Can i take creatine and protein at the same time

Creatine can make symptoms of some medical conditions worse, including bipolar and kidney disorders. People with Parkinson's disease might have worsening symptoms if creatine is combined with caffeine.

Combining creatine and caffeine might also decrease benefits that creatine alone has on athletic performance. Even though your protein needs may be higher as an athlete, taking more protein than your body needs is not going to improve muscle strength or ability more than just meeting your needs. Too much protein can have negative effects. According to Human Kinetics , people with renal disease, on fluid restriction or have low calcium intake should not exceed more than 4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

Nutrition Nutrition Basics Protein. Reviewed by Sylvie Tremblay, MSc. Sylvie Tremblay, MSc. But when is the right time to take creatine and protein? What are Creatine and Protein? Creatine An organic compound highly concentrated in muscle tissue, creatine is stored and used in muscle to fuel the production of adenosine triphosphate ATP energy, the basic energy-carrying unit that powers muscle contractions. Protein: Which is Better? The result is the cleanest, most effective, and tastiest protein powder available.

References Walsh B et al. The role of phosphorylcreatine and creatine in the regulation of mitochondrial respiration in human skeletal muscle. J Physiol. Wang CC et al. Kurosawa Y et al. Creatine supplementation enhances anaerobic ATP synthesis during a single 10 sec maximal handgrip exercise.

Mol Cell Biochem. Weinert DJ. Nutrition and muscle protein synthesis: a descriptive review. J Can Chiropr Assoc. In fact, you may have better results if you consume them prior to exercise. A study in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness published in found that taking BCAAs before exercise had a better effect on preventing excessive muscle soreness than repeated supplementation afterward.

Creatine also doesn't need to be taken immediately after exercise. You can take it before, during or afterward or even spread it out throughout the day. Including creatine and BCAAs in your post-workout shake is good, but your results may be better if you include them in a pre-workout supplement. As noted previously, creatine's uptake may be improved if you use the supplement with carbohydrates or protein and carbs. If your protein shake has carbs along with the whey or other protein, adding your creatine to it can be a good move.

If your shake doesn't have carbohydrates — from a banana, milk or juice — you may save creatine for another time during the day when you're eating carbs. It's your muscle concentration of creatine that matters most to performance, not the timing of its intake. A study published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism showed that regardless of when creatine was taken, it improved muscle strength and muscle mass when combined with resistance training.

Creatine with resistance training had greater effects on workout results than resistance training alone. Creatine and protein powder, especially those with BCAAs, are valuable to muscle recovery and growth. While you may choose to consume them together for convenience, as long as you're taking both, you should get the benefits. Side effects include possible nausea and dehydration. Fitness Workouts Exercises and Workouts. By Andrea Boldt Updated June 22, Janet Renee has over a decade of experience as a registered dietitian.

Renee attended the University of California, Berkeley and holds an M. Creatine happens to be great for this process, too. It reduces the oxidation of Leucine , which supports muscle maintenance, and long-term supplementation improves muscle protein synthesis. The overall effect is that combining protein and creatine supplementation prevents muscle-loss in the short term and boosts long-term muscle gains. The point of a whey protein shake is to provide fast-absorbing proteins to the body when it needs them most.

This has some mild benefits in the short-term. Creatine helps improve the rehydration of cells and restoration of energy stores after exercise. This can be useful independently of whey, but combined they make a great post-workout recovery drink. Supplementing whey and creatine together has some obvious benefits in as little as 6 weeks.

Increases in muscle tissue and exercise performance were significantly greater than placebo.