Creatine Found to Help with Blood Sugar Health

by | Jul 14, 2011 | 2011, Blood Sugar, Creatine, Diabetes, Pancreatic Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found a reduction in blood sugar of 35% in a group taking creatine. 

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower- limb amputations, new cases of blindness among adults in the United States, and a major cause of heart disease and stroke. The latest statistics form the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 25.8 million Americans, or 8.3% of the population, have diabetes. From 2005-2008, 35% of U.S. adults aged 20 years or older (including 50% of adults aged 65 years or older) had prediabetes. This equates to 79 million American adults aged 20 years or older with prediabetes, with the total cost of diabetes to our society in 2007 being $174 billion (1).

A new study (2) now finds the total number of diabetes cases in the world to have doubled since 1980 (153 million to 347 million in 2008). Recent research (3) has suggested that creatine may be an option in helping to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

In the study, 25 subjects (16 men, 9 women) between the ages 48 and 64 and having type 2 diabetes for an average of 7 years were given either 5 grams of creatine (13 subjects (8 men, 5 women) or placebo (dextrose – 12 subjects (8 men, 4 women)) for 12 weeks. During this time, they completed a supervised exercise program three times a week. The program consisted of a 5-minute treadmill warm-up, 25 minutes of resistance training, 30 minutes of treadmill aerobic training, and 5 minutes of stretching exercises.

The subjects had no restrictions on diet and provided dietary intake data to researchers using 24-hour recall interviews. They also provided blood samples before and after the study to measure for a protein HbA1c, a reliable marker of blood sugar control (4). Before and after the study, the subjects underwent a “Meal Tolerance Test” whereby they consumed a 500-calorie meal (60% carbohydrate, 20% fat, and 20% protein) containing approximately 72 grams of carbohydrate and then provided blood samples at time 0, 30, 60, 120, 180, and 240 minutes to measure for blood sugar levels.

While both groups showed significant improvements in strength from the exercise programs, the researchers found those in the creatine group to have 14% lower HbA1c levels after the study (7.4% to 6.4%) compared to a 1% increase in the placebo group (7.5% to 7.6%). The creatine group also had significant decreases in blood sugar levels at the beginning (time 0) of the Meal Tolerance Tests (22% lower – 125 vs.160 mg/dL ), after 60 minutes (35% lower -160 vs 245 mg/dL), and after 240 minutes (32% lower 110 vs.160 mg/dL), with no significant changes in the placebo group.

For the researchers, “Creatine supplementation combined with an exercise program improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients.”

Source: Gualano, Bruno, et al. “Creatine in type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.” Med Sci Sports Exerc 43.5 (2011): 770-778.

© 2011 by the American College of Sports Medicine

Posted July 14, 2011.

References:

    1. “2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet” – see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
    2. “Adult Diabetes Rate Doubles” – see Yahoo – Old News website.
    3. Gualano B.  Creatine in Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Med Sci Sport Ex 2011.  DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181fcee7d.
    4.  “HbA1c” – see the Medline Plus website.