Glycocyamine is the precursor of creatine. Glycocyamine is produced in the body naturally and is composed of a combination of amino acids. By supplementing with glycocyamine, you can prevent the suppression of endogenous creatine in those supplementing with creatine. It is also understand that supplementing with glycocyamine concurrently will increase creatine's positive muscle building and repair effects on the body. For those who have supplemented with creatine and not received a positive response, glycocyamine may be the key needed to jump start gains if taken at the same time.
- Solution for Creatine non-responders
- Muscle Volumizing
- Zero Bloating
Glycocyamine or guanidinoacetic acid. Basically, glycocyamine is
creatine without a methyl group (creatine is methylguanidinoacetic
acid).
Glycocyamine has now become known as the "non-responders"
creatine. In the article below written by Derek Cornelius,
Glycocyamine is explained.
" The great part about glycocyamine is that while being metabolically
processed by the liver it is converted into creatine. In this case,
those people who have the most efficient livers would be the best
responders. Finally, according to the literature, glycocyamine is an
insulin sensitizer similar to Metformin. This would enhance even
further its muscle volumizing effects while inhibiting additional
adipose formation.
The research on glycocyamine was sound and my theory seemed perfect. I
just had to prove it with real world results. Upon testing many
individuals with glycocyamine, I realized that we hit pay dirt.
Glycocyamine worked for nearly everyone, giving them stereotypical
creatine-like effects. Furthermore, no one noticed the stomach upset
and bloating that is so typical of creatine monohydrate use. To be
honest, it worked better than expected. Our research wasn't finished
though as we had to test its effects in combination with other
compounds as well as to study its safety profile.
The first thing that I wanted to try was to combine glycocyamine with
creatine to see if there was some type of additive or synergistic
effect. Obviously the creatine nonresponders did not receive any
additional benefit from the creatine.
However, the creatine responders noticed a definite benefit from adding
the creatine. I don't think the effect was synergistic but was at least
partially additive. From our data, it appears that glycocyamine plus
creatine works about 1.5 times better than creatine alone. This was
truly a breakthrough discovery that would send some shockwaves through
the supplement industry.
In the beginning, I saw nothing in the literature that led me to
believe that glycocyamine was not as safe as creatine. Users felt and
performed well on it. At this time, I recommended about 2-3 grams per
day. I then stumbled upon one critical study that made me reconsider
the dosage. In a nutshell, the study discussed that creatine production
in the liver from glycocyamine was the body's greatest depleting
process of valuable methyl groups.
Another critical use of these methyl groups is to metabolize and
detoxify the body of homocysteine. Homocysteine is something you do not
want high levels of. Although homocysteine is not acutely toxic, it is
just not healthy to have elevated levels over a long period of time.
Supplementing
Betaine With Glycocyamine
The study showed that superphysiological dosages of
glycocyamine, in effect, deplete the liver of methyl groups and vastly
increase the blood concentration of homocysteine. Once I realized the
implications of this, I set out to find a way to provide the liver with
more methyl groups so that homocysteine would be adequately detoxified
as well as making more efficient the glycocyamine to creatine
conversion. After much research and experimentation, supplementing the
diet with betaine stood out as the single best way to provide the body
with an abundance of methyl groups.
Betaine is also known as trimethylglycine. Trimethylglycine is
efficiently metabolized into dimethylglycine and dimethylglycine is
efficiently metabolized into monomethylglycine. Each of the above
demethylation reactions frees up a methyl group to be used by the body.
At first, we thought a 1:1 ratio of betaine to glycocyamine would be
sufficient. However, after a year of experimentation, we realized that
a 4:1 ratio is optimal.
* This is where I must issue my
warning. If you take glycocyamine in any dosage, it is imperative to
also take at least 4 times the amount of betaine. (1fast400 also
has Betaine in bulk powder form)
I must also point out that over the last several months I have read
numerous articles on glycocyamine touting its many benefits. The
articles went on to recommend taking 3-5 grams of glycocyamine per day.
Amazingly, there was not even one mention of the use of betaine.
Believe it or not, these articles were written by PhD's. How could
someone that is considered an expert of experts nonchalantly recommend
the usage of a compound in high dosages without even having the
slightest degree of understanding of how the compound works or its
safety profile? Unbelievable! There are several products currently on
the market that include glycocyamine. My strong recommendation is to
not take any product that does not specifically contain 4 times as much
betaine as glycocyamine.
What I want everyone to take away from this article is that
glycocyamine is an amazing new nutrient that can offer great benefits
to both creatine responders and nonresponders alike. It is a compound
that everyone should consider adding to his or her supplementation
program. An optimal dosage is 1 gram per day. The only caveat: use
betaine and make sure its dosage is 4 times the amount of glycocyamine."
by: Derek Cornelius
