Triple supplement – carnosine, GAA and creatine

Triple supplement – carnosine, GAA and creatine

Proteins and fats are the basic structural elements of the body. However, their functioning would be disrupted if there were no elements that maintain proper energy and acid-base cell homeostasis. In this context, two protein components of cells become important: carnosine and creatine. Both components are partially synthesized by tissues and can be obtained with appropriate food products. However, in order to optimize their activity, it is good to increase their amount in the diet. Here, however, the three-component additions of carnosine, guanidinoacetic acid (GAA), and creatine monohydrate are demonstrated.

Multicomponent supplement

Unfortunately, you can’t take just one supplement and stimulate the production of the above ingredients in your body:

• It is now known that the mere administration of creatine effectively increases the amount of this compound in the muscles, but has no effect on the amount of carnosine.
• Co-administration of creatine with GAA is more effective than supplementation with creatine alone. This strategy significantly increases the amount of muscle creatine.
• When taken properly, carnosine helps to optimize the amount of amino acids in the serum and increases the amount of carnosine in the muscles, keeping the pH of the cells at an optimal level.

Taking into account the physiological role of all these three components, their action will affect the proper energy and maintenance of acid-base balance. This is especially important during exercise and other physical activities involving different types of muscles.

Examples of supplements

Of course, you can try to optimize your diet yourself in terms of providing the macromolecules described above, but it is easier to use the supplements available in the market:

• Carnosine Extra – a complex of supplements that includes carnosine, coenzyme Q10 and many antioxidant supplements,
• CreGAAtine – a mixture of creatine monohydrate (the best studied form of creatine used by athletes), and GAA acid that supports creatine resynthesis.

Creatine, carnosine and lactic acid

With each exercise, lactic acid is formed in the muscles. The more intense the training, the greater the accumulation of lactic acid. This is especially important for people who perform workouts in which short periods are extremely intense, e.g. sprints, athletics, strong sports including crossfit, cycling and swimming. Creatine and carnosine have been shown to be involved in maintaining the proper pH balance normally disturbed by lactic acid.

Carnosine is one of the cellular components responsible maintaining a relatively constant pH, despite the formation of lactic acid. At the same time, creatine supplementation is also known to reduce the amount of lactic acid produced.

For example, in one experiment, a group of cyclists practiced until they were completely exhausted, that is, until they could no longer train. This condition means such a high production of lactic acid and such a high consumption of energy substrates that the body refuses to continue training. We observed that consuming 5 grams of creatine (along with a dose of glucose) in 6 days resulted in a decrease in the amount of lactic acid produced by the muscles. Translated into exercise parameters, this means the following:

• we observed an increase in muscle strength,
• it has been proven to prolong the time it takes for the body to be completely exhausted. That way, the training could last longer.

Proposed optimization of the complementarity strategy:

• Since the addition of creatine alone does not affect carnosine levels, further optimization of the whole process would mean increasing the amount of carnosine in the muscles with appropriate supplementation. ”The icing on the cake” would be added to the GAA supplementation strategy. This acid promotes the recovery of muscle creatine stores.
• Such a strategy (concomitant intake of GAA, creatine, and carnosine) has not yet been described in the scientific literature, but its potential appears to be clear.

The three-component additive affects structural changes

The simultaneous addition of GAA, creatine and carnosine will certainly alter the activation of proteins in human muscles. This will help to change the physical and health parameters:

1. CREATINE – Creatine supplementation promotes changes in the production of new muscle proteins, such as: collagen, myosin (muscle contractile protein) or GLUT-4 (proteins that absorb glucose from the blood). Combining creatine supplementation with physical training will help increase muscle strength. This way, you will be able to increase your training volume and consistently increase your muscle mass with training.
2. GAA – among other things, indirectly promotes changes in the regulation of muscle stem cells using the activation of Akt / mTOR proteins. These are the two proteins that are essential for regulating muscle anabolism. GAA supplementation has been shown to increase muscle strength and power during endurance training and reduce so-called chronic fatigue syndrome (CSF).
3. CARNOSINE – can also cause changes in protein levels. Carnosine is known to inhibit the activation of Akt / mTOR proteins in cancer cells. So this is in contrast to GAA, but in different cells (see above). In addition, carnosine reduces the amount of energy produced (ATP) and inhibits important metabolic pathways (e.g., pentose-phosphate pathways) that are required for cancer cells to function properly. This, of course, is only a small part of the role of carnosine. All in all, in the above case carnosine inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells and causes a programmed cancer cell death (so-called apoptosis).

To summarize! A three-component supplement based on carnosine, GAA and creatine will improve the ability to exercise and train and increase the regenerative potential of muscles after training. With such supplementation, it is possible to return to training faster and build the appropriate parameters for endurance and strength from training to training.

The first choice for the use of these supplements or ingredients are athletes, in whom a large amount of muscle creatine is crucial for achieving their higher sports goals. The second target group is people who do not eat meat. This is because meat (red) is the main nutrient that provides creatine to the body. Of course, the body also only produces creatine, but people on a vegan diet can have up to 25% less muscle. In both target groups (athletes and vegans), the additional GAA content will optimize creatine production.

 

Literature:

1. Gualano B, Lugaresi R, de Salles Painelli V, Queiroz AC, Artioli G, Roschel H, Otaduy MC, Leite Cda C, Lancha AH Jr. (2011) Creatine supplementation does not augment muscle carnosine content in type 2 diabetic patients. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 36(5):764-7.
2. Oliver JM, Joubert DP, Martin SE, Crouse SF. (2013) Oral creatine supplementation’s decrease of blood lactate during exhaustive, incremental cycling. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 23(3):252-8.
3. Deldicque L, Atherton P, Patel R, Theisen D, Nielens H, Rennie MJ, Francaux M. (2008) Effects of resistance exercise with and without creatine supplementation on gene expression and cell signaling in human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol (1985). 104(2):371-8.
4. Chilibeck PD, Kaviani M, Candow DG, Zello GA. (2017) Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. Open Access J Sports Med. 8:213-226.
5. Zhang Z, Miao L, Wu X, Liu G, Peng Y, Xin X, Jiao B, Kong X. (2014) Carnosine Inhibits the Proliferation of Human Gastric Carcinoma Cells by Retarding Akt/mTOR/p70S6K Signaling. J Cancer. 5(5):382-9.
6. Oppermann H, Birkemeyer C, Meixensberger J, Gaunitz F. (2020) Non-enzymatic reaction of carnosine and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate accompanies metabolic changes of the pentose phosphate pathway. 53(2):e12702.
7. Wang Y, Ma J, Qiu W, Zhang J, Feng S, Zhou X, Wang X, Jin L, Long K, Liu L, Xiao W, Tang Q, Zhu L, Jiang Y, Li X, Li M. (2018) Guanidinoacetic Acid Regulates Myogenic Differentiation and Muscle Growth Through miR-133a-3p and miR-1a-3p Co-mediated Akt/mTOR/S6K Signaling Pathway. Int J Mol Sci. 19(9):2837.
8. Ostojic SM, Stojanovic M, Drid P, Hoffman JR, Sekulic D, Zenic N. (2016) Supplementation with Guanidinoacetic Acid in Women with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Nutrients. 8(2):72.