The truth about creatine side effects

Controversy and creatine...

Two words that have become synonymous and inseparable over the last couple of years. How ironic that an amino acid that is manufactured in the human body has become the proponent for such global conjecture, scrutiny and supposition. Albeit, through it all, creatine has been established as one of the most effective and fashionable supplements found in the marketplace today for body builders, sport enthusiasts and those that desire to improve performance, stamina and quicker recovery time. Incidentally, now creatine has proven to aid in a whole host of other non-sport related issues. Nevertheless, like every other non-FDA sanctioned properties, there are concerns that creatine is unsafe.

So, is all the publicity and feeding frenzy going on about creatine side effects that so often appear in the media and search engines, rhetoric or are they founded on fact or fiction, is it biased or unbiased and is it from gospel truth or merely litigious lies?

Simply put, creatine and its derivative brothers and sisters are immensely envogue. Primarily because it rapidly quickens gains in muscular size, strength and stamina compared to just exercise alone. Pennsylvania State University, in a study led by Jeff Volek, conducted a 12-week trial discovering that creatine consumers wound up stronger in both the bench press and the squat, in comparison to subjects using a placebo supplement. They also witnessed twice the gains in lean muscle mass and a much faster recovery rate.

Are Creatine Side Effects Tangible or Intangible? In recent reports, it has been eluded to that creatine consumers are more susceptible to cramps, muscle spasms, and even pulled and torn muscles. Conversely, in a three-year study designed to determine whether these creatine side effects really do exist, it was discovered that creatine had no effect on the incidence of injury or cramping in a group of American football players. Recently, research published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise reveals similar findings. From a group of 26 athletes taking creatine for nearly four years, there was no discrepancy in the reported incidence of muscle cramp or injury of that put side by side with athletes not using creatine.

In my personal experience, as well as that of working with several hundred athletes, I have witnessed that they (athletes) on a whole experience cramps, spasms and are more susceptible to injury, by and large and to a greater degree than most folks, simply by virtue of use, function and the extent in which they subject their bodies to.

Additionally, published reports in the September 2004 issue of the International Journal of Sports Medicine, also shows that creatine side effects are rare. A group of 176 subjects received either 10 grams of creatine or placebo daily for an average period of 310 days. Slight cases of diarrhea and nausea did cause three subjects to stop using creatine. Nevertheless, there were no other significant differences between the groups

In another study conducted using twenty-three members of an NCAA Division II football team, they separated the players into a control group (consuming no supplements whatsoever), as well as a creatine user group. All subjects in the creatine group averaged 14 grams of creatine a day for more than three years; thus far the researchers have uncovered absolutely no damaging effects on either liver or kidney performance.

To re-illuminate the issue of cramping, scientists still are not sure what actually causes cramps or spasms to occur. My speculation is that with increased hydration, the proper, necessary processing of creatine through the system is more adequately accomplished and incidences or concern would subsequently diminish or entirely disappear. Few people hydrate well anyway, so exacerbate that with additional functional system tasks and something well most likely occur. Cramping happens anyway from poor hydrative habits, it only makes sense that with an added undertaking (creatine ingestion), subsequent spasms and cramps can and most likely will happen.

Less common, but maybe even more important is that creatine has numerous positive and protective consequences and outcomes in heart, muscle and neurological diseases; including depression and wasting diseases and related disorders. In truth, after several months of creatine supplementation in both men and women with borderline high cholesterol levels, the results showed reduced low-density lipoprotein levels by almost one-third, that's somewhat noteworthy, don't you think?

Moreover, analogous findings were reported in the journal Metabolism. Twenty-eight days of creatine supplementation and resistance exercise lowered total cholesterol levels significantly more than resistance exercise alone.

Conclusively...

Cautiously managed studies over short- (five days), medium- (nine weeks) and long-term (five years) have yet to reveal that creatine supplementation has any adverse consequences on blood pressure, kidney or liver function in healthy specimens.

However, to be as impartial as possible, the fact that significant and costly invasive trials have yet to unearth any serious creatine side effects doesn't mean that none exists. There have been isolated case reports of persons suffering from kidney troubles after using creatine. Anyone with existing liver or kidney disorders, or those predisposed to such ailments, should seek proper medical advice before using creatine. Nonetheless, if you are exercising, and the promise of bigger muscles, increased stamina, recovery that is more expedient or any of the host of possibilities or potentials exhibited from creatine use drives you to explore creatine for yourself, please increase your water intake. After all your entire composition (body) is literally nothing but water and amino acids, so replete what you deplete. I urge you to check out the Neo Physis Super Premium Creatine. There are very few creatine products on the market that can compete with this product. So, please do the research...I did!

by Kurt Hurley