Posts Tagged ‘dangers of creatine’

I have to preface anything that I write here about the dangers of creatine with a large and bold: I am not a health care professional – What I have written here I have gained from personal experience and research on the internet. I’ve taken all that I’ve learnt and put it into one place here to add to the many others that are sharing their experiences online. Please do learn from this site, but you must take your health into your own hands and seek the advice of PROFESSIONAL practitioners. Phew… with that over, we can get into the nitty gritty.

 In this article I’ll start out by briefly explaining what creatine is, how it works and what the reported dangers of creatine are.

 What Is Creatine

Creatine is one of the most widely used supplements in sports all around the world today. From 1996, it has been one of the most (if not the most) used supplement at the Olympic games.

Creatine is a natural product that is found in oily fish and red meats. The problem is, that it’s in such small quantities and is destroyed when you cook food. It’s an organic aicd that occurs naturally in the body and helps to supply energy to all the cells in your body, primarily muscle. The body produces it from amino acids mainly in the kidney and liver and it is transported by the blood for use by muscles.

 So it’s something that occurs naturally in your body, but supplements increase the availability of creatine to your muscles. There is scientific evidence that short term creatine use can increase maximum power and performance in high-intensity anaerobic repetitive work… which means you can work harder, for longer.

 It is important to understand that creatine does not effect your hormone levels. This means you do NOT get side effects like bad skin and mood swings. It is also important to note that everyone is different. While 95% of the people may have no problems with creatine – it may just really bother your stomach. In the end if you find that creatine causes you problems then it makes sense not to take it.

Dangers of Creatine

There have been hundreds of studies done on creatine that all show that it is a safe supplement. There are really very few side effects reported with creatine use but they include: upset stomach, muscle cramping, diarrhea and dehydration. Most of these side effects can be minimized by drinking plenty of water when taking creatine.

 Liver and Kidney Damage

This can be a problem if you abuse creatine (not the word ‘abuse’!). Any creatine your body does not use is excreted as a waste product called creatinine. If you take 20 grams a day of creatine – your body will not be able to use most of it and will have to excrete the excess. Over time this constant excretion of creatinine can put a lot of work on your kidneys and liver. If you force them to work to hard that can lead to serious problems.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions

This one is about common sense I suppose… if you have any pre-existing medical conditions or are on any medication you should seek professional advise before taking any form of creatine (or any supplements for that matter!). There is a chance that increasing your creatine levels may effect your condition. Only a professional will really know if an increase in creatine would adversely affect your condition.

Dehydration

Creatine has been known to cause dehydration. Dehydration can lead to things like headaches right through to crystals forming in your liver. When taking creatine you MUST increase your water intake, and the manufacturers are quite clear about this on the instructions. Even if you are already taking in a good amount of water (as most athletes have a higher water consumption that the average person anyway) you may still need to add a glass of water or two. Just be aware of it and increase your water intake accordingly.

Bloating

The reason you need to increase the water intake is that creatine causes your muscles to hold more water and this is what can make your muscles look bigger/fuller. This is especially so with creatine monohydrate; you can take another form of creatine called creatine ethyl ester which is slightly more expensive but is reported to absorb better, meaning dose is lower and you do not feel the effects of bloating.

Dangers of Creatine… Really?

Okay, so in all my searching I have not found there to be no significant dangers with taking creatine. Take this from the Wikipedia site:

Extensive research over the last decade has shown that oral creatine supplementation at a rate of 5 to 20 grams per day appears to be very safe and largely devoid of adverse side-effects, while at the same time effectively improving the physiological response to resistance exercise, increasing the maximal force production of muscles in both men and women.

As with any supplement though, along with the recommended dose you also need to take a dose of common sense! Follow the instructions of the manufacturer, keep an eye on your water intake and talk to your doctor if you have any concerns.