Creatine & Beta Alanine
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid found naturally in both the body and in foods such as chicken or whale meat... not that many of us eat whale, of course.
When beta-alanine is ingested, it enters the blood stream and is taken up by muscle cells. It then becomes what I call the "rate limiting substrate" to carnosine synthesis. Now, carnosine is a dipeptide found primarily in fast-twitch muscle whose primary function, as far as you and I are concerned, is bufferinghydrogen ions (H+).
So without beta-alanine, carnosine doesn't get produced, and you don't have the buffering of hydrogen ions.
Dr. Hoffman and his colleagues assembled a highly trained group of 33 college football players and split them into three groups: a creatine group who took five grams twice daily; a creatine and beta-alanine group who took the same amount of creatine plus a total of 3.2 g of beta-alanine daily; and a placebo group, who took nothing.
Prior to and following the 10-week study, the researchers measured the athletes' body composition, body weight, one-rep maxes in the bench press and squat, and had them keep a log of their training. All were placed on a weight training program that included all the usual suspects: bench presses, squats, deadlifts, power cleans, incline presses and flyes, rows, etc.
Here's what they found: when you combine creatine and beta-alanine, your training volume goes up and you get stronger. The athletes were able to knock out more reps with the same weights, and although this was the case with the other groups, it happened to a greater and more significant extent in the creatine plus beta-alanine group. The one-rep bench and squat max was significantly higher than that seen in the placebo group.
The most impressive results of beta-alanine, at least in this study, were its effects on lean mass gains and fat loss, effects not seen in either of the two other groups.
Only in the creatine plus beta-alanine group did the investigators record a significant increase in lean mass, with percentage of fat dropping roughly 1.2%.
Oh, by the way, they were not on a restricted caloric diet. They ate whatever they wanted and still lost fat!
This adds promise to a supplement that, until this study, could only be viewed as a performance enhancer. Fat loss is also a benefit you just don't get from creatine alone.
TESTOSTERONE NATION Creatine & Carbs
Creatine ingested in combination with simple carbohydrates substantially increases muscle creatine accumulation compared with the ingestion of creatine alone. However, creatine supplements would need to be ingested with very large quantities of simple carbohydrates to achieve an insulin-mediated stimulation of muscle creatine transport.
The results of recent study indicate that the ingestion of creatine, in conjunction with about 50 g protein and about 50 g of carbohydrates, is as effective in stimulating insulin release and whole body creatine retention as ingesting creatine in combination with almost 100 g of carbohydrates. However, authors proposed that ingestion of carbohydrates alone, or in combination with protein, in an effort to augment muscle creatine accumulation will probably only be highly effective on the first day of supplementation.
Results of pilot study indicate that co-administration of creatine with low-doses of D-pinitol may offer a non-caloric means of augmenting whole body creatine stores. Effervescent creatine supplementation appears to be no more effective than ingesting creatine monohydrate alone. Creatine serum has no effect on muscle ATP or creatine stores even when taken at eight times the recommended dosage for 5 days. Caffeine has been reported to adversely affect the efficacy of creatine supplementation.
According to recent review by Dr. Persky and coworkers, "A short loading phase of 2-3 days taking 0.071 g/kg bodyweight (equivalent to 5 g for a 70 kg person) four times a day is suggested. Creatine should be taken with a high-carbohydrate meal or beverage, but high-fructose components (e.g. fruit juice) should be avoided because fructose does not elicit a significant insulin response. After the loading phase, creatine can be taken once daily at a dosage of 0.029 g/kg bodyweight to maintain muscle levels. This regimen should cause rapid increases in muscle creatine without overuse of the supplement."15
Bodybuilding.com - Anssi Manninen - Creatine Loading Strategies! What Works Best? 
