creatine question

[norvturner]

I have been working out for a while now and have pretty good results but I have never used creatine. Before I start, I want to know if the side effects of it and what the chances are of it being harmful. This question comes to mind because I have heard many good and bad things about using creatine Thank your ofr any helpful info.

[Haloed]

There are no known negative side effects.

You will gain 3-5 lbs within around a week or so once you start and gain some size (in your muscles) due to water retention. Drink lots of water.

Info on creatine (and other supplements):
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/...t=ST;f=13;t=25

[Johnka]

Welcome to the forums [img]smile.gif[/img]

Quick question: how old are you? If you're under 18, there is probably no need to be taking it yet. But creatine is one of the most effective supplements known for muscle gain. Here's a recent review:
http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.or...-1-44-2004.pdf

Creatine. In our view, the most effective
nutritional supplement available to athletes to
increase high intensity exercise capacity and
muscle mass during training is creatine.
Numerous studies have indicated that creatine
supplementation increases body mass and/or
muscle mass during training. Gains are
typically 2 – 5 pounds greater than controls
during 4 – 12 weeks of training. The gains
in muscle mass appear to be a result of an
improved ability to perform high intensity
exercise enabling an athlete to train harder
and thereby promote greater training
adaptations and muscle hypertrophy. The
only clinically significant side effect reported
from creatine supplementation has been
weight gain. Although concerns
have been raised about the safety and possible
side effects of creatine supplementation,
recent long-term safety studies have reported
no apparent side effects and/or that
creatine may lessen the incidence of injury
during training. Consequently,
supplementing the diet with creatine and/or
creatine containing formulations seems to be
a safe and effective method to increase
muscle mass.

[norvturner]

Thank you for your replies. Just by reading other posts on this site and these answers/ links I have learned a lot about creatine. I am 16 and I am looking to gain muscle mass so I figured it would be the best choice. Another question would be does it matter which brand or are some better than others?

[trainiac]

Creatine is safe and effective, providing
1. You are in good h=ealth
2. You follow the dosage recommendations
3. You drink lots of water
4. You don't stay on it forever (4-6 weeks at a time is OK).

Here's a few pages you might be interested in http://www.fitchicago.com/lies.html
http://www.fitchicago.com/whatis.html

---Trainiac!
http://www.clintphillips.com/tips.html

[Haloed]

Creatine is safe and effective, providing
1. You are in good h=ealth
2. You follow the dosage recommendations
3. You drink lots of water
4. You don't stay on it forever (4-6 weeks at a time is OK).

You can stay on creatine forever without any negative effects (creatine is in all animal products so even if you stop taking it you're still getting some from your food). The dosage doesn't matter at all, you could take 50g a day and it wouldn't be any different than 5g a day. Your body breaks down excess creatine into creatinine and it is excreted in the urine. Other than making your wallet lighter, I have yet to see a single study showing any negative side effects from taking alot of creatine.

[dinabol]

Creatine is not considered toxic. some individuals may retain water (something to keep in mind during the precontest season. most body builders discontinue use about two weeks before a contest) but for the most part, creatine has no know side effects. Having said that, a few words of caution are needed. Even though studies conducted used relatively high doses of creatine the average trial period fell in the five to ten gram per day range. Bodybuilders and other athletes will no doubt be taking creatine continuously for months if not into years. Such a pattern of use has no analogy in the medical literature. Today's bodybuilders are breaking new ground with each week of creatine use. the effects of such a long term, high dose use are unknown. while extrapolation sugggests that there should be no problems, discretion is highly recommended.

[Rotting Pumpkin]

Originally posted by Haloed:
You can stay on creatine forever without any negative effects (creatine is in all animal products so even if you stop taking it you're still getting some from your food).

Creatine is also produced by the human body and can be detected in the blood stream.

Originally posted by Haloed:
The dosage doesn't matter at all, you could take 50g a day and it wouldn't be any different than 5g a day. Your body breaks down excess creatine into creatinine and it is excreted in the urine.

I wonder what the long term effects of passing increased amounts of unused creatine through the liver are? Too much of anything can be toxic.

[dinabol]

Total creatine is the total amount of creatine in the body from a combination of free and phosphorylated forms. It is determined that creatine used or "turned over" at a rate of about 1.6 percent per day. for a average 160 pound male with an average creatine pool of 120 grams, this works out to about 2 grams per day. The creatine that is used is replaced by both internal synthesis (endogenous sources) and by the diet (exogenous sources). As synthesis is heavily dependent on external sources, dietary sources are considered the most important in determining creatine levels.

The best sources of creatine are meat, fish and other animal products. The average creatine intake from dietary sources estimated to be one gram per day. As plants are very low in creatine, vegetarians rely soley on internal synthesis for creatine sources.

Both forms of creatine are subject to individual variations. Levels may be influenced by such factors as muscle fiber type, age and disease.