Creatine and alcohol
Everybody likes to drink a beer with his friends at the weekend or a glass of wine in the evening. As is generally known, alcohol has a dehydrating effect and removes water from the body. To be precise, the ethanol in beer or wine ensures that a substance called adiuretin is no longer released in the quantities normally associated with alcohol.
Adiuretin is a hormone and is released in the pituitary gland and causes water channels to be built into the cell walls and membranes in the collecting tubes of the kidney. Water is usually returned to these channels by absorption into our blood. If this effect is inhibited, less water from the urine returns to the blood and therefore more water is excreted than normal.
However, this alcohol-induced fluid loss can be easily compensated for in everyday life. When taking creatine, the body needs more water than usual. Therefore, one should increase one’s water consumption during a creatine cure by about two liters per day in order to be able to compensate for the increased demands on the water balance.
So if you regularly consume alcoholic beverages during a creatine treatment, the dehydrating effects of the two substances add up and our body needs significantly more fluid per day. If the body is not provided with sufficient fluid in this constellation, the effect of creatine is slowed down and potential increases in strength are carelessly forgiven. A possible dehydration inhibits the body in certain metabolic processes and thus also lowers the performance of an athlete. The regeneration ability, which plays an important role in training, is also reduced. All in all, a combination of creatine and alcohol ensures that performance is reduced and there is a risk of dehydration if you do not drink more fluids.
Creatine and coffee caffeine – is it compatible?
The question of whether creatine intake is compatible with caffeine consumption, for example in the form of coffee or energy drinks, is much debated. The theory behind it: “Caffeine increases fluid loss and thus counteracts the storage of water triggered by creatine”. However, this only applies to people who do not normally drink coffee or drink caffeine.
For these people, it has been proven that the caffeine has a negative effect on the water balance because the body is not used to the caffeine. People who regularly consume caffeine do not feel this negative side effect. Their body is accustomed to the daily intake of caffeine and therefore the intake of caffeine in these persons does not affect the effect of creatine.
So if you do not want to give up your glass of wine or beer at the weekend during a creatine cure, you should make sure that your alcohol consumption remains within limits on the one hand, and on the other hand always drink enough water to avoid fluid loss due to alcohol and creatine. In general, a lifestyle without alcohol is healthier, but a beer at the weekend does little or no harm to training and performance. With five liters of water a day, a glass of wine can be tolerated without detracting from performance.
