on what
do you think.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
I think they're great because when you're so busy, it's
really tricky to get protein in. Like just think of
all the things that we grab, like you grab sushi rolls,
we grab big sandwiches, like they just don't have very
much protein. So even if you use it as a
compliment just to get that protein intake in there. The
ingredients are pretty clean, the sugars are pretty good.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
It's good.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
You know, we liked a meal to have at least
twenty grams of protein, so it's one of the highest
out there. Easy to just chuck in a bag. Like
I've got some clients who'll go and do hikes in
camping and they'll take them quite often because it's really
tricky you want to carry like tins of tuna around.
So yeah, I think they're fantastic, and I think the
price point is awesome because like just think how much
you spend on lunch trying to get twenty grams of protein.
(28:46):
It's like twenty bucks here, you're looking at three or
four dollars, like really cost effective. So yeah, I'm a
big fan of them if you use them as a backup,
if you travel regularly for work, like even my regular
commuters to Sydney and Melbourne. Like you go to the
Quantus Club or the Virgin Lounge and there's hard boiled eggs,
but not much else, Like you know, there's Nutcho's, it's
often quite heavy food, whereas you can sort of get
(29:08):
your plate and have, you know, whatever they're offered. And
add that to it and you really have a nice
complete meal so you're not as hungry and it's really
cost effective. So big big thumbs up from me. Good find,
so be good find all rightly and well. Our final
segment of the day is a listener question that's come
from our Nutrition Couch podcast Instagram account and we do
absolutely get all our questions from there, and this is
(29:30):
actually one that's come up before, so I was glad
to see it again at the top of it today,
and it was a question about protein water and is
it a good choice nutritionally, And we had a little
bit of a back and forth about this because we
had a bit of a disagreement on whether we think
it's good or not. Protein waters came to the market,
I want to say five to seven years ago, and
they were really marketed towards the gym crowd, is something
(29:52):
that you could get your protein after training in a
sort of portion control bodel. Then they became quite popular
with anyone who'd had bariatric surgery because in the days
before GOLP medications like call Goovian Manjaro, people who really
struggled with weight would often or frequently be referred for
weight loss surgery and have a gastric sleeve or a
bypass or a lap band and then the slave luckily
(30:16):
or for good for the people. Now you can often
get that much better results with the GOLP drug, range
of os in peak, etc. You don't have to have
your organ taken away. So we would use a lot
of protein water because it was really difficult for those
clients to get their protein requirements in orally with solid food,
so we'd supplement the diet with protein water. Now i've
(30:36):
seen more recently they're really targeting mainstream. It's in supermarkets
and I certainly have clients who use it.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
I don't think it's a bad product. I think that
particularly if you're vegan vegetarian you struggle with your protein,
it can be a great addition to get a good amount,
like they've got about thirty grams of protein, which is high.
I have two issues with them. The first, I find
people sip them all day. They drink it like water,
and to me, it's not water. It's got a significant
(31:04):
calorie load with protein. It's not like you know in
the case of our creator, and it's not like you've
got a few calories in water. It's still largely water.
This is not This is thirty grams of protein in water.
It's not insignificant. And I have an issue with the
absorption of protein like that in water. I think my
gut feeling with it, pardon the pun, is that protein
(31:25):
is best absorbed within a context of a meal. So
for that reason, if people are going to use it,
I want them to consume it as or with a meal,
not just sipping on it as a water. So Leanne
disagree with me a little bit. She thinks that it's
fine to sip on it, whereas I'm a little bit more.
If you're going to have it, you need to have
it as part of a meal in a controlled environment,
(31:47):
not sip it over the whole course of the day.
Do I think it's better than an omelet?
Speaker 1 (31:52):
No?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Do I think it's better than a protein shape. No,
Because when you have a protein shake and you have
it as a complete meal or a smoothie, the nutrients
in there are going to be absorbed in a synergistic effect.
You're going to absorb the natural protein, the calcium. It's
going to be better. Whereas I argue, I don't think
protein water is as well assimilated into the body as
(32:14):
protein in whole natural foods.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
So I think it's an option.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
It can really supplement a diet, particularly for plant based individuals,
but it's never my go to, and I also think
it's quite expensive, so I use it occasionally, but it's
not my first and foremost, and certainly if people are
consuming it, I want them to consume it as a
meal with a meal, not just sipping on it as water,
because to me, it's not water.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I really don't mind them, like I think that they
have a time and a place and it's a convenient food. Now,
a lot of protein waters. I've had a lot of
clients who you know, don't have dairy, and a lot
of people don't realize that actually are based on dairy protein.
The majority of protein waters on the market are based
on way protein isolate. So if you are someone who
is vegan or you don't eat dairy, that might be
(32:56):
an issue for you. I don't believe there are many
vegan ones out there if you're someone who just doesn't
like the taste of dairy or I've had a lot
of clients who just don't like milky things, like they're
just like I don't like milky things. They might have
something like that, But again it's more for convenience. It's
never something that SUSI I would write into a meal plan, right.
But if we've got a client and they're traveling and
(33:17):
they're going on a really long car trip, or you know,
they're training pretty heavy at the gym and they're going
from gym directly to work, and you know they're going
to take a banana and a coffee with them, and
you know, sep on a protein water to get that
protein in post gym because they don't like a you know,
a protein shake. For whatever reason, it can work, but
for me, it's more of a convenience option. It's also
(33:38):
not inexpensive, like I think a bottle of protein water
is a good few dollars, Like you're probably playing similar
cost to a coffee, So it's not something that I
would think that a lot of people could afford to
buy regularly anyway. To me, it really is just a
one off kind of convenience option. If you're traveling, if
you're on the run, if you're caught out, you're at
the supermarket, you just want a bit of a protein hit.
Like to me, I would go more for like a
(34:00):
protein yogat in a pounch or I would grab like
a couple of two to sushi rolls or something like that.
Like like you, I would prefer to get it more
in a whole food source. But I'm not against them.
I just don't think that it's something that we regularly
need to be necessarily taking in. But yeah, I'm definitely
not against them. I have certainly had clients who like them,
who do use them, but they're not inexpensive, put it
(34:20):
that way. So I think it's each to their own.
I don't have anything against them. And like you said, SUSI,
if you want to use it as a bit of
a protein hit, it is good to have that kind
of not all at once, like sculling it, but you know,
in a sort of you know, twenty thirty minutes, as
you would a meal or as you would take a
protein yogurt to get that regular hit of protein in
throughout the body. Because we do want those regular hits
of protein regularly throughout the day. We don't want that
(34:42):
kind of protein being sipped on all throughout the day,
like you said, So I think it is it's a
it's an interesting question but I don't really have anything
against it, I just don't personally use them a lot.
Put it that way, true, I agree. Well, that brings
us to the end of the Nutrition Couch. Another exciting
podcast for the week, Susie. We always think we've got
nothing else to talk talk about, and yet you know,
we seem to find something every single week. So thank
(35:03):
you for your support. We appreciate it. And if you
are wanting to check out our range of creatine products,
our functional hot chocolates, and also our brilliant protein powder,
the best tasting protein on the market. We are a
little biased, but that's what we think. Check out our
supplements at design Bydietitians dot com. Thank you for your
support and we will catch you in next week's podcast.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Have a great week.
Do you know what creating is or do you know
why everybody is talking about it being the buzz supplement
of twenty twenty five, or more importantly, do you know
how some people may actually benefit from taking creating? On
today's episode of The Nutrition Couch, we chat all things
creating and the signs that may be worth taking to
potentially optimize your energy, your mood and even your body composition. Hi,
(00:25):
I'm Leanne Ward and I'm cd Burrow, and together we
bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that keeps
you up to date on everything that you need to
know in the world of nutrition, as well as the
benefits of creatine. Today we have a new study that
looks at the links between LDL cholesterol and metopause. We
also have found a new light high protein lunch on
the go option in the supermarkets. And our listener question
(00:48):
is all things protein water and if it's actually beneficial.
But to kick us off today, Susie, we're talking all
things creatine because we're still getting so many questions about creating.
But we do have a new creatine love to the party,
don't we, Soothie?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, I had worked with creat you know twenty years
ago with athletes, so I was very familiar with it,
and you had said to me that you'd been taking
it after you had Tilli, and I was like, oh,
you know, Land's pretty lean.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And then we launched it and.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
It just went crazy before Christmas, Like I don't think
I've ever been so busy. And we're so grateful to
the support from our nutrition podcast family in our Design
by Dietitians range. But the stock arrived just before Christmas.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
We had boxes.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Everywhere, we had orders everywhere. It was like chaos, and
I literally until the kids went back to school, I
hadn't been to the gym, like I just have not
had a moment to myself. So finally last week I
went thought, right, I'm going to get into the gym.
I took the Energy, that's my preferred flavor. I know,
we've got Pure which is flavorless you can add to
smoothies and things, and then we've got Vitality, which has
(01:53):
a gorgeous watermelon berry. But I am a tropical girl.
I like the tropical idea. So off I went to
the gym last Monday afternoon with my taco dog cup
and my little serve of our product, and I was like, oh, like,
I really felt good, And of course you think, oh,
maybe it's anecdotal, but no word of a lie. I've
(02:14):
been really feeling much better on it. Usually in the afternoons,
I would feel pretty tired, you know, juggling a lot
of things. I would normally have some diet soft drink
or a coffee some days, and I have not done
that one day, and I've just been really looking forward
to having it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I'm certainly perry, if not pretty close to menopausal. I
would say, I don't know what's going on down there,
but not a lot. So yeah, I'm a big fan
of the Creating supplements. I think it's working really well.
So of course we popped it up on our Instagram
over the weekend and it just went crazy. So there's
certainly interest in it. And we thought that because it's
(02:49):
kind of whilst it's an old supplement in the sense
we've used it for athletic performance, it's certainly new in
the world of women's health and nutrition, and we thought
we'd get so many questions on our Instagram and dms
and emails asking us whether it's right for them, And
so I thought it was really good to chat to
our listeners about just going through. We have got a
whole podcast on it, but this is a bit more applied.
(03:11):
What is it, who will it benefit and how do
you know if it's worth trying for you? So you
kick yourself there and you know, run us through what
it is, and then I can talk about you know,
who I think potentially can benefit and how is the
best way to take it?
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah. Sure, So Creatine is the most studied nutritional sports
supplement in the world. It's also one of the quote
unquote safest as well. It's been around, as you mentioned,
for a really really long time, so we know that
it works. We know athletes and people who are exercising
really benefit from it. But what a lot of people
don't know is that creating is a really naturally occurring substance.
(03:48):
So it's found in the body. Creatine's even naturally found
in mum's breast milk. And I know a lot of
people are like, oh, and this was myself for so
many years, Susie, Like, I remember I had my PT
suggest I take creating years ago before my wedding because
I was like, I want to be really you know,
like leaning like you know, quote unquote shredded for like
my honeymoon, and he's like, why don't you take some creatine?
And I was like nah nah, nah nah. And this
(04:09):
is years ago, but I must say I really joined
the creatine train. Now I'm really a massive fan of it,
but I never really understood how naturally occurring it was.
And when I learned that there was creatine naturally occurring
in mum's breast milk, I was like, ahh. And it's
in a lot of the foods as well, like most
animal based products. It's in dairy, it's in our meats,
it's in our you know, chickens and fish in that
kind of thing. So, creatine is a naturally occurring compound
(04:33):
which is found within our muscle cells in the body,
and it helps the body to produce energy during high
intensity activity. Basically, so creatine increases our phospho creatine stores
within the body and without getting two sciency on our listeners,
that facilitates the production of our ATP cycle. And this
ATP cycle provides the body's primary energy source. Basically. Now,
(04:55):
why we love it for women and why it's so
important is because that women typically have seventy to eighty
percent less endogenous creating stores than men. Women also consume
less dietary creating typically than men, because we tend to
eat far less meat than what our male counterparts do.
So that is backed in the research. It's backed by size.
(05:16):
Women don't eat enough creating, and we certainly don't store
or hold enough creating within our body. Now, there's been
emerging research for quite some years now that has really
highlighted the benefits of creating across the women's entire lifespan.
We're talking about pregnancy, we're talking about the postpartum period,
during you know for women during really heavy menstrual cycles,
(05:36):
we're talking about perimenopause, actional menopause, and also postmenopause as well.
So not only does it support energy production, it also
supports muscle strength and recovery. But what I'm most excited about,
particularly for women's is the emerging evidence that shows that
creating has a potential role in cognitive function and also
mood regulation. So that's where for men who were busy,
(06:01):
who are juggling, who are experiencing that brain flog, whether
it's in the postpartum period or whether it's like just
going through those periy years, or just that busy juggle
that so many women are doing. This is where creating
can really give us some benefit. And one of the
top questions that we've been getting is I don't exercise,
can I still take creating? And I remember saying to you,
(06:21):
and I was like, have you tried it? Have you
tried it? Have you tried it? And then what you'd
finally started the creating, You're like, no, I'm waiting till
I go back to gym. And I said to you
don't have to, like, you can take it. You're going
to get the benefits from like a brain boost and
a cognitive perspective. And then when you started taking it
and you were like, oh, trually good, I was like,
come on, I've been telling you for months now. Please
I'm honest.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Though, I think it's good to be honest and authentic
with our audience, you know, in terms of you know,
I'm at that age a lot of our listeners are
wondering if it's right for them. And I'll just think
back to a belief is that creating will put weight
on all fluid weight and certainly in the old days
of using it with athletes, if you loaded athletes they
would gain a quit lord to a fluid in the muscle.
(07:02):
But it's very different from the way we're prescribing it
now for women and performance. So those doses were much
much higher, you know, twenty grams at some points per day,
followed by a five gram load continual dose. So I
had someone message me online and they said, I've put
on two kilos, and I said, no, it should not
do that. Like, I haven't noticed any change, and I'm
(07:22):
trying to get into address for the weekend, so I'm
closely monitoring my fluid status on a daily basis, and
I haven't seen any change in my body. I haven't
felt bloated or anything. And when I asked her, I
was glad I did because she said she was taking
five or ten grams a day, and I was like,
oh no, no, no, no, no, that's way too much. Just
three grams a day is clinically proven to yield these
cognitive benefits, which is really just very low. Like I
(07:42):
had someone else tell me that they have stomach distress
from it, and I actually question that, Like in all
my years of working with people, it should not cause
stomach distress. There is nothing in that substance that should
cause issues, and we'll talk about quality in a minute,
you know, and using our own product, which is Career Pure,
which is one of the strongest types of creation and
because it's German sourced. Leanne'll talk about that in a minute.
(08:04):
But there should be no stomach problems from it. If
you're having stomach promitts from it, I would argue that
it's been consumed in a form with other foods that
might be giving you stomach distress. So if you're putting
it in smoothies and things, or if you're not using
our brand designed by dietitians, you know, if you're using
products that have different types of sweetness or additives, possibly,
but certainly in the mix that Leanne and I have formulated,
(08:26):
there is no reason that any of those should be
giving any level of stomach discomfort because it's just nothing
really in it. It's just very simple. It's mostly water,
and the pure substance is not associated with any form
of abdominal distress. So I would be questioning what else
you're eating if you feel that it's affecting you. I've
only felt no issues whatsoever with it. And then so
(08:49):
the other questions that are coming up a lot, is
when should you take it now? Really, it doesn't actually
matter because a lot of what we're trying to achieve
is getting rid of the brain frog, improvement in mood,
cognitive function. Myself, if I'm going to the gym, because
I like to take it with a lot of water,
I will put it in my drink bottle at the
gym because I'll be drinking a lot then and I
find it really refreshing. But if I haven't gone to
(09:10):
the gym, I'll have it usually through the morning, similar
to a coffee, or if I haven't, like I'm having
it today, we're recording at eleven or in the afternoon
again when you're having that kind of afternoon lull. And
I'm going to talk about protein water later and my
concern with how people consume it. But in the case
of this drink, I have no concern with people drinking
it over a relatively long period of time. It's very
(09:31):
low calorie, there's very little in it. If you sip
it over several hours, I don't have any course for concern,
do you.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I prefer my clients to drink it relatively quickly, not
over the course of a few hours, just because creatine settles, right.
We know that creatine isn't something that completely dissolves, so
you may find that if you're sipping on it over
the course of an hour, you're going to find some
white sediment in the bottom of your cup. That's the
creating And we really need you to get in all
three grams of the dough. So the minimum dose to
how a clinical effect is three grams. There is a
(09:59):
smaller out of emerging research, very small that if you're
going through menopause or postmenopause, you may benefit from a
little bit higher dose, such as five grams of creatine.
But I would always start at three and then taper
up to five if you feel like you need it
more so for the cognitive benefits basically, So that's the
only reason I would say to drink it relatively quicker,
(10:19):
or each time you have give it a good stove,
give a little wiz with your hand whizzer, because it
does tend to settle on the bottom, and if you're
then just chucking that out, you're actually losing some of
that creatine. That's the only concern I would have. If not,
I don't really mind how long it takes you to drink,
but make sure whatever sediments on the bottom, you are
just adding a dash more water and trying to get
that down because if not, you're just losing that valuable creatine.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, it's a good point. So because what I do,
I like things really cold, so I continually add ice
and water and keep mixing it. So that's just naturally
how I drink something like that. What I would say
is which type is right for you. So if you
are someone who doesn't like sweet drinks, you don't drink
ever soft drink or flavored drinks. You struggle with water,
I would say you're best to get pure and add
(11:00):
it to something else. So add it to you smoothie
in the morning, add it to your breakfast bowl, because
then it won't be effort to drink it. I find
because I probably need to drink more water, it's a
good way for me to increase water intake. So if
you either are used to having a water bottle on
your desk it or need to drink more water and
quite like something sweet. So I've got a client of
mine who loves I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I
(11:20):
said it. She feels she's addicted to v like We've
tried several interventions to get off the V. She's tried
the iced coffee is like, she just loves it, and
she's got a really stressful job and it really she
doesn't drink a lot of coffee, so it's her little thing.
But she's been trying to get off it because of
the growing data on gut issues and energy drinks. Anyway,
for her, a swap to a flavored form like Our
(11:42):
Vitality or Our energy's smart because if she's able to
swap that four a diet soft drink or a V
that's a massive win for her nutrition. But it depends
what kind of person you are, each to their own.
I have many friends I'll shout out to Michelle Tapower,
who won't mind me mentioning her name and her brand
not Stationary. She doesn't like flavored drink, so she loves
pure because she has smoothies in the morning or protein shakes,
(12:04):
and she was just not keen to have any kind
of flavored drink. So I think it's more if you're
a person who likes flavored drinks or not, go for
Energy or Vitality. But if you're someone who prefers just
a smoothie or shake or breakfast bowl added into that.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, give it a go.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Like I think my common observation of women, we work
with women, we are women of these ages, we are
juggling kids, businesses like we know, we get it. I
think we're just looking for anything to make us feel
a little bit better and for me nutritionally, if that
is a substance that has a growing evidence space for it,
(12:39):
that's going to be a million times better than a
soft drink, some chocolate and all the other things we
grab for when we're looking for an energy hit. So
I think it's just well worth a go. And the
reason that designed by dieticians is superior is that we
have really invested in creer Pure, which is the German creatan,
which is you talk about how it's better because you're
(12:59):
more cross the science of it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
So you can get creatine basically throughout the words. You
can source it from two places. You can source it
from China and you can source it from Germany. So
our brand is sourced from Germany and the German creatine
is create Pure. If you see create Pure on the label,
it's been sourced from Germany and it's ninety nine point
nine percent purity. Now, most brands, because it's far cheaper
and it's also mixed and cup with other things, will
(13:22):
source their creatine from China. Now, if a brand doesn't
say where it's from, even if they say it's one
hundred percent creating monohydrate, Susie's laughing at me. I'm very
passionate about this in case you guys could tell it's
cut with other things like this, and it's also the
Chinese creatine as also, doctor Cecims talks about this. It's
(13:42):
been acid washed as well. She was talking about it
on the Hovemann podcast, very very reputable nutrition sclientists. It's
they both swear by you only take German creating. The
Chinese creating is not pure. It's not good. You don't
know what's in there, and that's why so many people.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
And it's also associated with some gut discomtred percent.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So if the brand hasn't said where it's from, it's
from China. I can promise you that because German creating
create pure is so much more expensive that if a
brand is sourcing it from Germany, they will tell you.
It will have creer pure written all over the label.
It will say German source like Susie and Als does
all over the label and the brand will be proud
to say that. If the brand doesn't say where it's from,
(14:22):
or it just says one hundred percent creatine monohydrate, that's cool,
but it's still not from Germany. It needs to say
either source from Germany or have the Creer Pure logo
on the packet to ensure that it is the highest
purity in the world, and you can actually notice the difference.
I didn't really understand this until I really deep dived
into creatine. I was just buying what I thought was
(14:43):
the best creatine. I was buying a brand that said
one hundred percent creatine monohydrate on the label, thinking that
that was top quality, and not understanding that it was
still sourced from China. And then once I learned about
create Pure and I just bought Creer Pure, I compared
both of the different textures. You can actually notice the
texture difference, and then I also notice it from a
bloating perspective as well, So it's really important that you
(15:03):
source it from Germany as well. Now I've got a
couple more points. One quickly, just in terms of creating
is a supplement, So We don't really recommend supplements unless
you're a healthy individual. If you do have some medical conditions,
if you are taking different types of medication, absolutely touch
base with your dietician or your doctor and just make
sure that that's appropriate for you, particularly if you are pregnant,
you are breastfeeding, you have different types of medical conditions,
(15:26):
make sure you check with your medical professional. The other
thing is that pure. We get a lot of questions
because it's unflavored. Can you just take it by itself
in water? It's unflavored, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's flavorless, Susie,
So I wouldn't. I personally wouldn't take it in water
because I'm kind of like, oh, it doesn't to me
taste that good. I would be adding it into my
(15:46):
overnight odes smoothie. Just have it without nourish protein powder.
That's how I would take the pure, unflavored version of it.
You can add it into your tea and coffee. We've
had a lot of emails from women asking if they
can add it into their hot drinks. Hot or warm, yes,
not boiling, So make sure you're not adding it into
boiling liquid or fluid, but warm or sort of like
(16:06):
more room temperature is completely fine. And the last thing
is I'll come back to your point about timing, Susie.
So the most important thing with creatine is that you
need to take it daily because females don't retain it.
It needs to be taken consistently on a daily basis.
If you're just going to sporadically take it two three
times a week whenever you remember, sometimes for a couple
of days, sometimes forget for a few days, you will
(16:28):
not get the full benefits from actually supplementing with creatines.
If you're going to take it, you absolutely need to
be consistent about it. Try to take it at the
same time each day, so you're getting that regular supply
into the body, You're getting the regular benefits from the
energy production, the cognitive benefits, and then you're continuously retopping
that up at a similar time most days. The timing
doesn't so much matter. You just need to take it
(16:50):
each day if you are looking for the exercise boost
alongside the brain and cognitive boost. There is a small
amount of research that says that creatine is better up
taken with a one as to one ratio of carbs
and protein. The best way to do that is to
take your creatine with a meal. So go to the gym,
do your training session, come back, have your breakfast, your
lunch or your dinner, have your main meal and take
(17:11):
your creatine after that. That's a good way to have it.
Or come back and have a protein shake creatine inside
it and have a banana or something that'll do the
same sort of benefit. That's really only if you're looking
for some of those hashtag gains in the gym, which
we know that creatine is really great in terms of
providing as well, particularly for females. That's one of the
biggest questions we get, isn't it so far? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I like the one about the hot drinks. I actually
didn't know that. So you're here educating me all the time.
I'll put that down for my professional development, lean But
what I will say is that, you know, when it
comes to supplements, this is really important. You have to
get supplements from people who are qualified to be developing them,
and Leanne and I are on a bit of a
crusade to bring some credibility to wellness. You know, this
(17:53):
has all been in the media recently because of the
Bell Gibson It's not a documentary. It's a series, Isn't
an Apple Side of Vinego? Which I'm really enjoying actually, just
to such a reminder that there are so many people
out there who are not qualified to be delivering personalized
nutrition information. And they may be famous, they may be
very beautiful, they may talk the talk, but if they
(18:14):
don't have a science degree, don't buy their supplements. And
I feel really strongly about that because our work is
evidence based. We do a lot of research to make
sure that we have a reason for everything that we design,
and we just don't want you to waste your money
and make sure that if you are spending your heart
earned on supplement products to help you feel and look better,
that you're actually getting what you pay for. So buyer beware,
(18:35):
and yeah, make sure it's credible whenever you're spending your
money on it. All rightly, and well, I've got some
new research to talk about which our listeners are going
to love. It's from our good Well i'll say good
friend because I'd like to be friends with her. But
Mary Fair Harbert, who is of course the menopausal guru internationally,
and she puts up some I don't know how she
gets so much content up whilst doing her job, like
(18:56):
she records so many videos, like you know, she's the
doctor kid, She's amazing. But she publishes some great research
study which is really relevant to anyone who is in
their late thirties and beyond because it started to really
take a closer look at the changes in cholesterol levels
in women through the lifespan and the correlation between increasing
levels of inflammation and it being indicative of the menopause
(19:19):
or phase you're in. Because one thing I'm seeing a
lot of well, I always see doctors routinely do cholesterol checks.
They don't routinely do a HbA one C or glucose,
but they always seem to do cholesterol. Now I don't
I think it's just taking the box because in some
cases you'd be like, if you haven't had a history
of our cholesterol and you have a blood test every year,
you probably don't really necessarily need it. But it's just
something that's easy to do and people keep an eye
(19:40):
on it. But what this study is showing is that
there is a gradual increase in LDL levels, which is
indicative of the menopausal changes. So you can act and
sort of prevent or help to reduce the information that
occurs in these phases in life from dietary changes very
early in the piece, rather than waiting ti cholester rolls
really high before you do anything. Because one of the
(20:02):
issues I'm also having is a lot of women are
using HRT or I have had a marina put in,
and hence they're not necessarily aware what's happening with their
natural mentrual cycle. So they don't know if they're still
getting a period or not. But they've been told there's
benefits to take versions of HRT, whether it's the pill
or gels or whatever they're using, so they actually don't
even know, and that can be misleading from a blood perspective,
(20:24):
and you just don't know where you're up to in
terms of information. So the study is published in it
just recently, very very recently in Frontiers in Endochronology in
January this year, and it took a closer look at
the small particles, the very inflammatory low density or LDL
lipoprotein and cholesterols across the cross section of women over
two thousand, which included women twenty percent who were in
(20:48):
premenopause four point two percent in perimenopause, and then seventy
four percent who are actually postmenopausal. And basically, the studies
showed that the levels of Eldier cholesterol gradually increase over
those different time frames in.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
A woman's life.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And why I thought that was really interesting was that
if you routinely get an annual or buy in your
blood test and you've noticed your cholesterol creeping up over time,
it's an indirect measure of the stage of menopause that
you're in. And as I said, because the general menopause
will shift is pro inflammatory in women, and this is
why so many issues come up in your late forties
(21:24):
and fifties, when it comes to joints, when it comes
to sleeping, when it comes to blood sugar, when it
comes to weight control, when it comes to cholesterol, and
our disease risk increases so significantly because the whole system
in our bodies is pro inflammatory. So basically the take
home message today is if you've started to notice your
LDL cholesterol creeping up, I don't care so much about
(21:45):
the total. Your HDL might be quite high, you might
have had a calcium score done, you've got no family
history of heart disease, you're not worried. But if it
is creeping up, it is probably then worth taking a
closer look at your estrogen levels progesterone in general, having
some specialized advice on managing the peri and menopausal period
to keep on top of it, because like all things,
(22:07):
it's much easier to bring down some ld or cholesterol
early in the piece. You know, you can add some
plant sterols in, we can add some walnuts, we can
reduce the animal product in your diet. There's a lot
of dietary strategies to keep on top of it before
it blows out and certainly be causing damage to the
heart over time. So I think, yeah, go back on
some old blood tests and just check and if if
(22:27):
your LDL isn't increasing, quite likely you're not even in
perimenopause yet. But if it's starting to creep up, it's
a sign you might want to proactively see a dietitian,
get some specialized dietary advice about it, or really look
into eating for inflammation to help reduce that process which
will naturally occur in the body. But we can certainly
be on top of it, and that's really relevant for
anyone who is using HRT or has a marina and
(22:50):
you just don't even know if you're still getting your
periods or not to really keep an eye on it.
So I thought it just really interesting association between LDAL
specifically and inflammation and the menopausal phases.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Yeah, I agree, and I think it's always really interesting
because I do, certainly as well, have a lot of
clients who are going through those perry and those metopaus
or years are also out the other side, and they
do report increasing cholesterol levels despite not changing anything with
their diet. And I think that's the most indicative sign
that you're reaching those menopause or years is when you
haven't really changed anything different, but your cholesterol is increasing,
You've got a lot more you know, brainfall, cognitive issues,
(23:23):
and then also you're experiencing a little bit of weight gain,
particularly around that you know, that abdominal area as well.
So just another really great research to kind of, I guess,
a paper that shows us what we already know clinically,
don't we were seeing this reported in our in our
female clients already. But also a really good point Susie
to actually go and proactively book in with a dietitian
because there's so much we can do from a cholesterol perspective.
(23:45):
There's also more research coming out about, you know, nutrition
strategies for cholesterol as well. And it's not just food,
there's some lifestyle strategies as well. So a really good
important I guess measure to just go and find a
great dietitian to book and with to just give your
diet a bit of a once over before your cholester
gets to the point where the doctor says, all right
now we need medication. All right now, this is getting
a bit dangerous. You want to catch the trend before
(24:07):
it kind of becomes too late, don't we. True?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
True, And yeah, I think we often underestimate the power
of diet in cholesterol, and it's quite powerful. But even
just general anti inflammatory eating is imperative once you reach
those peri and menopausal years. So there's plenty of content.
We've covered it before, we'll cover it again, but being
on top of those changes and getting them early is
key in positive aging, I guess for one of a
(24:30):
better word.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Yeah, all right then, And our latest supermarket find is
something that my mum, Sophie was eating the other day.
She came over and helped me look after the kids,
and she said, oh, have you seen this, and she
threw it into a bowl and put some spinach and
some tomatoes and beefed it out a little bit and
it looked great, and she showed me. It's the new
subcol pouches of tuna. But they've got some additions to them.
So there's I think two or three in the range.
(24:52):
One of them is a red bean and quinoa one
and the one that she had, there's another lentil and
black rice one, and then I think there's another one
with a few x beans and maybe like a little
bit of chili or something in it. She had one
that was sort of like a pery pery flavor or something.
It was quite tasty. So they are pretty light, they
are great on the go lunch option, they don't need refrigeration.
They're fairly affordable, like budget wise. So the one that
(25:14):
we're going to do today, Susie is the lentils with
sweet corn and Thaie black rice. So at retails in
Woolworths currently for three dollars fifty for one hundred and
sixty gram pouch. And you would argue that you would
eat the whole pouch. It's only small and then per serving,
so for the full one sixty gram pouch. It's seven
hundred and seventy six kilogel, so not even two hundred
calories like they're very light. Seventeen point three grams of protein,
(25:36):
which is quite high protein. Two point six grams of
that with only point six of that being saturated. Two
thousand milligrams of amgis free, which is great from our tuna,
with twenty one milligrams being EPA and one hundred and
forty three milligrams being DJ. Twenty one point three grams
of carbohydrate perserve predominantly coming from the additions of the beans,
the legumes of the corn, six point nine grams of
(25:59):
s I think there's a very small amount added in
terms of Mediterranean vinegarrette, and the rest is just naturally occurring.
Four point four grams of dietary fiber, which is actually
quite good for like a small pouch, let's be honest.
And four hundred and eighty five milligrams of sodium. So
I quite like this, Suzia. I think they're a great
little option. They're a good option for snacklet. I wouldn't
(26:20):
really call this a meal. I would call it a
very light lunch option that you would add stuff to
to bulk it out, or it could be a great
little high protein, high fiber snack for a lot of
women in between meals, just to kind of get them
through a couple of hours until meal time. So looking
at the ingredients, we have got twenty five percent skip
jack tuna, followed by twenty percent Mediterranean vinegarette, which is
(26:42):
made up of water, sugar, vinegar, salt, garlic, sunflower oil.
Though we've got a lemon concentrate, some citric acids, herbs
and spices, thick and a natural color paprika, some green
lentles at twelve percent, Thai black rice at twelve percent,
twelve percent sweet corn, carrot, and red capsicum. So great
addition of a lot of whole food type ingredients, different
(27:03):
types of carbohydrates, fibers, and some plants in there as well,
which is really nice to see. So I quite like them.
I would just be hesitant to call it a lunch
option because it is very light. I would be adding
that to a bowl with perhaps a bit of feta,
bit of avocado. You could put that into a wrap.
You could add definitely some more veggie just to balk
that out, some greens, a bit of tomato, a bit
(27:24):
of capsicerm to really bulk that meal out a little bit,
because the volume of it is quite small. When the
calorie loaded, that is quite small too. And although it's
good protein, particularly for a snack, seventeen grams is amazing,
it's not enough protein for a meal. And again a
lot of people would think, oh, that's a great high
protein meal. We know that most women at a minimum
need twenty grams of protein per meal, ideally thirty and
(27:47):
if you're in a large body or you're a male
new training really hard, you might even be looking at
upwards of thirty grams potentially thirty five forty grams of
protein for me. So for me, they get to give approval.
I really like them, but I do think that careful
with how you use them, because to me, they're not
really a complete meal. They're a bit light on what
do you think.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
I think they're great because when you're so busy, it's
really tricky to get protein in. Like just think of
all the things that we grab, like you grab sushi rolls,
we grab big sandwiches, like they just don't have very
much protein. So even if you use it as a
compliment just to get that protein intake in there. The
ingredients are pretty clean, the sugars are pretty good.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
It's good.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
You know, we liked a meal to have at least
twenty grams of protein, so it's one of the highest
out there. Easy to just chuck in a bag. Like
I've got some clients who'll go and do hikes in
camping and they'll take them quite often because it's really
tricky you want to carry like tins of tuna around.
So yeah, I think they're fantastic, and I think the
price point is awesome because like just think how much
you spend on lunch trying to get twenty grams of protein.
(28:46):
It's like twenty bucks here, you're looking at three or
four dollars, like really cost effective. So yeah, I'm a
big fan of them if you use them as a backup,
if you travel regularly for work, like even my regular
commuters to Sydney and Melbourne. Like you go to the
Quantus Club or the Virgin Lounge and there's hard boiled eggs,
but not much else, Like you know, there's Nutcho's, it's
often quite heavy food, whereas you can sort of get
(29:08):
your plate and have, you know, whatever they're offered. And
add that to it and you really have a nice
complete meal so you're not as hungry and it's really
cost effective. So big big thumbs up from me. Good find,
so be good find all rightly and well. Our final
segment of the day is a listener question that's come
from our Nutrition Couch podcast Instagram account and we do
absolutely get all our questions from there, and this is
(29:30):
actually one that's come up before, so I was glad
to see it again at the top of it today,
and it was a question about protein water and is
it a good choice nutritionally, And we had a little
bit of a back and forth about this because we
had a bit of a disagreement on whether we think
it's good or not. Protein waters came to the market,
I want to say five to seven years ago, and
they were really marketed towards the gym crowd, is something
(29:52):
that you could get your protein after training in a
sort of portion control bodel. Then they became quite popular
with anyone who'd had bariatric surgery because in the days
before GOLP medications like call Goovian Manjaro, people who really
struggled with weight would often or frequently be referred for
weight loss surgery and have a gastric sleeve or a
bypass or a lap band and then the slave luckily
(30:16):
or for good for the people. Now you can often
get that much better results with the GOLP drug, range
of os in peak, etc. You don't have to have
your organ taken away. So we would use a lot
of protein water because it was really difficult for those
clients to get their protein requirements in orally with solid food,
so we'd supplement the diet with protein water. Now i've
(30:36):
seen more recently they're really targeting mainstream. It's in supermarkets
and I certainly have clients who use it.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
I don't think it's a bad product. I think that
particularly if you're vegan vegetarian you struggle with your protein,
it can be a great addition to get a good amount,
like they've got about thirty grams of protein, which is high.
I have two issues with them. The first, I find
people sip them all day. They drink it like water,
and to me, it's not water. It's got a significant
(31:04):
calorie load with protein. It's not like you know in
the case of our creator, and it's not like you've
got a few calories in water. It's still largely water.
This is not This is thirty grams of protein in water.
It's not insignificant. And I have an issue with the
absorption of protein like that in water. I think my
gut feeling with it, pardon the pun, is that protein
(31:25):
is best absorbed within a context of a meal. So
for that reason, if people are going to use it,
I want them to consume it as or with a meal,
not just sipping on it as a water. So Leanne
disagree with me a little bit. She thinks that it's
fine to sip on it, whereas I'm a little bit more.
If you're going to have it, you need to have
it as part of a meal in a controlled environment,
(31:47):
not sip it over the whole course of the day.
Do I think it's better than an omelet?
Speaker 1 (31:52):
No?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Do I think it's better than a protein shape. No,
Because when you have a protein shake and you have
it as a complete meal or a smoothie, the nutrients
in there are going to be absorbed in a synergistic effect.
You're going to absorb the natural protein, the calcium. It's
going to be better. Whereas I argue, I don't think
protein water is as well assimilated into the body as
(32:14):
protein in whole natural foods.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
So I think it's an option.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
It can really supplement a diet, particularly for plant based individuals,
but it's never my go to, and I also think
it's quite expensive, so I use it occasionally, but it's
not my first and foremost, and certainly if people are
consuming it, I want them to consume it as a
meal with a meal, not just sipping on it as water,
because to me, it's not water.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I really don't mind them, like I think that they
have a time and a place and it's a convenient food. Now,
a lot of protein waters. I've had a lot of
clients who you know, don't have dairy, and a lot
of people don't realize that actually are based on dairy protein.
The majority of protein waters on the market are based
on way protein isolate. So if you are someone who
is vegan or you don't eat dairy, that might be
(32:56):
an issue for you. I don't believe there are many
vegan ones out there if you're someone who just doesn't
like the taste of dairy or I've had a lot
of clients who just don't like milky things, like they're
just like I don't like milky things. They might have
something like that, But again it's more for convenience. It's
never something that SUSI I would write into a meal plan, right.
But if we've got a client and they're traveling and
(33:17):
they're going on a really long car trip, or you know,
they're training pretty heavy at the gym and they're going
from gym directly to work, and you know they're going
to take a banana and a coffee with them, and
you know, sep on a protein water to get that
protein in post gym because they don't like a you know,
a protein shake. For whatever reason, it can work, but
for me, it's more of a convenience option. It's also
(33:38):
not inexpensive, like I think a bottle of protein water
is a good few dollars, Like you're probably playing similar
cost to a coffee, So it's not something that I
would think that a lot of people could afford to
buy regularly anyway. To me, it really is just a
one off kind of convenience option. If you're traveling, if
you're on the run, if you're caught out, you're at
the supermarket, you just want a bit of a protein hit.
Like to me, I would go more for like a
(34:00):
protein yogat in a pounch or I would grab like
a couple of two to sushi rolls or something like that.
Like like you, I would prefer to get it more
in a whole food source. But I'm not against them.
I just don't think that it's something that we regularly
need to be necessarily taking in. But yeah, I'm definitely
not against them. I have certainly had clients who like them,
who do use them, but they're not inexpensive, put it
(34:20):
that way. So I think it's each to their own.
I don't have anything against them. And like you said, SUSI,
if you want to use it as a bit of
a protein hit, it is good to have that kind
of not all at once, like sculling it, but you know,
in a sort of you know, twenty thirty minutes, as
you would a meal or as you would take a
protein yogurt to get that regular hit of protein in
throughout the body. Because we do want those regular hits
of protein regularly throughout the day. We don't want that
(34:42):
kind of protein being sipped on all throughout the day,
like you said, So I think it is it's a
it's an interesting question but I don't really have anything
against it, I just don't personally use them a lot.
Put it that way, true, I agree. Well, that brings
us to the end of the Nutrition Couch. Another exciting
podcast for the week, Susie. We always think we've got
nothing else to talk talk about, and yet you know,
we seem to find something every single week. So thank
(35:03):
you for your support. We appreciate it. And if you
are wanting to check out our range of creatine products,
our functional hot chocolates, and also our brilliant protein powder,
the best tasting protein on the market. We are a
little biased, but that's what we think. Check out our
supplements at design Bydietitians dot com. Thank you for your
support and we will catch you in next week's podcast.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Have a great week.
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