When creatine teams up with salt particles (sodium and chloride), it becomes much less likely to stick around inside the cell, so it can keep getting pulled in from outside—even when there’s already a lot of creatine inside.

Imagine creatine needs to get into cells through a special door that only opens one way. When creatine teams up with salt ions (sodium and chloride), the door becomes much less likely to let creatine slip back out, so it keeps moving in even when there’s already a lot of creatine inside the cell.

Your body has a special door called CRT-1 that lets creatine into muscle cells by using salt particles (sodium and chloride) as helpers — it doesn’t need potassium to do this, and it can pull creatine in even when there’s already a lot inside the cell.

Your body has a special gate called CRT-1 that pulls creatine into muscle and brain cells by using salt particles as helpers, so your cells can store energy for when you need it most—like during a tough workout or thinking hard.

For a protein called CRT-1 to let creatine out of the cell, it first needs to let go of two tiny charged particles—sodium and chloride—and it must break apart pairs of these particles, not groups of three, so the creatine doesn’t get stuck back inside.

Your brain, heart, and muscles need a special exit door for creatine, because the main door they use gets clogged and lets too much creatine build up inside — so they need a second door to let the extra creatine out quickly.