3 Non-Fitness Benefits of Taking Creatine and Protein

Unless you’re brand new to the world of exercise and fitness, you’re well aware of the popularity and potency of the protein-creatine stack for accelerating all of your desired physical outcomes. If you’re serious about the process of getting bigger, stronger, faster, or just generally healthier, many people will take it completely for granted that you’re already supplementing with protein and creatine because of how effective the combination has been proven to be.

Most people stack creatine and protein precisely for these benefits, which is why it may shock you to learn that there are at least three reasons to stack these supplements that have absolutely nothing to do with improving your physical fitness level. Chances are, if you’re already enjoying a protein-creatine stack, you’ve already noticed improvements in these other areas as well.

1. Cognitive Function

If you’ve been feeling mentally foggy, turning to the combination of protein and creatine is an ideal first stop along the path to recovery, and this is because it’s tough to find a more natural solution to your problems than an authentic food source.

The fact that proteins are structured collections of amino acids and creatine is an amino acid derivative means that all of the components of these supplements are digestible as natural food, usually with no side effects to your body. 

Just as it does with damage to muscle tissue, protein also repairs brain cells while helping to produce many of the neurotransmitters that serve to transmit brain signals. This process, in turn, enhances your cognitive function, and boost your intelligence in the long run by improving your 

memory, attention span, and problem solving abilities.

Likewise, creatine is stored in your brain as ATP, the same way it is stored in your muscle cells. ATP is your brain’s primary source of energy, so taking supplemental creatine means that you’re supplying your mind with an abundant repository of mental energy. This amplification effect of creatine has likewise been proven to improve cognition. 

In short, if you’ve been hoping to eliminate brain fog, and to simply be mentally sharper, stacking creatine and protein may help you to solve the issue without forcing you to turn to drugs that might be considered experimental or risky.

2. Mental Health

Because depressive symptoms can be overwhelming to contend with, and also because emotions are often confined to the realm of unsolvable mysteries, the only effective solution to depression is often presumed to be a drug that can directly affect the chemistry of your brain by artificially stimulating key neurotransmitters.

The major problem with antidepressants is that they can directly lead to a host of unpleasant side effects ranging from dry mouth and constipation to dizziness, nausea, insomnia, and agitation. 

Luckily, the same characteristics of protein and creatine that improve cognition have also been proven in studies to improve mental health, and alleviate depressive symptoms. This makes sense, because a shortfall of brain energy or a weakening of neurotransmitter activity can also hinder your mind in a way that expresses itself in depressive symptoms. 

Fortunately, creatine and protein provide the ATP and brain cell maintenance necessary to prevent these problems, which means that stacking them may result in a dramatic reduction of depressive symptoms if your brain has been beset by a shortage of the amino acids that it requires to function optimally.

3. Reproductive Health

When it comes to reproductive health, people have a tendency to think in terms of the hormonal activities that are involved in those processes. While this is both useful and practical, it is better to think in terms of the components that contribute to the hormones that govern reproduction.

In particular, female reproductive health is uniquely susceptible to fluctuations in hormone levels, which also make protein quality and quantity vital to its preservation. Protein can maintain the integrity and functionality of all of the tissues involved in reproduction while also ensuring high egg quality, and maintaining an ideal ratio of estrogen and progesterone.

Similarly, creatine has been proven to improve the operation of female reproductive organs like the uterus and placenta, and also aids in the production and regulation of hormones involved in reproduction. However, special attention has been devoted to its role in supporting the regulation of these hormones during menopause. 

In essence, given the natural occurrence of women suffering a dramatic reduction in estrogen production and muscle tissue following menopause, the combination of creatine and protein can help to preserve muscle mass and bone mass for as long as possible, markedly improving the quality of life enjoyed by women as they age.

The all-purpose life hack

If you’re already taking protein and creatine and noticed that you’re less anxious and moody, along with being far sharper and more alert than usual, it’s not a mistake. Even as creatine and protein are working to provide your body with energy and accelerate your muscle repair and total-body recovery, they’re doing the same for the other tissues and organs of your body, including your brain.

Yes, you may simply consider these to be beneficial side effects, but if you happen to know someone who is constantly complaining about mental fatigue and sadness, or a woman who is concerned about an aspect of her reproductive health, your suggestion that they supplement with the combination of protein and creatine might be one of the most beneficial morsels of advice they ever receive. 

Summary

1. Creatine and protein provide major improvements to your body in ways that have nothing to do with the productivity of your muscles.

2. Within your brain, creatine and protein improve cognition by maintaining healthy brain signalling and providing your brain with ample energy.

3. The same benefits that creatine and protein provide to the brain that aid cognition have a similar effect on mental health in ways that alleviate depressive symptoms and improve mood.

4. When it comes to female reproductive health, protein works to reinforce the reproductive organs and maintain egg health, while creatine and protein both work to preserve bone mass following menopause.

5. While individuals would be wise to begin taking a protein-creatine stack to address any one of the aforementioned issues, people who take a protein-creatine stack can expect to address all of these matters simultaneously, while still receiving the boost to muscle performance and recovery.