Is creatine bad and if so what are the side effects?

Question

I am 16 year old Jr who is currently in Football season. Alot of the guys on the team are telling me to take creatine to get bigger. I feel that everyone has a different anwser and all I want are the facts. I am 5'7 ft, 130 pds, and I need to get bigger to play, what should I do?

Answer 1

Possible kidney stones

Just eat more and research weight lifting. You can get enough protein from milk and meat. Do it naturally.

Answer 2

hi there, creatine is not recommended for under 19's unless your gp suggest it leave it alone, got to the gym and eat plenty of red meat,
it can be a safe supplement to take, but like everything else it can be dangerous, like if you take too many pain killers, etc
some of the side effects of creatine are...
upset stomach, muscle cramping, diarrhea and dehydration
also liver and kidney failure, so if the other players are daft enough to take it at their age that's their look out, but you be sensible and build your body up the natural way and rest assured you will be healthier and fitter,
i hope this helps
yvonne

Answer 3

Creatine is often taken by humans as a supplement for those wishing to gain muscle mass (bodybuilding). There are a number of forms but the most common are creatine monohydrate - creatine bonded with a molecule of water, and creatine ethyl ester (CEE) – which is creatine monohydrate with an ester attached. A number of methods for ingestion exist - as a powder mixed into a drink, or as a pill.

There is scientific evidence that taking creatine supplements can marginally increase athletic performance in high-intensity anaerobic repetitive cycling sprints, but studies in swimmers and runners have been less than promising, possibly due to the weight gain. Ingesting creatine can increase the level of phosphocreatine in the muscles up to 20%. It must be noted creatine has no significant effect on aerobic exercise (Engelhardt et al, 1998).

Some studies have shown that creatine supplementation increases both total and fat-free body mass, though it is difficult to say how much of this is due to the training effect. Since body mass gains of about 1 kg (about 2.2 pounds) can occur in a week's time, several studies suggest that the gain is simply due to greater water retention inside the muscle cells. However, studies into the long-term effect of creatine supplementation suggest that body mass gains cannot be explained by increases in intracellular water alone. In the longer term, the increase in total body water is reported to be proportional to the weight gains, which means that the percentage of total body water is not significantly changed. The magnitude of the weight gains during training over a period of several weeks argue against the water-retention theory.

It is possible that the initial increase in intracellular water increases osmotic pressure, which in turn stimulates protein synthesis. A few studies have reported changes in the nitrogen balance during creatine supplementation, suggesting that creatine increases protein synthesis and/or decreases protein breakdown. Again, while hypothesized, this remains unproven.

Also, research has shown that creatine increases the activity of myogenic cells. These cells, sometimes called satellite cells, are myogenic stem cells that make hypertrophy (increase in size of cells) of adult skeletal muscle possible. These stem cells are simply generic or non-specific cells that have the ability to form new muscle cells following damage to the muscle tissue, or to fuse with the existing muscle fibres in the case of exercise to permit growth of the muscle fibre. Following proliferation (reproduction) and subsequent differentiation (to become a specific type of cell), these satellite cells will fuse with one another or with the adjacent damaged muscle fiber, thereby increasing myonuclei numbers necessary for fiber growth and repair. The study, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine was able to show that creatine supplementation increased the number of myonuclei donated from satellite cells. This increases the potential for growth of those fibers. This increase in myonuclei probably stems from creatine's ability to increase levels of the myogenic transcription factor MRF4 (Hespel, 2001).

Current studies indicate that short-term creatine supplementation in healthy individuals is safe (Robinson et al., 2000). Longer-term studies have occasionally been done, but have been small. One such study that is often cited involved a minimum length of 3 months, but only had 10 creatine subjects (Mayhew et al 2002).

There has been controversy over the incidence of muscle cramping with the use of creatine. A study done at the University of Memphis showed no reports of muscle cramping in subjects taking creatine-containing supplements during various exercise training conditions in trained and untrained endurance athletes (Kreider R. et al, 1998).

Answer 4

better to go natural. read tips on gaining muscle mass and dietary needs on this site