The ingestion of the dietary supplement
creatine (about 20 g/day for 5 days or about 2 g/day for 30 days) results in increased skeletal muscle
creatine and
phosphocreatine. Subsequently, the performance of high-intensity exercise tasks, which rely heavily on the
creatine-
phosphocreatine energy system, is enhanced. The well documented benefits of
creatine supplementation in young adults, including increased lean body mass, increased strength, and enhanced
fatigue resistance are particularly important to older adults. With aging and reduced physical activity, there are decreases in muscle
creatine, muscle mass, bone density, and strength. However, there is evidence that
creatine ingestion may reverse these changes, and subsequently improve
activities of daily living. Several groups have demonstrated that in older adults, short-term high-dose
creatine supplementation, independent of exercise training, increases body mass, enhances
fatigue resistance, increases muscle strength, and improves the performance of
activities of daily living. Similarly, in older adults, concurrent
creatine supplementation and
resistance training increase lean body mass, enhance
fatigue resistance, increase muscle strength, and improve performance of
activities of daily living to a greater extent than
resistance training alone. Additionally,
creatine supplementation plus
resistance training results in a greater increase in bone mineral density than
resistance training alone. Higher brain
creatine is associated with improved neuropsychological performance, and recently,
creatine supplementation has been shown to increase brain
creatine and
phosphocreatine. Subsequent studies have demonstrated that cognitive processing, that is either experimentally (following
sleep deprivation) or naturally (due to aging) impaired, can be improved with
creatine supplementation.
Creatine is an inexpensive and safe dietary supplement that has both peripheral and central effects. The benefits afforded to older adults through
creatine ingestion are substantial, can improve quality of life, and ultimately may reduce the disease burden associated with
sarcopenia and
cognitive dysfunction.