Many of us want strong muscles and to get rid of extra fat to have a flat stomach. The Keto diet, in this case, can work promptly to shred some excess pounds.
However, if you are already on creatine supplements for stronger muscles, checking whether they should be done parallelly is essential.
Creatine is believed to be keto-friendly. Popular belief also says you can incorporate it into a keto diet. But does creatine on keto work?
Creatine is safe while on keto without hampering the diet’s functionality. Besides, creatine boosts the effects of the keto diet, regardless of the length of creatine consumption. A low creatine dose is essential to avoid side effects, and a high-quality creatine with no carbs will keep it more keto.
Find out more about creatine functions and a keto diet to understand whether you can do both and the best creatine suitable on a keto diet.
Creatine on Keto: Does It Work?
To combine creatine and keto and make them work, choose 100% pure creatine and a high-fat diet for maximum benefits.
In most cases, they can work together without any issues. No forms of creatine hamper your diet plans unless they are flavored creatine.
Creatine primarily consists of protein with little or no carbs. So, if you are on a keto diet, choose unflavored creatine to avoid milk, additives, or sugar. Mix it with water rather than warm milk, other juices, or dietary beverages.
There is no proven report of conflict between creatine and a keto diet. However, there is evidence of creatine benefits in decreasing your diet ratio with more protein and carbs than fat.
In some other studies, a keto diet with a low creatine dose improves metabolism and boosts creatine effects on muscle symptoms and performance.
To ensure that both work effectively, the body needs to confirm ketosis. Creatine won’t affect burning fat but rather speed up the process. Initially, you will face minor setbacks as your body adjusts. But once you are low in fat, creatine reserves will offer enough energy for strength.
How to Take Creatine on Keto
To ensure that creatine works seamlessly with keto, follow these tips.
- Take only 3-5 g of creatine daily, or calculate 0.3 g per body weight.
- After a workout session or 30 minutes afterward is the best time.
- To take it before exercise, divide the dose to take some after the workout.
- Look for creatine with different electrolytes for increasing effectiveness.
However, you can completely stop taking a creatine supplement if your diet is rich in foods that contain creatine, like red meat or seafood.
Best Creatine for Keto
Creatine monohydrate is the best in the market with proven results, even though you have plenty of creatine forms. But you can choose one according to performance, quality, availability, and ingredients.
Check out some top choices that you can use on keto.
Muscle Feast Creatine Monohydrate Powder
This one is perfect for increasing muscles and removing fatigue. It is gluten-friendly creatine, great for vegans, and works for keto.
Optimum Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate Capsules
These capsules can help you with weightlifting and bodybuilding. They also have the purest ingredients for creatine. You can easily consume them with faster digestion, without any water.
Naturebell Creatine Monohydrate Powder
This is a micronized creatine for easy absorption and faster results. It is safe for a keto diet with vegan-friendly ingredients and no gluten. You will find no dairy, wheat, or eggs in it.
Cellmass Creatine
This one contains both creatine monohydrate and creatine hydrochloride. It also has glutamine which will help to recover lost energy and remove pain and cramps from intense workouts.
ProMix Creatine
You can also try this one to train harder and longer on keto. It will also replace lost energy. The powder is very thin for easy mixing and digestion. But the best part is you won’t suffer from any bloating.
Keto and Creatinine Levels
You will easily get increased energy from creatine if your diet is fat-rich. There is no research explaining any change in creatinine levels due to keto. On the contrary, the keto diet supplemented with amino acids has lowered creatinine levels in chronic renal failure patients.
However, if the amount of creatine increases in the blood, creatinine will be produced more. High creatinine is usually connected with liver and kidney problems.
To remain safe, lower your creatine dose while on keto. If possible, you can also stop it in case of severe problems.
Do a trial with the loading phase to see if you have a high level of creatine in the body and if creatinine is easily removed. Then you can decide on whether or not to take creatine, to prevent any kidney problems.
Benefits of Creatine on Keto
Regardless of the concerns, creatine will help in several ways to enhance keto effects.
Lean Muscles
More creatine means more intense training for increasing muscles. Regular exercise will increase cell growth and repair, which will get rid of fat and increase muscle mass.
Intense Workout
A keto diet with its food sources might hamper exercise. But with creatine, you will have enough ATP to convert to energy. So, with more energy, it gets easier to train for longer hours.
Faster Recovery
Creatine also speeds up muscle tissue growth and repair after exercises. This is useful in a keto diet since you will have a low store of glucose. The faster repair will help to compensate for the depleted glucose with more glycogen.
Instead of taking post-workout carbs while on keto, you can take creatine as an alternative with around 50 g of carbs.
Improve Lipid Profile
Creatine decreases triglycerides and fat deposits in the liver. This, along with keto, will ensure you are free from harmful LDLs and a fatty liver.
Creatine Keto Water Retention Problems
Water retention is a common problem with creatine users. People might fear that the situation will worsen with keto. Luckily for us, although water weight is rapid with the initial loading of creatine, it is temporary. After a few days, it will go away.
An increase in weight due to water retention also helps to boost your strength for better performance and effects from keto.
FAQ
Does creatine contain carbs?
Most creatine brands offer pure creatine with no additives. So, creatine has zero carbs. However, remember that some might have some flavors or sugar added. These will increase carbohydrate content in creatine.
When to avoid creatine and keto together?
You should avoid taking any creatine while on keto if you have digestive problems or liver diseases. Check whether any of your medicines will interfere with creatine. In such cases, avoid taking any creatine.
Conclusion
Creatine is very safe with a keto diet. Both will complement each other to have the fittest body with muscles and zero fat. All you need to do is ensure a safe dose of creatine and drink a lot of water. But avoid taking a creatine supplement if you have liver or kidney diseases.
Creatine is also beneficial to help with a keto diet by saving up more glycogen. So, you will always have the energy to work out and burn excess fat. You should also choose the right type of creatine brand that will work best with a keto diet and boost ketosis.
To know more about creatine, check out our latest blogs.
I am a health and wellness enthusiast working in a Pittsburgh-based wellness clinic. My primary role as a consultant is to tailor a balanced lifestyle for my patients, where positive steps and potent supplements play a synergistic role.