The Optimised Health Show

E021: Creatine Deep Dive: Why It Might Be the Most Underrated Supplement of All Time

• Ben & Sarah Law • Episode 21

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In this episode, we dive deep into creatine — what it is, how it works, who it’s for, and why it’s so much more than just a gym bro supplement.

We break down the science behind its impact on performance, brain health, mood, hydration, and methylation, and explain why it’s especially important for women, particularly those in perimenopause or menopause.

We cover:

  • What creatine actually does in the body (beyond just muscle)
  • Why women store ~40% less creatine than men and what that means
  • How creatine supports brain energy, mood and cognition
  • The connection between creatine and methylation (and why that matters)
  • Common myths: bloating, kidney damage, hair loss, and weight gain
  • Dosing strategies — including how much to take, when to take it, and whether loading phases are necessary
  • The difference between creatine monohydrate and newer forms like CreaVitals®
  • Why we’ve chosen Creapure® and how our own supplement is manufactured to the highest possible standards
  • Love Life Supplements Creapure® Capsules
  • Love Life Supplements Creavitalis® Powder

If you’ve ever wondered whether creatine is worth taking — or if it’s even right for you — this episode will give you the full picture.

Thanks to Our Sponsor:
Want supplements that *actually* work? Check out Love Life Supplements and use code BEN10 for 10% off your order.

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Sarah

hello welcome back to another episode an episode. I'm from australia. Now mate um episode and it my brain. My brain is not working today. No, you got a low-calorie brain. Low-calorie brain. I am going through a really fun protocol again at the moment, aren't I?

Ben

Yeah.

Sarah

Which is hard, which is?

Ben

not fun.

Sarah

It's really not fun.

Ben

basically Two days high two days low, is it?

Sarah

Two days high, two days low Carb pulse. But it gives me a whole other level of appreciation what I put my clients through today's a low, which is what?

Ben

750 calories 600 now 600.

Sarah

Yeah, it's basically like fasting, mimicking two days, jeez. But do you know what? It's actually the high days that hurt more. I feel fine after two low days, two high days, but it's because I've got antimicrobials in on the high day, so I think that causes a bit of die off, because I had h by lori, basically, so we had to get rid of it. This is how we're doing it with the carb pulse and with killers, so it's not fun. Um, my my wonder.

Sarah

Shake is about 1100 calories yeah, you eat more in one shake than I'm eating an entire day right now, which is fun but needs must die oh no, oh no, the postman's here, it's gonna be all. All this is what happens in the house 3 pm postman on saturday he's been he's been sunbathing he timed that to perfection, didn't he? He did. He's been uh in the sun this morning, because we've actually started anyway.

Ben

Welcome to the Optimized Health Show.

Sarah

Yeah, welcome, Welcome everybody. We've got a new setup. If you're watching on the old TubeU. Look at us going all fancy.

Ben

Well, this was literally decided today, as I tried about five different spots. I don't know, it's Mr Postman.

Sarah

He's coming. He is coming here, we go there he is hold that moment.

Ben

That'll be my hatch lights.

Sarah

Oh super, I need some actually. So what happens in the law household? 20 deliveries a day on average. Amazon DPD Postman he was happy, was he? Was he not our regular? I had a lovely DPD man Postman. He was happy, was he? Was he not our regular? I had a lovely DPD man the other day. He was telling me all about the fact that he's taken over this route and that if we're not here, he will put it in a very safe place for us Over the fence.

Sarah

Over the fence. Yeah, very safe, because we've got gates, so that's all good.

Ben

This is an interesting pre-ramble.

Sarah

We'll have a pre-ramble. We love a pre-ramble, everyone loves a pre-ramble, they love our random chats.

Ben

Let's go over that.

Sarah

What have we been up to? I've been starving. I've been starving, you've been working, I've been working. I can't think what we've actually done. What have we done? A?

Ben

lot of working.

Sarah

A lot of working Again.

Ben

We've been fairly inconsistent, Shut up.

Sarah

Stop saying that word, because the more you say it, the more it means we do it, so yeah we Did.

Ben

We. We emptied our storage in the we did Exciting times.

Sarah

Finally.

Ben

Two weeks ago.

Sarah

Two weeks ago. How long has the storage been there?

Ben

Three years.

Sarah

So basically three years. So basically, we had a storage unit when we left the uk. No, hang on, it was we. So what happened was we had a house in the uk, didn't we?

Ben

we decided we didn't want to live there, so we sold it, but we put everything in storage yes and then moved to ibiza and then we just kind of left it there for three years because we could never face actually sorting it out well, we didn't have the space at all in the last place.

Sarah

Let's be honest we had space, but no storage yeah, well, nowhere to put anything anyway.

Ben

So we finally have places to put things. So we thought we have to empty it because it costs a lot of money.

Sarah

Oh no, no, no, no. I said we need to empty it and you fought back quite aggressively.

Ben

I did, he was not up for it, because I don't like doing things.

Sarah

I don't like doing things. No, no.

Ben

Domestic, domestic Admin Paperwork Any of that shit.

Sarah

To be fair, we are like the most un-adult adults you will probably ever come across. We are lame at most adulting things.

Ben

Yeah, aren't we Like normal day-to-day shit?

Sarah

We're not good at.

Ben

Bills and house stuff Terrible.

Sarah

Yeah, I mean I'm worse than you because if you weren't here, I actually don't know anything about bills and I don't even know how to turn our tv on.

Ben

so no, you would just be curled up in a ball in the corner. I would crying because you have no idea. Don't leave me um, you're not gonna leave me anyway, so we did that emptied.

Sarah

That sorted it out. It wasn't actually too bad, no double tables two tables because we had a table in there double of everything we found my medals from competing, which are just over there. They need putting somewhere. What else did we find that was interesting? I found a wig loads of Christmas decorations.

Ben

Christmas decorations we threw away loads of photos.

Sarah

Some blasts from the past photo-wise, didn't we?

Ben

Photos Memorabilia. A bit of random bits of furniture that we don't really want but now have.

Sarah

Safer beds. I mean all the stuff.

Ben

Yeah, we brought it back, sorted it out.

Sarah

For a year, well, not even a year now, until the fun begins next year, when plans change yet again. Did we tell? Did we tell everyone kind of the? Yeah, well, I think we hinted the hint of the beginning of everyone all three people yeah, all three people that listen to our body. Um, actually we have people that skip past this first bit really enjoy our podcast.

Sarah

I'll have you know um people like the bents. Some they think we're funny. I mean I don't. Some people do, we do. Let us know, maybe pop in the comments whether you think we're funny or whether we just chat shit.

Ben

So we're going to America.

Sarah

We're going to America next year If we get accepted. Yeah, if they let us in.

Ben

Visa stuff.

Sarah

Visa stuff. We are going to go and live in the sunshine again because we've just come to the conclusion.

Ben

Stop doing that, because it's going to make loads of noise in the microphone. Soz.

Sarah

That sunshine is life, haven't we?

Ben

And the north of the UK doesn't have a huge, although it's been bloody lovely the last three weeks it has, which is bizarre, like ridiculous everyday sunshine.

Introduction to Creatine Benefits

Sarah

It's not normal, though. I mean, what the hell? Yeah, but next week rain for the next 10 days. It's been good it has, but I want every day.

Ben

Every day of the year to be sunny. Yeah, it's a bit greedy.

Sarah

I think it's acceptable. The Optimised Health Show is brought to you by Love Life love life supplements. If you're looking for clean, effective, high quality supplements that are thoroughly tested and gmp certified, head over to lovelifesupplementscouk and use the code ben10 for 10 off your entire order. So that's not what we're here to talk about sunshine and rainbows what are we here to talk about? We're here to talk about creatine today. Creatine, yeah, is a topic that is hot at the moment. I feel like there's. Maybe that's just because of my algorithm.

Ben

No, it's definitely, definitely trending. People are realising I'm a geek and look at search volumes and stuff and they're going through the roof search volumes on Amazon and the web.

Sarah

Yeah, and there's a reason for that.

Ben

Well, yeah, there is.

Sarah

I don't know why now, but it's been around forever, obviously it has, but I think it's becoming more and more spoken about, especially for females and the importance of it, and it used to be kind of seen as just for bodybuilders, didn't it? I think it was just in the bodybuilding scene, whereas now people are going oh, actually, yeah, maybe these bodybuilders know something I think it still is.

Sarah

Most people think it's a bodybuilding thing for men um a lot do, but there are a lot of uh, respected doctors and people who work within the menopause space that are talking about it a lot more, like dr mindy peltz, um stacy sims. Uh, dr mary claire, lots of people like that are talking about the importance of creatine.

Sarah

So we're just gonna basically do the same today and talk about why actually, it is probably one of the most underrated supplements and, I think, one of the most safe supplements as well, in terms of like being a universal supplement, because a lot of supplements aren't like. You need to really know what you're doing when you're putting supplementation plans together and unfortunately, many people don't, obviously because they're not trained in knowing how to do that and we just think, oh, you know, it's cool, I'll take curcumin, or I'll take this, that and the other curcumin, or I'll take this, that and the other. But if you're overloading your system with too many antioxidants even though I'm a massive fan of antioxidants too many and you're actually going to bugger yourself up because you need a little bit of oxidative stress to make your body create its own antioxidants, so you're basically suppressing that.

Ben

That has nothing to do with creatine but it's what you're talking about, that for?

Sarah

Well, it's just an example of knowing, knowing.

Ben

Yeah, creatine is. I mean. It's been said a million times, it's the most studied supplement ever.

Sarah

I'm just having a slurp of my matcha.

Ben

It's the worst drink to have on a podcast. Like for an icy drink just rattling around.

Sarah

I'm sorry, but I needed a matcha for brain function today. I needed something to get me through this podcast.

Ben

Yeah, it's the most studied. I think that camera is following me again. I can't stop it following.

Sarah

It just loves you. Maybe it's trained to your voice, or something.

Ben

Yeah, it's the most studied supplement in the world. I think there's just hundreds and hundreds of studies. I don't know why. Perhaps because it works. Maybe I want to prove it's yeah efficacious, um did you know what creatine, what it actually means?

Sarah

it's derived from the greek word kreas, which means flesh well, I did not know that. Well, there you go, you learned something new today. It's flesh. Yeah, it means flesh. So I kind of think of that as like helping you build flesh. You know it kind of does Helps with muscle Flesh.

Ben

Helps you build flesh.

Sarah

Yeah, yeah, so remember that.

Ben

Weird. So, what Phosphocreatine I'm going to go here.

Sarah

You go.

Ben

Have you got it?

Sarah

You go, I'm going to have a slurp. No, I don't think I've got. I've got. What could it?

Ben

help with. We need to start with what it is. It's a natural compound made from amino acids.

Sarah

Actually I've got that in my notes Arginine glycine and methionine.

Ben

Yeah, stored mainly muscles. As phosphocreatine, it regenerates atp, the body's energy currency.

Methylation and Brain Function

Sarah

Is found in small amounts in meat, fish and supplementation ensures saturation this is true, so we can get creatine from our food sources, obviously mainly meats right mainly meat. So if you don't eat animal products yeah, if you don't eat animal products, then you are probably well, probably 99 likely to be deficient in creatine, and it's so important for many, many reasons, but one of the first ones I wanted to talk about, if that's okay with you, benjamin- yes yes, is about methylation.

Sarah

So creatine actually takes pressure off the methylation cycle and methylation kind of the word gets spoken about. I think quite a lot again, maybe that's just my circles that I hang out in um, but methylation is so important. So methylation is basically a process where tiny chemical tags called methyl groups are attached to a molecule, so like attached to DNA, for example. So they're a bit like tags that act as like on off switches so they can control how our genes in our DNA work. So they can control how our genes in our DNA work. So think of them like helping our bodies control which genes are turned on and off at the right times. And that's so important for everything like aging, detoxification, how we respond to our environment. Methylation basically rules everything, everything. So we want to make sure that our methylation is working sufficiently and the way that creatine helps with this is basically by um taking pressure off that methylation cycle, because about 40 percent of methyl groups produced in the body are consumed when we make creatine. Did you know that?

Ben

did not know there you go.

Sarah

So when you're making creatine, because you you can make creatine within your body. When you're making creatine, it steals the methyl donors that are like those tags that are needed to support methylation. So adding creatine in means that you're not gonna have to make as much yourself and that means less methyl donors are being used, so it supports methylation. So if people are crap at methylating, like me, I genetically I'm a very poor methylator. If you look at things like mthfr genes etc, I'm I'm not genetically blessed. Maybe we'll do a whole podcast on my terrible genetics. Thanks, janet and michael um, but yeah, so if you're someone who doesn't methylate particularly well, then creatine can be a real game changer because it can help take pressure off that whole methylation cycle and that means those methyl donors can actually be used in the methylation process you've gone quite deep sciencey there, straight up well, we want to give the listeners something to think about whilst they're in the car.

Ben

Yeah, that is definitely a function of it. That's advantageous, yes, but taking a step back, okay go backwards. What does creatine do as in traditional sense, like a basic level?

Sarah

A basic level.

Ben

It fuels short, intense, physical, physical effort, I think like lifting and sprinting, yeah, um, like that intense, like hit stuff type stuff.

Sarah

It's because the phosphocreatine isn't it. So you need the phosphocreatine to generate atp quickly yeah um during intense activity.

Ben

So creatine is what the body uses to make phosphocreatine and phosphocreatine is what direct provides that like a direct, quick energy for short, intense activities so I guess this is why it's, you know, been so popular in the sporting realm, because it also enhances strength, power and recovery, supports lean muscle growth, brain energy and mood. Yes, that's huge. Probably people don't think about it as much, do they? No?

Performance Benefits for Women

Sarah

The brain stuff and this is why I talk about it a lot for menopausal females, because what other things that happen to women during menopause? Brain fog, depression, their brain doesn't work as well, can't build muscle mass as easily, and women actually store about 40% less creatine than men anyway. So there's actually more of a need for females to have creatine than there is, uh, for men well, there you go there you go females get actually aids in hydration, you know I did not know that.

Ben

Muscle cells via cell volumization.

Sarah

We need to go back to brain. I don't think we've covered that enough. No, but I'm just going over, okay, you go over the key points, then we'll go back to give a bit more depth.

Ben

Yeah.

Sarah

I love how planned and organized we are when we do these.

Ben

I love how planned and organized we are when we do these. Yes, performance and muscle. It improves strength, sprint speed and training volume. Accelerates recovery and reduces muscle damage. Promotes lean mass without gaining fat. Supports bone density when paired with resistance training. So then, on the cognitive, neurological side, boosts brain atp, improves mental clarity, focus and reaction time. Reduces mental fatigue, especially in vegans. Vegetarians may reduce depression symptoms, especially in women.

Sarah

Yes, it it can, and did you know that it also promotes cell survival, um, which is really important because you don't want your brain cells dying, so it helps them survive.

Sarah

But there's been lots of clinical evidence that reports the effects of creatine supplementation before supplementation on mood, like you mentioned, um, which again is so important for females going through menopause, um, when they are less resilient to stress. So as hormones decline, especially progesterone, women become a lot less resilient and things like creatine can help that because basically when there's high mental stress there's more of a need for phosphocreatine. So creatine supplementation can support greater amounts of ATP, like you said, in the brain resynthesis. So that helps the kind of prefrontal cortex which is where kind of attention, memory, cognition all happen. And it's important to remember that females process stress differently to males. So again, another reason why females really should be thinking about creatine. In terms of what you mentioned about depression, there's been studies done that show that altered brain bioenergetics and mitochondrial dysfunction have been linked with depression. So when you're basically increasing or restoring brain energy levels and homeostasis in the brain, that can relieve depression.

Ben

There you go.

Sarah

Something to think about. Maybe I need a bucket load of creatine.

Ben

Yeah, so very good for women, especially menopause. Yes, combats muscle loss and strength decline post 40.

Sarah

Supports mood and brain fog as eastern declines, as we mentioned I've actually got a little a study that I'd like to share. That's okay. That was on um healthy sedentary, is that how you say it? Sedentary, sedentary, sedentary, sedentary.

Ben

Who knows?

Sarah

Not moving. Yeah, people who sit down a lot, so healthy sedentary females took creatine, or they did a group that had the placebo, which was just a multidextrin tablet, four a day, um, for four days and then they did a maintenance dose of creatine and then they made them participate in a 10-week resistance training program, three times a week for an hour. Um, so the the group who took the creatine had a six percent increase in muscle phospho phosphocreatine, so increased that obviously, following the loading period, and the increase after five week and ten week of training was seven percent and ten percent higher than baseline levels. Um, so what it basically showed was that there was an increase in one rep max on things like leg press, leg and squat. At 10 weeks the one rep max was 20% to 25% greater in the creatine group than it was in the placebo group. 20% to 25%, yeah, so if you want the gains, you want to be stronger, get the creatine in.

Sarah

And also, fat-free mass was greater in the creatine group after five weeks and 10 weeks of training compared to the placebo group. So weight didn't change. Body weight, um, there wasn't a big significant difference between groups you know, the placebo group and the creatine group in terms of body weight and percentage of fat, but fat-free mass went up quite significantly. So it's going to help you build muscle and then, if you think, longer term. So it's not like an instant, oh, take creatine, lose weight. But longer term, the more muscle mass you have, the more sensitive you are to insulin, the more of a kind of glucose sink you have, because that's essentially what muscle is and in the long term that's going to help you with body composition and and fat loss more than anything super duper yeah, it's super duper um?

Ben

what have I got in my list?

Sarah

if you put about bone loss in your little list I only briefly.

Ben

Do you want to speak about?

Sarah

that I can, if you want. I went, I went to town on this one. Oh no, not this one, I just mean this podcast in general. Okay, um, so it could act as a counter measure to menopause related decrease in bone as well, because it can help reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, and it can help with, like, osteoblast cell activity, which is what creates bone formation.

Sarah

So the thing is, what we need to think about is, when estrogen levels decline, there's an increase in inflammation, and this is something that I don't believe gets spoken about enough the connection between estrogen and the immune system. And it's because estrogen is actually a really potent antioxidant. So when we have less estrogen, we have more oxidative damage going on, and that oxidative damage, then kind of reactive oxygen species, will go on to damage neighboring cells and create a lot of cellular, what we call senescence, zombie cells, and that drives the immune system to be upregulated, because when you've got these zombie cells that are all kind of damaging the next cell, they create or they release inflammatory cytokines, which then basically piss the immune system off, and then the immune system gets more and more aggressive, and then that's what leads to so many of the menopausal symptoms that women have weight loss resistance, brain fog, joint pain, mood swings, just feeling like shit, basically. So having something like creatine can help with some of that kind of oxygen stress component as well. Countermeasures, you know.

Ben

Excellent.

Sarah

Thanks.

Ben

Everyone take it.

Debunking Common Creatine Myths

Sarah

Basically, take creatine. You understand the root causes of your issues and guide you in the right direction of which of my programs would be best suited for you, whether that be a group program or one-to-one coaching. The link to book your free call is in the show notes um, we've got some myths. Yes, I was going to say, like risks and myths, what people think happens, versus actually what does happen. Not a steroid, it is not a steroid.

Ben

No, it's a natural energy compound. Some people may think it's a steroid. Doesn't cause bloating intracellular water. It doesn't cause intracellular water.

Sarah

Yeah, so this is the fear that so many people have is that it's going to make me gain weight, especially women, like men are like gains, whereas women are like, oh my god, it's going to make me put on weight and I'm like no, it can't.

Sarah

Well, I can do, I guess yeah scale weight yeah and water intracellular water yeah, and in you want intracellular water because that's actual cellular hydration and that's so important for everything to function properly, and so you know you might see the scales go up, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing no and, and this is where that's what it is right yeah, females, we have got to change our relationship with the scales.

Sarah

I can say this because I have been a scale nutter too and you can definitely say this yes, it's been a bane of my life for many years, but it's so interesting when you start to think of it in a different way because, like I said, if you're getting that intracellular hydration, your muscles are going to work better, your cells communicate with each other better, nerve function is better, insulin signaling is better. People don't realize that dehydration can actually lead to insulin resistance. So, like, you need that intracellular hydration. So yeah, basically it's a positive aspect of weight gain.

Ben

That helps in the gym as well, doesn't it? Yeah, with the z-pumps z-pumps I I um what about kidney function? Yeah, that's a big one. Yeah, people are scared of people think it's gonna ruin your kidneys or something, but it is actually safe for kidneys and it's not been proven.

Sarah

No, and the thing is on blood labs. If you're taking creatine, yes, your creatinine levels might raise on a blood lab, but that's quite normal because you're taking creatine, which raises creatinine. But that's not bad.

Ben

Yeah, so fine for kidneys. It's not on my list, but I've just thought of it. Um people think it's causes hair loss yeah, that's on my list but I think that was one study, yeah, like 20 years ago, 30 years ago or something I've actually got it written down here.

Sarah

If you'd like me to share, go for it so do with dm, dm, no uh vanden yeah, dht, dht.

Sarah

So, um, the speculate, like you said, the speculation regarding the relationship between creatine supplementation and hair loss stems from one single study by Vandermeer et al where they basically gave college-aged male rugby club hang on, speak properly.

Sarah

Basically, college-aged male rugby players who supplemented creatine, which was 25 grams a day for seven days, followed by five grams a day so like a loading dose then followed by like the standard five grams a day for 14 days, experienced an an increase in DHT over time, and DHT is basically like a metabolite of testosterone, but it's a more potent version of it and that can drive hair loss. So DHT increased by 56% after the seven-day loading period and remained 40% above baseline values, but the testosterone didn't increase. So what I discovered was that the changes in those hormones, like the dht, have been linked in some cases of hair loss. So the theory came that the creatine supplementation was what caused the hair loss. Um, but, like you said, it's one study that's never been replicated again, it's never been seen again. So you have to question was the dht raised because of creatine or was it because of intense exercise, which can increase dht um?

Sarah

yeah and there's been 12 other studies that have investigated the effects of creatine on testosterone, and two of them saw like a really tiny, physiological, insignificant increase in total testosterone after six and seven days of supplementation. The other 10 studies reported absolutely no change. Um, in five of the studies, free testosterone, which is what the body uses to produce testosterone, because what you have to remember is total testosterone and free testosterone are two different things. Total testosterone is bound to a protein, which makes it unusable. Free testosterone is free to go and do its job. So we should always be looking at free values of hormones and in five of the studies, free testosterone, which is what the body uses to create DHT, were not increased at all. So basically, there's just no evidence, really, apart from one random study.

Ben

Yeah, you can't go off one study, no.

Sarah

Especially when it's like there's so many other variables in the mix.

Ben

Yeah, any other myths.

Sarah

I can't think of any. It's kidneys, hair loss, weight gain, um, I think that's all of them, isn't it?

Dosage and Supplementation Recommendations

Ben

yeah, I think so the main ones. So how to take it how to take it, please um, the I guess the. The global recommended amount is like five grams a day yeah I do personally think that's a bit too general and it should be based on your body weight.

Sarah

A lot of people are saying I did not know that you're a huge bloke compared to a little woman what if you're a huge woman compared to a little bloke? It should be either or vice versa.

Ben

Yeah, you obviously need more as a bigger per human, so I go by the recommendation of one gram per ten kilos of body weight. Okay, so I take about eight grams. I just told everybody your weight oh god, what will they think I? Think you're eight kilos.

Sarah

Um yeah, but I guess five grams is fine as a base level, um even three grams yeah, absolutely, and and you can, if you want to, like start slightly lower on three grams, and then you know if you are worried about like the scale change. Start with three grams, move up to four, move up to five, and then you'll stay at five.

Ben

There is talk or I do think there is a side effect if you take really high doses on the gut or loose stools yeah, loose st stools, the poops, um, I think that's like up to 20, 30 grams. It's been shown to have digestive.

Sarah

Yeah, I mean, the reality is probably for most things, if you're gonna go ham on it and you know more is not always better, let's just put it that way. You know, I think as human beings we go up to 20 grams. No, but a lot of the time, and you know more is not always better, let's just put it that way.

Sarah

You know, I think as human beings we go up to 20 grams, no, but a lot of the time, as you know humans, we do that. It's like, oh, if it's good, let's have more of it, and that's going to create even better response. It's like not really no and then, timing wise anytime really there's.

Ben

No, it shouldn't be. It's not any more beneficial to take it before working out, after working out. It's just a daily load.

Sarah

Yeah, because I guess it's, because it's like filling up the reservoir.

Ben

Consistency matters more than timing, yeah, but it says well, when I say post-workout, I might offer a slight benefit.

Sarah

And why would that be then, do you think?

Ben

Just I guess replenishing yeah, maybe uptake, yeah, do you think they're just, I guess, replenishing, yeah, maybe, uptake, yeah, um, and then there's that's kind of another myth of the loading phase um which is not really needed that. It was always thought that you needed certain, was it for five or seven days, do 20. It was actually 20 grams a day for five days, yeah yeah, then moved to five grams a day, but I think that's been proven not necessary.

Sarah

No, you can do it, but there's no need as such. You can just build it up.

Ben

Yeah, I guess you get there quicker, don't you to saturation? That's the theory.

Sarah

Yeah.

Ben

But yeah, you might get the poops.

Sarah

Nobody wants the poops.

Ben

Yeah, but yeah, you might get the poops. Nobody wants the poops. Um yeah, and just stay well hydrated. Hydrated to support absorption and performance.

Sarah

Yes, hydration is key, and many people on this planet walk around dehydrated without knowing it at all. You're doing it again. I needed a little slurp. Um, you're doing it again. I needed a little slurp.

Ben

I've just got some studies listed.

Sarah

We could put those in the show notes If people want to be super geeky.

Ben

Top studies, but you've touched on some of the studies, haven't you?

Sarah

I have yeah. I gave you a little overview, but we can put them in the show notes Because some people do like to be like us and you know, check out studies, anything else you wanted to mention. No other than females. Take the goddamn creatine. Oh, why don't you talk about crevitalis?

Ben

and the types Funny. You should mention that. There we go, because I have some with me.

Sarah

Here's one I made earlier.

Ben

Right here, here it is. So yeah, obviously my company LLS Love Life Supplements.

Sarah

I thought you'd say our company.

Ben

It's not our company, it's my company. People thought you said our company. It's not our company, it's my company. People think it's our company.

Sarah

I could be. I am like chief cheerleader.

Ben

Yeah, we sell CreaPure.

Sarah

Why is CreaPure special?

CreaPure and Manufacturing Standards

Ben

It's one of the purest forms in the world, like the most stringentent testing, highly studied versions from germany, I mean, you know, the germans they do things probably, yeah, yeah it's just generally regarded as the best in the world. So we do capsules, obviously convenient on the go, one gram per capsule, easy to titrate, easy to dose. And then we've just released Crea Vitalis.

Sarah

Which we didn't even talk about. This.

Ben

We went into Last, was it last week?

Sarah

No two weeks ago.

Ben

Two weeks ago we went to the manufacturers where it's made, and actually saw it getting made on the line, didn't we?

Sarah

It was really interesting, wasn't it? Because obviously you Do. You want to explain a little bit about how you get your products to market in terms of where the raw ingredients come from, and then that will give it some context, maybe about when we went into the factory, was it? Did you call it a factory? What do you call it? Went into the factory manufacturing plant and saw it being produced, but it was so different from what we were expecting in terms of, like, manual labor. It was hands-on, wasn't it? But yeah, explain a bit about like how, because I think a lot of people think you just white label, or they might think that, that you just white label other people's products, which happens a lot.

Ben

You know, in the industry there's a lot of brands that just white label so white labeling is taking someone else's product they've formulated and just putting your label on it, which many, many supplement companies do and skincare companies do that as well.

Sarah

Just so you know. A lot of the big brands are all actually made by the same manufacturer. They've just got slightly different formula or slightly different packaging, I mean yeah, it's not necessarily a bad thing if the product's really good no, but it's just but not individual, and you might be paying over the odds for one brand because of the brand, not necessarily because it's anything different from one that's a slightly cheaper one.

Ben

But yeah, all of our stuff is now is bespoke to us.

Sarah

I kind of formulate and I give you crazy ideas sometimes and you're like, no, that is not even available in the UK yeah.

Ben

I do a lot of research into raw ingredients. I go to exhibitions and trade shows. Yeah, I do a lot of research into raw ingredients. I go to exhibitions and trade shows. I think I met these actually the Creopure people at Vita Foods last year and they mentioned about this, creopetalis, which is a new version of their Creopure, which is ultra-fine, basically highly micronizedized, it's called, so it's super, super fine powder and absorbs better, basically just mixes so much better, because the old powder just kind of sank to the bottom of the shaker, which wasn't an amazing experience.

Ben

But this is super fine made for like foods as well, so it mixes really well. So now we have that version. It's more expensive, but definitely a better user experience yeah, but we went into the went to our manufacturer to see it getting made um in cambridge and yeah, it was interesting, wasn't it super interesting? Obviously, I've worked with him for years. I know where they make it, but I've actually been right into the clean room um to actually see him we looked cool.

Sarah

I mean, we'll have a hair net, a beard net. I've never seen him look so good, uh, blue white coat with a hoodie underneath yeah, which made you look like your humpback.

Ben

I had special shoes, very special shoes, which were then covered over with a thing, with a thing. Little plastic booties. Little plastic bootie in the shoe Looked good. Good look, we've got lots of pictures. Yeah, super high standards they have to adhere to.

Sarah

Yeah, it's crazy, more so than I thought, because standards they have to adhere to.

Ben

Yeah, it's crazy, more so than I thought, because now they have the two forms of BRC accreditation, now for what does that mean?

Sarah

Explain that to people.

Ben

It's the highest standard of food accreditation that you could possibly have for making food products, which a lot of manufacturers don't have. So they have BRC for the raw ingredients, how the raw ingredients are handled, and now they have BRC for how they actually pack the products. So each stage has to be done to a very high standard, which we saw first-hand.

Sarah

Yeah, I mean it was so labor intensive, wasn't it?

Ben

because they don't use machines to fill the pots no, I mean they do for big jobs, but this was the smaller runs that it was all manually filled.

Sarah

Yeah, weighed the lids put on the yeah see it lid sealed like the shrink shrink sleeve yeah, it was crazy, like the level of detail and like there was just one person who was just checking the labels and if one of the labels hadn't been put on and it had like a bubble in it, it they'd take it off and then it'd be hand done yeah, yeah, that's just a cosmetic thing.

Sarah

No, no, but it's like just the level of like what goes in. It shocked me because you just kind of you don't think about sometimes what happens behind the scenes.

Ben

Yeah, you know how strict it was the cleanliness.

Sarah

Oh yeah, you couldn't it was like you nearly put your foot the wrong side of the clean room and, yeah, you can't put your foot on the other side of the clean room, otherwise you have to start the whole process again. But yeah, it was interesting, it was great, I enjoyed it thoroughly and I enjoyed watching you with a beard in it. Thanks, you looked very special.

Ben

So, yeah, we have the powder and we have the capsules. Just that's all there is in the tub, just creatine.

Sarah

And that's. It is in the tub, just creatine, um and that's it. Get yours, get yours hashtag, um. So yeah, creatine. I believe it is one of the most universal supplements that could be used by pretty much everyone. Obviously, if you've got any health issues, speak to a medical professional, your health care provider, blah blah, before taking anything new, but in terms of like it's safety, testing, etc yeah, and we didn't mention as well, creatine monohydrate is the best, most studied form.

Ben

There's different forms, like creatine hci and a couple of others that I can't remember, but good old creatine monohydrate is the most basic form, but that has been studied as the best form. So don't try and spend a load on other fancy versions, because it's not Apart from ours, because it's Fancy.

Sarah

Creapure, which is the best version of it, yeah, but creatine monohydrate is what you need to look for but generally as a supplement as well, it's very cost effective for the amount of benefit that you can get from it. So like, for example, this is 60 servings. How much does this cost? Please like 49? No, that's the one thing in a collagen. Do you know how much it?

Ben

is 34.95, but it's Probably going up. I'm afraid Because the new, the Crevitalis, is more expensive. But I haven't actually Changed the price From the From the old version.

Sarah

So grab it while it's hot, before the prices go up. But in terms of like 60 servings For you know, 40 quid let's, that is a good price for something that does so many different things more cost effective?

Ben

yeah, because this is only 30 servings for the same price. Because capsules are way more expensive to make. Yeah, um, yeah.

Sarah

I literally just put it in my intra workout shake now because it mixes so well yeah, I pop it in mine with some essential amino acids, also from Love Life Supplements yeah, surprising that and also sometimes some electrolytes too.

Ben

Also from Love Life Supplements.

Sarah

I mean, I'm very lucky that I have a supply of supplements just in the cupboard a lot of the time. To be fair, I think I've spent my fair share on supplements over the last however, many years of my life.

Ben

I mean, so I deserve some freebies, but I think we emphasize enough, especially for vegans. Yes, vegetarians, this is like essential. Yeah, I mean, I guess if you know, if you do eat shit loads of meat, then you probably can get away with not something but yeah, if you're going to do like a carnivore diet, maybe you don't need the creatine at that moment in time vegans like that should be number one on your list.

Sarah

Yes, yes, we should actually. Maybe that's a podcast we'll do on the key nutrients vegans should be supplementing with, or what you're missing out on. Um, that sounded very negative and I didn't mean it to sound that way, but there the reality is. On a vegan diet, there are going to be nutrient deficiencies.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

Ben

There are going to be things you're missing. Beat around the bush. No, it's lacking in a lot yeah, so it needs to be.

Sarah

You just need to be prepared to supplement more. Unfortunately, like I've worked with vegan clients in one-to-one coaching and I was very honest and upfront and said we're going to need to supplement more, you're going to have to spend more on supplementation because there's gaps. So we need to fill the gaps. And the same you know, with certain medications that you're on, you will end up with depletions in certain nutrients. So therefore and I know it's not necessarily someone's fault that they're on a medication, but it's just being mindful about the depletions that can come you know, birth control is a big one. Maybe we could do a whole topic on that but, yeah, the nutrient depletions that can come from certain medications. The gap needs to be filled, whether that be really being mindful of your diet or whether that be actual supplementation on that note.

Sarah

I think that's it. Let's tie a bow on it tie a bow on it and put a little kiss. You didn't know what to say then did you? No, I didn't.

Ben

I was like make sure you leave a five star review if you've enjoyed this if you haven't, don't bother.

Sarah

Five star video review.

Ben

If you've enjoyed this. If you haven't, don't bother. Five star anyway, because we get about three listeners at the moment.

Sarah

No, we don't. I get loads of people who share.

Ben

The more people like and review it and share it, the more we'll do, the more we can help it grows and the more people we can help with our amazing information and our banter and ridiculousness as well, but some people just probably would like to hear that and nothing else.

Sarah

Hope you found that useful. Everything you need to know about queer teen. We will be back again links in the show notes links in the show notes and, yeah, great times right, see you next time bye you.