Scientists from the University of São Paulo in Brazil have a completely different point of view. They base their findings on a recent study of the effects of creatine on kidney health, in which eighteen healthy young people participated. Researchers evaluated kidney function and health using a new, more accurate method.
The traditional method that doctors use to evaluate kidney health and work is to measure the rate at which creatinine, a by-product of creatine, is excreted from the blood. The faster this happens, the better our kidneys work. But this method cannot be used if you eat Creatine supplements, as creatine is converted into creatinine in the body, respectively, in your analyzes there will be an increased content of creatinine, on the basis of which you can make the erroneous conclusion that the kidneys do not work very well and this is due to creatine. Therefore, this method is completely unsuitable for determining the effect of creatine on kidney health.
Brazilian researchers divided the subjects into two groups of nine men. The first group received about 10 grams of creatine every day for three months. To be more precise - 0.3 grams of creatine per kilogram of body weight per day. A second group of nine men received a placebo. Before the start of the study, all men did not go in for sports at all, but during the experiment, each of the subjects began to train at least 1 hour, 2-3 times a week.
The graph below shows what happened to the creatinine level in the blood of the subjects. As expected, he rose and was higher in the group that took creatine as a food supplement.
These results are provided by the standard method for analyzing the functioning of the kidneys, but Brazilian scientists used another, more accurate and correct method. They tracked the level of Cystatin C protein in the blood of the subjects, the lower the level of this protein in the blood, the better the kidneys work. As you can see in the graph below, by the last week of the experiment, the level of Cystatin C in the group that consumed creatine is lower than in the group that received only placebo.
Thus, we can conclude that the use of creatine is not only harmless, but even beneficial to the health of your kidneys.
Therefore, feel free to use creatine, because the bonuses that it gives during training are very significant, and there are no side effects that are harmful to health.
Who does not dream of a beautiful sculptured body? Fanatical athletes can hone their muscles for hours, but this is not enough to achieve the goal. In order for workouts to give quick results, bodybuilders turn to various nutritional supplements, including creatine. It is an amino acid that is synthesized from arginine, glycine and methionine and takes part in the energy metabolism of nerve and muscle cells. Is creatine harmful to health and what are its benefits?
Enzymes that are involved in the synthesis of creatine are produced by the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. After this, the substance enters the muscle tissue through the circulatory system and accumulates there. Less significant amounts of creatine can be found in the heart muscle, scrotum, and human brain.
Creatine harm to human health
In pursuit of a beautiful body, athletes inject creatine into their diet as a dietary supplement. The thing is that, regularly entering the body, this substance contributes to the set of muscle mass and significantly accelerates this process. This substance acts as a lactic acid buffer, helping muscle tissue recover faster after physical exertion. What is creatine harmful to health and is it so dangerous?
- Creatine retains fluid. Since the number of muscle cells is constantly multiplying, the body experiences an additional load, so urea is produced in smaller quantities. Renal function is slightly suppressed and there is a risk of swelling in the limbs. However, no cases of edema have been identified - this is due to the fact that the water retention is negligible. Diuretics are incompatible with a dietary supplement, and if the bodybuilder is too worried about his health due to insufficient fluid output, then it is better to stop taking this drug.
- Dehydration. Active muscle growth requires the addition of extra fluid, so the water balance in the body can be disturbed. This is a natural process, because the body is rebuilding to a new regime. If physical activity is the same, then there is usually nothing to worry about. It is enough to constantly drink water throughout the day. As for the use of creatine during periods of increased load or during the period of drying on heavy cardio workouts, health can really be harmed. Therefore, you can enter the supplement, observing the usual sports regime.
- Among the side effects of taking this substance, several more unpleasant reactions can be distinguished. At the beginning of the administration, frequent dyspeptic disorders can be observed: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, spastic abdominal pain. Manufacturers claim that this is a normal phenomenon, especially at the beginning of taking the supplement, but no one has canceled such a concept as individual intolerance. When such symptoms appear, it is better to listen to your body for a while, and if such reactions continue to appear, then this only indicates one thing - you need to stop taking this remedy.
- Skin rashes. Creatine is more likely to cause such harm to the female half of the population. The reason for this is the active production of hormones while taking a dietary supplement. The fact is that muscle growth is accompanied by increased secretion of male hormones: androstenedione and testosterone. That is why a strong half of the world's population is characterized by more developed muscles - these hormones are more actively secreted by its representatives. In women, their excess can cause an imbalance, which usually affects the condition of the skin. Men are also prone to acne while taking the supplement, but this happens less often.
- An increase in muscle mass under the action of creatine occurs due to muscle hypertrophy. It is believed that it is because of this ability that steroid drugs negatively affect the heart. While taking the drug, some complained of interruptions in his work and the appearance of respiratory arrhythmia. An overdose of creatine threatens with the manifestation of arterial fibrillation, and it is dangerous because the heart rate goes astray, and even scars can form on the organ itself. If such reactions are detected, creatine intake must be stopped or the dose reduced to 5 g per day. The occurrence of such symptoms is still associated with a lack of fluid and thickening of the blood as a result of this.
What is creatine good for?
So is creatine really harmful? Opinions were divided, some insist that creatine is like poison, while others attribute to it an implausible healing power. However, the health benefits of this substance are also there, and it is as follows:
- regular intake lowers cholesterol;
- the use of a dietary supplement allows muscles to recover quickly after active growth and physical activity;
- it is used to treat atrophy and muscle weakness;
- creatine has an anti-inflammatory effect in various inflammations;
- as a result of substance intake, muscle mass is rapidly increasing.
Features of the use of supplements
It is impossible to constantly use this substance, since the body quickly gets used to receiving the next dose and ceases to produce creatine naturally. Thus, the harm to creatine's health is that it develops a strong addiction, because if you stop taking it, the production of amino acids will not resume immediately, and muscle mass will decrease.
Teenagers involved in sports can not use this supplement, since their body is not yet formed and is in the stage of growth. Taking creatine in this case can result in problems in the work of the heart muscle and hormonal disruptions.
The truth is also hidden in the fact that manufacturing companies downplay the importance of individual intolerance and are silent about the possible side effects of the drug.
Do not rely on laudatory reviews about creatine - before you start taking it, you need to weigh the pros and cons yourself. Perhaps it’s worth considering that for the formation of beautiful muscles it is enough to eat right, sleep well and exercise in the gym, and to introduce any unhealthy supplements is the tenth thing.
Jerry Brainam
One of the signs of the effectiveness of a sports nutritional supplement is the amount of criticism raining down on it. Working drugs cause more attention. Charging creatine with health risks was only a matter of time. There is evidence that it is associated with kidney failure, muscle cramps and liver damage, which does not even remotely resemble the truth.
Some reports to the Federal Drug Administration have reported that taking creatine leads to heart problems. Since creatine is naturally present in the human body, synthesized from amino acids in the liver, pancreas and kidneys, it is hard to imagine that such allegations are true. However, a recent study attributed creatine a serious side effect - atrial fibrillation, heart rhythm disturbance.
Atrial fibrillation is a violation of the rhythm of contraction of the upper chambers of the heart. With every decade, the number of such cases doubles, and mostly in older people. Most often this is a consequence of prolonged hypertension that damages the heart. A fuzzy heart rhythm can cause an increase in the number of blood clots in the blood, which, getting into the brain, can cause paralysis. Doctors prevent this possibility by prescribing anticoagulants to patients.
Atrial fibrillation is rarely observed in young people and may result from the formation of scars on the walls of the heart ventricles, hypersensitivity due to neural stimulation of the heart or inflammatory processes in it. However, a much more common reason is the side effect of various drugs, for example, too much caffeine, strong alcohol intoxication, or an excess of thyroid drugs (many bodybuilders got similar symptoms, being too carried away with the thyroid medication Cytomel).
In the cited study, a 30-year-old man who had never had heart problems asked for help complaining of heart palpitations and breathing that suddenly occurred over the past 48 hours. An electrocardiogram showed atrial fibrillation. The man did not take any pharmacological drugs, which was confirmed by tests. However, he reported taking creatine at 20 grams per day for five days of the loading phase, followed by 2.5 grams daily for a month.
He felt heart symptoms during the loading phase with creatine capsules. The treatment consisted of injecting drugs into the bloodstream that prevent blood clots and stabilize the heart rhythm. After eight hours, the pulse returned to normal. The man was discharged a day later with a recommendation to take aspirin and beta-blockers.
Discussing this case, the authors of the article argue that since creatine in some cases can produce side effects such as dehydration and diarrhea, it could upset the balance of electrolytes, which led to atrial fibrillation. However, the main electrolytes, potassium and magnesium, in men were within normal limits. Although we have often heard of cases of dehydration due to creatine intake, there is no documented evidence of this in the medical literature.
Since creatine helps to move fluid from the extracellular space into the intracellular, this can negatively affect the balance of electrolytes, but only in case of insufficient water consumption. The suggestion that creatine may provide side effects sufficient to cause atrial fibrillation is very far from the truth.
So why did our patient experience atrial fibrillation after taking creatine? He might have a hereditary sensitivity to creatine, or creatine could initiate neural stimulation of the heart. Last most likely since the man was a vegetarian, and vegetarians have reduced creatine reserves in the body (because we get creatine from red meat as well). The loading dose could act on it like a drug.
As a solution to the problem, he could avoid loading doses, since their value is still doubtful, and take no more than five grams per day. After 30 days, this gives the same level of creatine in the muscles as after a week of loading, but without side effects.
Another thing to consider is what is actually good for the heart. One of the symptoms of heart failure is a lack of production of energy compounds such as ATP. Everything that stimulates the production of ATP helps the heart. Some nutritional supplements, such as coenzyme Q10, ribose, and creatine, do just that.
Learn more about creatine:
Many sports nutritional supplements do not contain something indispensable. So is creatine. This supplement has proven effectiveness, but it may well be synthesized in the body. We get creatine phosphate from amino acids, that is, with a sufficient amount of protein food. If there is a protein deficiency, the supplement will solve the problem of insufficient creatine. The general purpose of its application is to increase strength indicators and the return on training. Creatine is drunk in bodybuilding, crossfit, powerlifting and regular amateur fitness. It is suitable for men and women, and can be used in adolescence. This supplement is without side effects for a healthy person. But many trainers believe that its use is not necessary. Why is this happening?
Creatine Phosphate is a derivative of amino acids. It is erroneously called an amino acid, although from the point of view of chemistry it is a metabolite.
For the synthesis of creatine, our body uses:
- Methionine;
- Glycine;
- Arginine
That is, technically it’s quite simple to eat protein food, and the body itself will “make” the right amount of creatine to maintain the contractile activity of muscle fibers.
An interesting fact: foreign athletes massively prefer wild fish and farm beef. The reason is simple - about 20% more creatine and amino acids in the meat of trained animals. But poultry, veal produced in the usual way and fish from the farm are “weak” options for replenishing creatine reserves.
Why should we take creatine if you already have to eat large quantities of meat in order to remain strong and beautiful? Creatine phosphate has been recognized more than once as a revolutionary supplement in sports nutrition. Everything is simple. Heat treatment of meat and fish leads to the reverse decomposition of the substance into amino acids. Thus, the body has to synthesize creatine from amino acids again. All this does not allow us to consider meat the optimal product for creatine phosphate.
In addition, the less heat treatment, the more creatine is found in meat. Few people are prepared to eat raw fish and steaks with blood every day. And for digestion it is not safe.
Unlike other derivatives of protein metabolism, creatine is difficult to obtain with food. Only a person who uses about 2 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight has a chance. Agree, there are not many among non-professional athletes. Therefore, even for normal fitness purposes, it makes sense to take creatine separately as an additional food supplement.
Creatine practically does not metabolize in the body, if taken as an additive. He goes straight to the muscles, and there he stocks up. The average athlete can stock up to 450 g of creatine phosphate per month. How much is needed for active training? Different sources refer to numbers up to 20-30 g per day. For ordinary people - about 5-8 g. At the same time, the average doses of creatine, voiced by companies selling sports nutrition - about 5 g.
Even theoretically, it is impossible to get such an amount of creatine with food. You need to eat a few kilograms of meat per day. This will quickly lead to a failure of the digestive system.
Is creatine necessary for normal body function? Modern sources on sports medicine attribute it to irreplaceable substances. Creatine affects the following processes in the body:
- "Mobility" of cholesterol. This term refers to the ability to remove "bad" cholesterol and transport "good". Creatine affects the health of the cardiovascular system and can indirectly be considered a means of preventing high blood pressure;
- Increased lactate threshold. Lactate threshold is the ability of the body to withstand the action of lactic acid. If you use creatine, the body will increase due to;
- Fluid retention, binding it. This effect extends only to the muscles, and causes pumping during training, and a more "full" appearance after it;
- Improving the oxygen supply of white muscle fibers, and, accordingly, improving their performance;
- Improving overall performance during training by retaining fluid and improving “angles”.
Contrary to popular belief, creatine does not contribute to “healing joints” and “filling” them with joint fluid. It only improves metabolic performance, but does not affect joint health.
Creatine supplements are popular in strength sports. Indeed, this is a godsend for a bodybuilder who likes bulk muscles and just wants to look big. There is an opinion among builders that creatine can be consumed constantly on a mass basis, and at the very beginning of drying, too, to maintain the metabolic rate.
But athletes who need to stay within the weight category do not really like creatine. From practice it is known that with the help of creatine supplements you can gain 2-3 kg of weight. Again, after the withdrawal of creatine, this weight quickly “merges”, but many do not like the idea of \u200b\u200brecruitment, so they are against creatine supplements.
In strength sports and bodybuilding, creatine helps:
- Rapid muscle pumping, this is especially evident when taken together with arginine;
- Mass growth;
- When combined with selective modulators of androgen receptors - acceleration of anabolic processes and a significant increase in power;
- When using "solo" - the growth of strength indicators at the time of admission;
- Overcoming the "power plateau";
- Accelerate metabolism due to a set of muscle mass;
- Improving the efficiency of the heart;
- Glycogen binding and more efficient muscle function;
You may come across information that creatine increases productivity by 35%, which contributes to both strength and stamina. Moreover, the effects of creatine are not directly anabolic and therefore do not affect the hormonal system of an athlete.
It works indirectly. Creatine retains water, muscles pump faster. This requires a greater consumption of oxygen, improves blood circulation and muscle nutrition. As a result, a person breaks a power plateau. It turns out that the effect of pumping helps to overcome the power plateau, and the plateau in endurance due to creatine.
Muscle pumping alone contributes to:
- Increase oxygen supply;
- Glycogen retention
Creatine, thus, contributes indirectly to increasing strength endurance. The normal effect of taking it is that the athlete learns in multi-repetitive mode to overcome heavy loads. So, working weights can increase from 50% to 60-70 from 1 PM in basic exercises. This over time leads to an increase in the athlete's fitness and his strength indicators.
Conclusion: creatine does not affect the human hormonal system. It is not a selective modulator of androgen receptors. It simply contributes to the retention of glycogen and water in the muscles, which mechanically increases their performance. Creatine helps to become stronger and more durable, but all this happens with an increase in the athlete’s own weight.
"Fill" with water
Many bodybuilders specifically drink salted mineral water and increase the salt content in the diet during the off-season. This should contribute to greater stamina and strength, and serve as a means of preventing injuries. Creatine works in much the same way. His “mission” is to hold water. In the off-season, this may be promising in terms of injury prevention.
Important: “pouring with water” also improves the biomechanical characteristics of muscles, therefore it serves as a good way to prevent injuries sustained due to a violation of technology.
"Filling" can have side effects. It is a common cause of seizures, as an imbalance of mineral salts and water is created in the body. When performing difficult approaches in this state, the athlete should always use the help of the insurer. The problem with convulsions with the additional use of potassium and magnesium is solved, but this also leads to a certain decrease in the amount of water in the muscles.
Increasing the amount of fluid in the muscles is considered useful, but keep in mind that this point is not suitable for those who have problems with the health of the kidneys and high blood pressure.
So, creatine starts the process of increasing the supply of blood and oxygen to muscles. With adequate training loads, its use will also contribute to muscle growth. Creatine “builds up mass” only in the presence of all conditions for normal protein synthesis. The athlete should eat normally and recover. Otherwise, creatine will be a useless supplement. These are not anabolic steroids to correct the lack of regimen, lack of nutrition and too heavy, improperly selected training programs.
Schematically, the work of creatine can be represented as follows:
- When loading it in the muscles, fluid retention also occurs;
- Muscle pump leads to increased oxygen consumption, and accelerate blood circulation;
- Amino acids that are ingested with food are spent on muscle growth;
- Anabolic processes are supported by the partial resynthesis of creatine into amino acids;
- When building power indicators, this scheme works better
So, creatine really helps to recover and build muscle faster. And what about other sports indicators?
This substance enjoys a well-deserved "dislike" of beginners who too early became acquainted with the phenomenon of rollback from creatine. What it is? Over time, the substance accumulates in the tissues, and all metabolic processes concentrate on its excretion. The body ceases to accept creatine, and tries to simply get rid of its excess. Drinking more - it makes no sense. Athlete must stop taking.
After you stop taking creatine, the following occurs:
- The substance accumulated in the muscles is excreted from the body;
- The liquid detained with the help of it “drains”;
- The body ceases to look as before - the muscles become flatter;
- Endurance indicators are falling;
- Pumping disappears
Important: rollback after creatine is not complete. If you compare the dry weight before and after the course of creatine, they will vary.
It is advisable to cycle creatine intake under a training plan. That is, when an athlete reaches a peak of strength, creatine supports his efforts. Then, when the intake is stopped, the athlete reduces the volume and intensity of the loads, and rests.
Creatine and bone density
Athletes taking calcium and D3 can benefit from creatine intake. It serves as an indirect transport of these substances, which means that bones are also strengthened with its intake.
Bone density - a value that depends on the muscle mass of the athlete. If muscles grow quite slowly, at a physiologically natural rate, as is the case with creatine, the athlete also gets bone strengthening in addition to improving body quality. This allows him to be more protected from injuries.
Taking creatine is therefore advisable in sports where there is a high level of shock and injury. There, he is adjusted for the off-season, in which the athlete is engaged in general physical training.
Some athletes practice taking creatine on a dryer. But this applies to those who have already spent several of its cycles, and has a fairly small percentage of fat. Such athletes do not need to significantly deplete glycogen reserves, and they remove carbohydrates significantly only in the last weeks of drying. Creatine helps them protect themselves from injuries, since in this case, high-intensity training is used on drying.
Most creatine is not used on drying. They immediately begin to practice a low-carb diet, and the combination of creatine with it is unproductive.
- Creatine retains muscle glycogen.
- On drying, the purpose of the diet is to deplete glycogen stores, so that the body begins to burn fat.
- Creatine slows down this process.
- The additive retains water. It’s impossible to evaluate the athlete’s physique. This leads to violations of the regime, errors and the use of not optimal nutrition and training plan.
- Creatine can contribute to the occurrence of seizures, as the water-salt balance during drying is impaired.
- In the final stages, the supplement may become the reason “water does not drain”, since creatine retains water and the athlete, on the contrary, seeks to get rid of it.
But when losing weight in the weight category in power sports, creatine can be used. For example, an eyeliner for a competition lasts 4 weeks. 2 of them, the athlete follows a diet with a small calorie deficit and takes creatine. Before the start, the additive is removed, which gives "minus 2 kg" for weighing, and before the competition itself - a shock dose of creatine is taken to increase productivity. This weight loss scheme is fairly widespread.
26% of creatine phosphate contains ordinary herring. It can be considered a good source, but only with heat treatment its beneficial properties are reduced, and it turns out that the athlete receives even less creatine. In fact, without sports nutrition products, getting normal doses of creatine sufficient to solve the problems of building a body will not work. Therefore, it’s either worth recognizing that sports nutrition sometimes makes sense, or abandon the idea of \u200b\u200b“breaking through a plateau” along with creatine.
| Amount of creatine monohydrate in food (grams per kilogram of pure product) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Product | Creatine (g / kg) | Percentage of Daily Dose for Athlete |
| Herring | 8 | 26% |
| Pork | 5 | 16.5% |
| Beef | 4.5 | 15% |
| Salmon | 4.5 | 15% |
| Milk | 0.1 | 0.30% |
| Vegetables fruits | 0.01% | |
| Nuts | 0.01% | |
Indeed, to get creatine, you have to eat 4 kg of herring. And if someone is capable of such a feat, then he should know that the fish will have to be chewed raw, since the cooked one will contain even less creatine. The conclusion suggests itself - either put up with sports nutrition, or use other means of building muscle mass and recovery.
Side effects
Creatine has been used in the sports nutrition market for over 30 years. During this time, no serious problems associated with its use were identified. From the first samples obtained back in 1996 to modern advanced forms of crecal alkaline, this is a relatively safe supplement.
However, discomfort during its use can still occur:
- The gastrointestinal tract may “rebel” during loading. This is due to a short-term local disturbance of the water-salt balance and dehydration of tissues;
- Cramps due to electrolyte deficiency. They are easily prevented if electrolytes are consumed additionally;
- Swelling of the face;
- Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency
You should not start taking creatine if you have kidney problems. Otherwise, it is a safe supplement. Side effects are closely related to the beneficial properties and mechanism of creatine work, so getting rid of them completely will not work.
Taking creatine can affect heart health. If an athlete practices loading, or simply consumes quite a lot of creatine, his heart may experience increased stress. Buffering of lactate increases the frequency and strength of heart contractions. This can lead to tachycardia, a violation of the heart rhythm, and even muscle microtrauma.
Important: a fast-loading circuit affects the heart more. At high risk, it is sometimes recommended that you simply refrain from loading creatine and take it with an exceptionally smooth background.
There are two options for taking creatine. You can drink it with a load, but you can - without it. Proponents of the first format believe that this way the supplement begins to work faster, and you can get the benefit from its use almost immediately. The second option is milder in terms of side effects, does not allow the body to retain too much water or suffer from excess creatine. But the athlete will feel the work of the supplement only after 2-3 weeks.
Download involves consuming 20 g of pure creatine per day. This indicator does not depend on the athlete’s own weight. Loading increases the consumption of the supplement quite a bit and can be too costly for some athletes.
Accepted in this case as follows:
- 10 g in the morning, immediately after 1 meal, with sweet juice;
- 2 hours before training - about 7 g;
- In the evening after dinner - the remaining 13 g
- In all cases, creatine is drunk with sweet juice or water.
As soon as the peak is reached, and this will become evident by the fullness of the muscles, and the tolerance of training, it will be possible to reduce the dosage to supportive ones. This is 5-6 g of creatine per day. The maximum duration of supplementation is 8 training weeks, then for a couple of days the dosage is reduced to 2-3 g, and after that creatine is completely turned off. How much do you need to relax? There is no unequivocal opinion on this subject. Athletes usually adjust the intake of such supplements to the “mass” and “drying” cycles. Standard drying lasts about 8 weeks, eliminating creatine for 12 weeks will help achieve the goal of reducing body fat.
The scheme for taking creatine without loading is simple. 5-6 grams before training, with sweet juice or any sweetened drink, you can also 2.5 g before and after training, there are no special advantages.
Note: cre-alkaline has a different loading pattern. It is necessary to follow the manufacturer's instructions that we see on the packaging.
Top Creatine Phosphate Supplements
Creatine can be found in the lines of all brands of sports nutrition:
- The optimum is newtric;
- Ultra;
- Biotech, Dimatize, others
Domestic manufacturers of sports food are not far behind, and each offers us its own options for creatine.
Brands more or less cope with the task of supplying quality creatine. This supplement is difficult to spoil, so it makes sense to consider only types of creatine.
Creatine Monohydrate. It “loads” quickly, since you can consume up to 50 g of creatine per day. It is well absorbed by the body, does not contain any impurities and additives, and is convenient to use.
Creatine phosphate. This is a cheaper supplement, bioavailability lower. Therefore, it is necessary to exceed the dosage recommended by the manufacturer by about a quarter, so that the body assimilates all the creatine provided.
Creatine with a transport system. An option for those who do not want to spend time searching for sweet juices, and drink a lot of tea. It is convenient to stir it and drink it before training to satisfy the body's need for creatine. Usually, creatine with transport is the most expensive, so they take the usual one for loading, and this one is just drunk before training, in order to reduce the time spent on supplementation.
Creatine Hydrochloride. This is an innovative product of Biotech, it is designed to give all the benefits of creatine, but not to flood the body with water. Designed for those who want to keep a “dry” and fit look. In fact, creatine hydrochloride does not have any proven advantages over monohydrate, so whether or not to buy it, you should decide for yourself.
Creatine is one of the most popular sports nutrition supplements. Unfortunately, there are many common myths and misconceptions regarding its use and side effects. In this article, we will consider only proven facts and talk about what creatine actually is.
It is one of the most studied supplements in the sports nutrition market. Even if the bodybuilding community is a relatively new, unfamiliar area for you, you have probably heard more than once about creatine. Why is he so good? In short, creatine helps in the fight against fatigue during training, which allows you to train longer and with greater intensity, which ultimately contributes to the growth of muscle strength and size.
How creatine works
To release energy during muscle contractions, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detaches one phosphate group from the molecule in the form of phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and turns into adenosine diphosphate (ADP). The problem is that the body cannot use ADP to produce energy. Decision? ADP borrows a phosphate group from the reserves of creatine phosphate and attaches it to its molecule, thus turning into ATP. Creatine supplements serve to increase creatine reserves and provide the body with creatine phosphate, resulting in faster ATP formation. Conclusion: the higher the availability of creatine phosphate in the body, the longer you can train until fatigue.
With the right, consistent intake, creatine can be one of the most effective supplements for building muscle, improving physique, increasing strength and increasing the intensity of training. However, there are many myths and misinformation regarding the safety and potential side effects of this supplement. Is creatine safe? Does it affect weight gain? Is it harmful to the kidneys?
If you need real facts, you have come to the address. In this article, we will debunk the six most common creatine myths and tell you true information about this sports supplement.
MYTH 1. Creatine is harmful to the liver and kidneys.
Fact: creatine supplements have been the subject of numerous studies, which led to a unified conclusion: long-term use of creatine does not have any negative side effect on liver or kidney function.
In provocative media stories that claim that creatine causes kidney stones or liver damage, there is not a bit of truth. Most concerns about creatine safety focus on how well the kidneys filter blood.
Perhaps such misconceptions arise as a result of an increase in creatinine levels when taking creatine (this marker is used to diagnose kidney problems). However, this “false positive” is in no way harmful to your body. In addition, there is also no scientific evidence that regular supplementation with a recommended dose of creatine is detrimental to kidney function.
Numerous studies have not revealed an adverse effect of creatine on how well the kidneys filter blood. Moreover, hundreds of studies have confirmed the overall safety of this supplement. From their results, several main conclusions can be drawn:
12 weeks of creatine intake does not affect blood lipid profile at all
Long-term creatine intake does not negatively affect athlete’s health
To date, studies have not found significant changes in the function of the kidneys, liver, heart and muscles when taking supplements with creatine
So, I hope you catch the general idea. Since creatine safety has been demonstrated over and over again in all case studies over the past five years, we can safely conclude that creatine does not cause damage to the liver, kidneys, or any other internal organs.
MYTH 2. Creatine provokes gastrointestinal upsets
Fact: All available evidence suggests that creatine is completely safe to use, although it can cause some minor stomach upsets.
It’s true that there may indeed be some problems with the gastrointestinal tract when using creatine, but such a reaction is extremely rare. In fact, only 5-7% of people taking creatine supplements reported abdominal pain. Stomach problems tend to occur when consuming too much creatine in a short period of time (for example, during the loading phase) or when taken on an empty stomach.
In an effort to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal upsets among athletes, sports nutrition manufacturers have developed a special micronized creatine structure. During micronization, particle size decreases and the total surface area of \u200b\u200bthe substance increases, which increases its solubility and potentially reduces the risk of stomach problems. Micronized creatine is also faster and more fully mixed and qualitatively absorbed and absorbed by the body.
MYTH 3. Creatine causes cramping and dehydration
Fact: There is no evidence to suggest that creatine causes muscle cramps or dehydration.
One of the most common myths about taking creatine claims that this supplement can lead to dehydration or muscle cramps, especially in hot and humid conditions. But in reality, everything happens the other way around. Creatine supplementation, on the other hand, helps increase overall water reserves and maintain a sufficient level of body hydration.
Currently, there is no evidence that creatine has a negative effect on the level of hydration or the body's ability to regulate temperature. Most studies have noted a lack of change or even improved regulation of body temperature. As a result of the experiment, scientists from the University of San Diego (USA) concluded that creatine is able to inhibit the increase in body temperature during 60 minutes of heat exercises.
In addition, some studies have demonstrated that creatine helps increase performance in hot and humid conditions and that creatine supplements do not affect muscle cramps.
MYTH 4. When taking creatine, a compartment syndrome develops.
Fact: Although a slight increase in pressure may be observed as a result of consuming high doses of creatine, supplementation at the recommended doses does not cause compartment syndrome.
Compartment syndrome (or subfascial hypertension syndrome) is a disease that can occur due to constant positional compression of the muscles. Theoretically, the risk of developing this disease when taking supplements with creatine may increase due to fluid retention in muscle cells and an increase in the total size of muscle tissue. But let's look at things realistically. Most often, the compartment syndrome is a direct result of traumatic injuries, inflammatory edema or growing tumors or occurs later in the course of their treatment, which leads to insufficient blood flow to the tissues and can subsequently cause serious neuralgic injuries and circulatory disorders.
Although several scandalous materials were published in the media at the time that creatine provoked the development of the compartment syndrome in young athletes, such statements do not withstand any criticism. In particular, an article published in 2000 in the Journal of the American Council on Family Medicine described a case study of a bodybuilder who developed an acute compartment syndrome.
However, it is important to note that the subject was an avid athlete and took 25 grams of creatine per day during the year before the study - and this is 5 times the recommended dose! But even in this situation, it is impossible to draw an exact conclusion on what specific factor led to the development of the disease: regular consumption of an increased dose of creatine, an illiterate training program, or the use of any other sports supplements that are not reported in the study.
A number of other studies have also examined the effects of high doses of creatine on the risk of compartment syndrome. Although scientists did observe a slight increase in sub-fascial pressure after taking a large dose of creatine, the symptoms identified were not similar to the symptom complex compartment syndrome, and the pressure returned to normal soon after the experiment.
MYTH 5. Creatine provokes the development of rhabdomyolysis
Fact: There is no direct evidence that creatine triggers the development of rhabdomyolysis.
This myth became a darling of the press shortly after an article published in the New York Times stating that creatine caused rhabdomyolysis in young footballers. Rhabdomyolysis is a syndrome characterized by the destruction of skeletal muscle tissue cells due to severe injuries, which is usually accompanied by a sharp increase in the level of creatine kinase and myoglobin and the development of compartment syndrome. Rhabdomyolysis can develop, for example, as a result of regular intense training in a hot and humid climate.
According to reports, shortly before the study, the players were in a sports camp, where they constantly performed a large number of repetitive exercise approaches in a hot and humid gym room. None of the athletes indicated that he was taking creatine supplements. Nevertheless, the researchers for some reason suggested that it was creatine that caused the problem.
The assumption that creatine causes acute necrosis of skeletal muscles does not find support in the scientific literature. It is true that the level of creatine kinase does increase slightly as a result of taking supplements, but it does not nearly reach the level characterizing rhabdomyolysis. Not to mention various studies confirming the safety of creatine for the level of hydration and kidney function.
MYTH 6. Creatine leads to weight gain
Fact: In the first few days of creatine loading, a slight increase in body weight by 0.8-2.9% may be observed due to an increase in muscle fluid stores; however, this is rarely seen with lower doses of creatine.
There is a widespread belief that the mass gained from consuming creatine is the mass of water stored in the muscles. Indeed, some researchers have identified a sharp increase in total body fluid as a result of taking creatine supplements.
However, although the initial increase in body weight is a result of increased water reserves, studies have consistently shown that creatine, in addition to strength training, helps increase lean body mass and lower body fat, which leads to better physique. This is probably the result of an increase in the concentration and reserves of creatine phosphate and ATP, which allows you to work longer and with higher intensity.