Creatine has become one of the most sought after sports nutrition among gym and sports enthusiasts in recent years, and a new study published in Scientific Reports found that it has significant benefits in raising mean and peak power among combat sports athletes – especially when paired with sodium bicarbonate.
The analysis was conducted by researchers from Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia’s National Sports Institute, Shenzhen Technology University, and Hubei University of Arts and Science.
A total of 67 randomised controlled trials were included in this research. These trials involved a total of 1,026 elite combat sports athletes randomly assigned to using 26 different dietary supplements or placebos.
Examples of the combat sports that these athletes played were judo, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, taekwondo, boxing, karate, kendo, and fencing.
The studies were conducted globally, with seven in Taiwan, two in Japan, one in Hong Kong and South Korea each. Most of them (19), however, were conducted in Brazil.
Caffeine was the most commonly studied supplement, with 24 trials assessing its effects.
Sodium bicarbonate was the next most commonly studied supplement, with 13 studies focusing on it alone, or in combination with either beta-alanine or creatine, and highly alkaline water.
Six other studies looked at beta-alanine alone.
The remaining studies assessed the effects of carbohydrates, electrolytes, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), arginine, beetroot juice, vitamin C, E, coenzyme Q10, hydrogen-rich water, and omega-3 etc.
The researchers specifically examined the effects of these supplements on final heart rate, blood lactate concentration, mean powder, peak power, number of throws, number of attacks etc.
One of the key findings was that creatine, when paired with sodium bicarbonate, was associated with a statistically significant increase mean power and peak power as compared to placebo.
Out of the 67 trials included in the analysis, a total of 17 and 15 of them assessed the effects of dietary supplements on mean power and peak power respectively.
Using the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) rankings, the researchers found that the combination of creatine and sodium bicarbonate had the highest score in increasing mean power and peak power.
The combination had a SUCRA ranking of 99.9 per cent in terms of enhancing mean power. This was followed by the use of creatine alone, which had a score of 90.1 per cent, and then sodium bicarbonate alone with a score of 75.4 per cent.
Similarly, when it comes to boosting peak power, creatine and sodium bicarbonate ranked top with a SUCRA score of 98.4 per cent, followed by the use of creatine alone (91.9 per cent), and sodium bicarbonate alone (70.4 per cent).
Aside from creatine and sodium bicarbonate, beta-alanine was another ingredient that was commonly studied for enhancing mean and peak power.
Caffeine for pumping up heart rate, blood lactate concentrations
Caffeine, another commonly used sports nutrition, has been shown to be effective in pumping up final heart rate.
Measuring heart rate is important as this is linked to the amount of blood that is pump out of the heart and into the body to supply oxygen to working muscles.
As compared to placebo, caffeine supplementation was significantly associated with an increase in final heart rate.
Based on the SUCRA rankings, caffeine, arginine, and beetroot juice were identified as the top three interventions for enhancing final heart rate.
Caffeine was also found to have significantly increase blood lactate concentrations, especially when paired with sodium bicarbonate.
“To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive systematic review with NMA (network meta-analysis) of available effectiveness data on dietary supplements for elite combat athletes.
“This study suggests that a range of dietary supplements, including caffeine, sodium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate combined with caffeine, creatine, creatine combined with sodium bicarbonate, and beta-alanine can improve the athletic performance of elite combat sports athletes,” said the researchers.
Source: Scientific Reports
Advantages of different dietary supplements for elite combat sports athletes: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84359-3
Authors: Luo, H., Tengku Kamalden, T.F., Zhu, X. et al.
