Creatine: It's Uses and Downfalls
January 25th 2011 21:21
Creatine is an interesting supplement. If you're a bodybuilder, or atleast work out frequently, and you don't know what creatine is or what it does, you're in for a treat. Creatine is one of the most frequently used supplements in the bodybuilding world, and for good reason. It's one of the few "legal" ergogenic aids on the market and it does it's job fairly well. However, creatine isn't limited to the bodybuilding world. It has a few more uses in the pharmocological world in the treatment of disease and disorders as well. So what is creatine exactly and what does it do?
Creatine, or creatine phosphate, occurs naturally in all vertebrates and helps to supply energy to all working cells in the body, primarily muscles, and increase performance of those cells and muscles. Creatine increases performance and energy by supplying extra ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, the main (and as far as anyone knows the only) energy source for all bodily functions. That little chemistry nugget was just for your reference, we're not going to get too far into the chemical reactions and metabolic pathways involved with this supplementation right now.
Creatines uses may seem obvious to some of us after the former reference. Bodybuilding is the act of building the muscles in the body. Creatine supplies extra energy to those muscles which allows for extra reps, sets, and altogether intensity for your workout. However, that isn't the limit of it's uses. Creatine is also used for neuromuscular disorders and neurodegenerative diseases such as; arthritis, Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure, and muscular dystrophy. Though treatment with creatine is still in the larval stage, it's strength increasing properties are well known and as such would do well with these type of muscular disorders. However, don't take my word for it. In one study done in the scientific journal Neurobiology of Disease, creatine was actually twice as effective as the prescription drug riluzole in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neural disease similar to Parkinson's which effects control of voluntary muscle movement. According to the study, creating showed "substantial evidence for bioenergetic defects in Huntington's disease (HD). Creatine administration increases brain phosphocreatine levels and it stabilizes the mitochondrial permeability transition...Dietary supplementation of 2% creatine significantly improved survival, slowed the development of motor symptoms, and delayed the onset of weight loss" (Creatine increases survivial). That study gives us some good reason to believe that great leaps are being taken in what we can use to treat these debilitating disorders. However, for all the good creatine can do for us, there are certain side effects that balance it all out like everything else.
As with any other supplement out there, three quarters of the information is theoretical and a quarter is nonsense. Creatine really isn't any different in that sense. However, there are some credible health concerns for those of us who regularly supplement our daily routine with creatine. Three of the most common side effects are dehydration, altering of liver function, and kidney damage. Yet just as with the upsides of creatine supplementation, the downsides are largely unfounded. Other so called side effects are diarrhea, muscle cramping, and insulin alteration. Are these credible theories? Of course they are. However, even the experts lack any real evidence on these side effects. According to The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness "Most reports on side effects, such as muscle cramping, gastrointestinal symptoms, changes in renal and hepatic laboratory values, remain anecdotal because the case studies do not represent well-controlled trials, so no causal relationship between creatine supplementation and these side-effects has yet been established. The only documented side effect is an increase in body mass" (Bizzarini, De Angelis)
All in all, just as with anything scientific and especially in regards to supplementation, it's up to us to decide just what we believe. My opinion: creatine is one of the safest and most successful supplements on the market. Highly reccommended.
References:
Bizzarini, E., De Angelis L The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness (2004) "Is oral creatine supplementation safe?"
Andreassen OA, Dedeoglu A, Ferrante RJ Neurobiology of Disease (2001) "Creatine increases survival and delays motor symptoms"
Creatine, or creatine phosphate, occurs naturally in all vertebrates and helps to supply energy to all working cells in the body, primarily muscles, and increase performance of those cells and muscles. Creatine increases performance and energy by supplying extra ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, the main (and as far as anyone knows the only) energy source for all bodily functions. That little chemistry nugget was just for your reference, we're not going to get too far into the chemical reactions and metabolic pathways involved with this supplementation right now.
Creatines uses may seem obvious to some of us after the former reference. Bodybuilding is the act of building the muscles in the body. Creatine supplies extra energy to those muscles which allows for extra reps, sets, and altogether intensity for your workout. However, that isn't the limit of it's uses. Creatine is also used for neuromuscular disorders and neurodegenerative diseases such as; arthritis, Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure, and muscular dystrophy. Though treatment with creatine is still in the larval stage, it's strength increasing properties are well known and as such would do well with these type of muscular disorders. However, don't take my word for it. In one study done in the scientific journal Neurobiology of Disease, creatine was actually twice as effective as the prescription drug riluzole in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neural disease similar to Parkinson's which effects control of voluntary muscle movement. According to the study, creating showed "substantial evidence for bioenergetic defects in Huntington's disease (HD). Creatine administration increases brain phosphocreatine levels and it stabilizes the mitochondrial permeability transition...Dietary supplementation of 2% creatine significantly improved survival, slowed the development of motor symptoms, and delayed the onset of weight loss" (Creatine increases survivial). That study gives us some good reason to believe that great leaps are being taken in what we can use to treat these debilitating disorders. However, for all the good creatine can do for us, there are certain side effects that balance it all out like everything else.
As with any other supplement out there, three quarters of the information is theoretical and a quarter is nonsense. Creatine really isn't any different in that sense. However, there are some credible health concerns for those of us who regularly supplement our daily routine with creatine. Three of the most common side effects are dehydration, altering of liver function, and kidney damage. Yet just as with the upsides of creatine supplementation, the downsides are largely unfounded. Other so called side effects are diarrhea, muscle cramping, and insulin alteration. Are these credible theories? Of course they are. However, even the experts lack any real evidence on these side effects. According to The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness "Most reports on side effects, such as muscle cramping, gastrointestinal symptoms, changes in renal and hepatic laboratory values, remain anecdotal because the case studies do not represent well-controlled trials, so no causal relationship between creatine supplementation and these side-effects has yet been established. The only documented side effect is an increase in body mass" (Bizzarini, De Angelis)
All in all, just as with anything scientific and especially in regards to supplementation, it's up to us to decide just what we believe. My opinion: creatine is one of the safest and most successful supplements on the market. Highly reccommended.
References:
Bizzarini, E., De Angelis L The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness (2004) "Is oral creatine supplementation safe?"
Andreassen OA, Dedeoglu A, Ferrante RJ Neurobiology of Disease (2001) "Creatine increases survival and delays motor symptoms"
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