Creatine

Creatine, chemical name methyl guanidine-acetic acid , is a nitrogenous organic acid naturally occuring in vertebrates that helps to supply energy to muscle cells. Creatine derives from the Greek word kreas (meaning meat) and is a combination of three amino acids - arginine, glycine, and methionine.

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In the muscles, a fraction of the total creatine binds to phosphate - forming creatine phosphate. The reaction is catalysed by creatine kinase, and the result is phosphocreatine (PCr). Phosphocreatine binds with adenosine diphosphate to convert it back to ATP (adenosine triphosphate), an important cellular energy source.

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In the human body typically half of the creatine comes from food (mainly from meat and fish), while the other half is synthesized from certain amino acids (glycine and arginine) in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys. 95% is stored in the skeletal muscles, with the rest in the brain, heart, and testes.

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Organic acid: An organic acid is an organic compound that is an acid. The most common example are the carboxylic acids whose acidity derives from a carboxyl group -COOH. Other groups can also cause a weak acidity: hydroxyl group -OH, -SH, enol group, -OSO3H, phenol group....

Muscle: Muscle is a contractile form of tissue. It is one of the four major tissue types, the other three being epithelium, connective tissue and nervous tissue. Muscle contraction is used to move parts of the body, as well as to move substances within the body....

Greek: The noun Greek refers to:...