Obviously, creatine finds its way into skeletal muscle after being ingested. But, how is this actually accomplished?
From the blood stream creatine is transported into skeletal muscle via the action of transporter molecules distributed along the muscle surface. These are the molecular doors that allow creatine into muscle cells. Our physiological status determines how well these molecular doors work at letting in creatine. For example, sodium outside the muscle cell, the extramuscular sodium, regulates the activity of these transporter molecules. In this respect, an elevation of extramuscular sodium promotes creatine entry via these transporters.
Based on earlier studies showing that caffeine increases extramuscular sodium, it was proposed that caffeine should likewise augment creatine transport into muscle cells and hence accentuate its beneficial effects. Oddly, however, caffeine has the opposite effect than initially expected. Caffeine actually interferes with the enhancement of physical performance afforded by creatine. A possible explanation for this paradoxical finding is the topic of this month's newsletter.
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