The Biochemical Cost of Gaming: Creatine Depletion
Studies have shown that playing video games influences your body's biochemical state. Creatine—critical for replenishing cellular energy—may be another factor on the list.
• Creatine levels—important for energy replenishment for cells—may be impacted by longer hours of gaming.
• 11 participants played ranked games for 6h straight, providing blood samples before and after the gaming session.
• Creatine and Creatinine were significantly lower at the end of the 6h of gaming.
• The researchers suspect that playing takes up a lot of energy in the brain, quickly replenished by taking creatine out of the circulating blood stream.
According to data from 2023, there are approximately 3.09 billion active video gamers worldwide, with an average of 5.1h for a single gaming session. This extensive amount of time spend on gaming impacts your body. For instance, glucose metabolism and energy expenditure, and cortisol were shown to be altered after playing for several hours without taking an extended break.
Creatine levels may also be impacted. Creatine is important for the body, as it is a metabolic pathway critical for replenishing immediate energy for cells.
"The aim of this study was to explore whether a single session of prolonged video gaming alters circulating biomarkers of creatine metabolism in young male e-gamers." [1]
11 Participants of the study had to play 6h of video games in the lab and provide blood samples before and after gaming. Here is what they found.
🔋 Why Gaming for Hours Impacts Your Body’s Energy Systems
"A 6-h video gaming session resulted in a statistically significant drop in serum creatine levels..." [1]
So yes, when playing for a long time, creatine in your body drops significantly. This makes sense as gaming takes up quite a bit of energy that needs to be replenished. Also, any gamer probably knows that gaming often goes hand in hand with not eating for hours. In terms of numbers, the highest drop in creatine the researchers found was 57.8%. Furthermore, the creatinine concentration was also reduced after 6h of playing. However, circulating GAA didn't drop significantly, but was still lower in some players' blood samples.
"... a 6-h session of FPS game might deplete brain creatine reservoir, leading to cerebral uptake of creatine from the circulation as an alternative source of rapidly mobilizable energy." [1]
🥡 The Takeaway is...
that you shouldn't play for long hours without taking breaks (or in general). Your body needs to rest on all levels—even at the biochemical level.
Read you next Sunday. Bye,
Christian 🙂
