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Written by Shaurya Gulani | Art by Anoushka Pandya

Unlocking untapped muscle power and pushing your workout limits like never before, the promise of creatine. Despite its proven benefits, misconceptions and hysteria surrounding creatine still linger. This article aims to present an in-depth discussion about creatine while addressing inaccurate stigmas and how they originated.

First, it is important to understand how this supplement works. When you consume creatine, skeletal muscles convert the substance into smaller compounds. These compounds help create ATP, a continuous sustainable energy supply, for your muscles when in use. In addition, creatine helps with muscle recovery (growth) by activating muscle satellite cells, increasing anabolic hormones such as testosterone and human growth hormone, and boosting the water content in muscle cells. Even if you don’t hope to improve your athletic performance, creatine can benefit people with neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, osteoarthritis, blood flow, and much more. Additionally, with the right diet, all strength improvements from creatine can be maintained independently. To put it simply, you do not build up a dependence on the supplement.

There are some members of the fitness and research community that for years have been preaching that creatine causes muscle cramps, liver dysfunction, and kidney damage. Let’s debunk these one by one. The claims of dehydration and muscle cramps originate from the fact that creatine drives water into your muscle cells. However, this shift is minor when thinking about your body’s water content as a whole. Taking these supplements raises the levels of creatine in your blood, and in the past, creatine was commonly measured to diagnose kidney or liver conditions. However, in the case of taking a supplement, we know the slight increase is not a bodily reaction but an external source. All to say, the rise in creatine levels does not mean it is harming your liver or kidneys, an important concept to remember. All of these claims or risks have originated from rare cases where a teenager experienced liver failure or other complications. However, these cases are always due to taking an excessive amount, or how the effects work in combination with specific bad habits or drugs that the teenager was already taking. Creatine has multiple markers for diagnosing diseases, so it is often blamed for complications whenever it is present. Teenagers in the fitness community have different insecurities that drive them into dangerous habits. These habits paired with creatine is where the issue arises. In conclusion, creatine itself is not only safe but extremely beneficial for the body. It is important to remember to check with your doctor for any health risks you have that could be amplified by creatine, and if approved, then take a regulated amount for your body weight. 

Works Cited:

“Creatine Side Effects, Interactions, and What You Should Know.” Healthline, Healthline Media, http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/creatine-safety-and-side-effects#takeaway. Accessed 24 June 2024. 

Professional, Cleveland Clinic medical. “Creatine.” Cleveland Clinic, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17674-creatine. Accessed 24 June 2024.