Creatine monohydrate, which is the number one supplement preferred by athletes, is not a mineral, herb, or steroid. Creatine is a natural nutrient found in the human body and the bodies of most animals. Creatine is also consumed in certain foods, particularly meats and fish, 2.4lbs of uncooked steak contains about four to five grams of Creatine (2). However, some of the Creatine is degraded during the cooking process. The average person consumes about one gram of Creatine a day from a regular diet. (3)

Creatine is also produced endogenously by the liver, pancreas and kidneys. The body of a 70-kg individual produces about two grams of Creatine a day consisting a turnover rate of about 1.6% a day. The body of a 70-kg individual would contain a total of about 120 grams of Creatine. Approximately 60% of the Creatine is stored in its phosphorylated form, p

Approximately 95% of the body's Creatine supply are found in the skeletal muscles. The remaining 5% are scattered throughout the rest of the body, with the highest concentrations in the heart, brains, and testes. A skeletal muscle itself does not produce Creatine, but utilizes the Creatine originating in the liver and kidneys. The human body gets most of the Creatine; it needs from food or dietary supplements. Creatine is easily absorbed from the intestinal tract into the blood stream. When dietary consumption is inadequate to meet the body's needs, a limited supply can be synthesized from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine. This Creatine production occurs in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys.

HMB appears to up-regulate our ability to build muscle and burn fat in response to intense exercise. In fact in one recent study recently published in the prestigious Journal of Applied Physiology, it was revealed that athletes who supplemented their diets with three grams of HMB a day, for just three weeks, gained three times as much lean body mass and experienced an increase in strength two and a half times greater than test subjects who followed the same workout program but used a placebo(5).

Andro was first isolated in 1935, but it wasn't looked into until the late 50's when scientists determined andro is converted in the body to testosterone. There are two different pathways in the body that can create andro: either from DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) or from a hormone called "17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone." Scientist found andro could be converted to testosterone (and vice versa). Andro is a steroid hormone that is the precursor to testosterone the steroid hormone associated with masculinity (1,2). It is converted from cholesterol, a reaction, or chain of reactions, that occurs in order to covert molecule A into molecule B. Specific enzymes and hormones, among other things, must be present and ready to work, so to speak, for these conversions to take place. Andro has a very short half-life in the blood and is produced by the adrenal glands and the gonads from either 17-alpha-hydroxyprogestrone or dehydroepiandrosterone(DHEA)(3). DHEA is also sold as a dietary supplement. Andro may be converted into either testosterone or an estrogen (estrone) within the blood (4).

HMB is a normal product of human metabolism; it is naturally present in mother's milk and is found in small quantities in the foods we eat. HMB also appears to be an essential part of the tissue growth process. In addition, it's a water-soluble compound, which is excreted in the urine in proportion to dietary intake. Thus, based on the chemistry of HMB, it would be predicted that HMB is a Seabee compound.

Creatine helps athletes in many fields of play. Creatine users claim it to have many advantages, such as increased endurance, increased overall work potential, increased speed of muscular action, and potential to further increase muscle mass. Many tests subjects participating in Creatine supplementation experiments were reported to gain as much as 2 to 5lbs within one to four weeks of supplementation. Many researchers believe that some of this can be attributed to increase levels of water retention within cells caused by osmotic pressure resulting from the Creatine uptake. The belief is that the water retention causes the cell to become enlarged, and so the cell is able to synthesized mor

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