There are lots of folks who say that creatine will screw up your body. That it will ruin your kidneys and other things. I think they are probably wrong, but what is their angle? Why would they be promoting misinformation so aggressively? What do they stand to gain?
It's difficult to say whether creatine has adverse long term effects on the body. Widespread creatine use hasn't been going on quite long enough to do large sample studies on the effects of prolonged use. Excessive use of creatine does tax your kidneys and liver. Let's face it, if you're "loading" on creatine like many brands recommend, it is unlikely that your body is using all of that creatine and the excess is being flushed.
One way you may be able to make a little less work for your liver and kidneys is to take the serum form of creatine instead of powder.
Creatine seems to be a safe supplement when taking the recommended doses, in the short term. One very common adverse side effect is dehydration, so users should be drinking more water each day. As a distance runner, taking a supplement that dehydrates you may be more trouble than it's worth. Also, many athletes (myself included) notice marked strength decreases upon discontinuation of the supplement.
Read some articles on it. And try not to read articles out of muscle & fitness mags. They want you to buy creatine.
Creatine is one of the few supplements that have research to back it up 100%. Of course like anything if you overdo it you could have problems.
Your body naturally produces creatine. Supplementation simply adds to those stores. If you take in too much of anything (vitamins, minerals, nutrients, etc) it can have adverse effects.
If your goal is to get bigger and stronger then creatine will work 100%.
Alan
their angle is that most people are stupid. sorry, but people have forgotten how to think - kids going to school these days are taught what to think and not how to think. this is how guys like al gore lead people around so easily.
Go ahead if you want to shit blocks and have headaches all the time.
Clever reply - stating that people are stupid and then demonstrating it in the same post.
With regard to creatine, it has no proven benefits and since it is not effectively regulated it can be dangerous. Frank Shorter was recently in our community and spoke to some high school students on this very topic. He said the US Anti-Doping Agency does test creatine and they have found that 40-60% of it has synthetic testosterone in it. The reason is that creatine itself has no known benefit so the manufacturers add shit to make their stuff "work". Creatine does cause the body to retain water, so bodybuilders may see their waterlogged muscles and think they are bulking up.
The risk is that since so much of the stuff has testosterone added, there is a risk of failing a drug test. And again, the FDA doesn't really bother to monitor it, so you really don't know what you are putting in your body. If you are a serious enough athlete to even consider supplements, you probably should be concerned with what you put in your body.
So, on the whole, using it is a bad idea.
very safe if used correctly.
check out peak performance for some good studies
TCTC dumb response. You have obviously not taken into account the majority of studies done. if you had you would have seen that most studies show substantial strength gains. so to say it doesnt work is dumb. also as for the synthetic testosterone thing I smell bs. if that were true of 60% of creatine supplements it would be HUGE news and 60% of top sprinters would be testing positive as in a recent NCAA poll over 90% of all top sprinters supplemented with creatine
I don't buy it. I don't think you know what you are talking about.
Shorter has worked with ADA for a long time & I would consider him a much more reliable source of information than some anonymous high-school kid on a bulletin board.
TCTC wrote:
I don't buy it. I don't think you know what you are talking about.
Shorter has worked with ADA for a long time & I would consider him a much more reliable source of information than some anonymous high-school kid on a bulletin board.
I doubt USADA has done any such testing. There was a study done by the IOC in the 90s showing 25-30% of dietary supplements being tainted in one way or another.
If USADA had any such data, they would be shouting it to the public.
Creatine (leaving aside the potential for contamination) can be beneficial for some athletes, namely strength/power events. Just taking it will not make one faster, but taking it and training well seems to allow for one to do more high intensity work (like do more reps of weight lifting than a person not using it) and that benefits training.
TCTC wrote:
I don't buy it. I don't think you know what you are talking about.
Shorter has worked with ADA for a long time & I would consider him a much more reliable source of information than some anonymous high-school kid on a bulletin board.
I thought I was in love with Frank Shorter for awhile too. In High School I did speeches about him, I used to have a poster with him on it too. TCTC, he is probably not that into you though.
"With regard to creatine, it has no proven benefits and since it is not effectively regulated it can be dangerous"
It worked like hell when I took it. I noticed significant strength gains in a short amount of time. Within a month I had increased my bench press max by 30-40 lbs. But you're telling me that's because it was laced with testosterone?? Tell me how has this information has not made it to the media.
you can phrase anything to make it look harmful.
"Creatine is unhealthy for men ages 75-90"
well almost anything is unhealthy at that age...
"Creatine cannot bring you back from the dead"
"Creatine ate my baby" etc etc
"Tell me how has this information has not made it to the media."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
No, seriously. How? I see articles and TV stories all the time talking about the dangers of young men taking testosterone to boost athletic performance and strength training. A large percentage of males age 16-30 playing sports are taking creatine every day, and if there are labs finding that as many as 60% of creatine products actually contain testosterone wouldn't that be newsworthy??? ESPECIALLY with all the attention that steroid use is getting in the media right now. Yet I haven't heard one report or seen one article that suggests such a thing about creatine. Because Frank Shorter says so, we should believe it?
Thanks for the replies.
I figured after all these years there would be more of a consensus as to what creatine does to your body.
Now I can't decide if I should take it or not.
I only lift weights and jog a little, so I'm not worried about ruining my 10K time.
Yea, I was just being an a$$hole, but still, anything controversial I hear from the media, I take with a grain of salt. Besides, a bias exists in the media by the stories they DON'T tell.
bump
Isn't it ironic that the GET RIPPED ad is right under this creatine discussion!