Consumer Review: Creatine Will Help Your Muscles Grow, But It Can Also Harm Your Heart And Kidneys.
Creatine Monohydrate does help your cells reproduce, and you will gain weight and strength quickly. But the way it works is dangerous.
Half of the weight you gain will be water weight. Your cells need to be full of fluid to divide. Creatine invades your cells, pulls fluid in and won't release it. Thus, cells are able to divide, and muscle tissue grows rapidly. But creatine also plays tricks on kidneys in which a lot of damage can occur (kidneys help produce your body's natural creatine).
The heart also is affected. It is put into a state of shock with the changing volume content in the vascular spaces, as well as its own tissue. It can become over stressed and give out, as with the example of a some high school and college wrestlers. Creatine also may advance certain heart diseases, and may even cause heart disease, arrhythmias, and hypo or hypertension.
If you are going to use creatine, take small amounts, DRINK A LOT OF WATER, and eat plenty. Instead, I would advise protein supplements, multivitamins, fish oils, a lot of complex carbohydrates, and plenty of water.
Dr. J. Neilson
Response #1
I wish I would have got this message two years ago. I took creatine for about a year as directed. I stopped, due to my bicep tendon fraying through a congenitally small bicipital groove. After surgery, I was instructed not to lift weights anymore. So ended my creatine use. My question is this: What are the chances I caused damage to my heart or kidneys. Thanks for any response.
John
Response #2
Are you really a doctor? My entire life, I have NEVER heard of mature muscle cells dividing, but instead growing larger. I quote my college bio test: "weightlifters cannot increase the number of muscle cells, only the size." Maybe I am wrong, but I think you don't know what you are talking about. Especially when you say creatine's effects can put the heart in a "state of shock." Anyone with common sense would know that a heart in "a state of shock" would most likely mean a heart attack at the least and death at the most. Please clarify what you wrote or at least cite your sources.
Response #3
I am glad I have found someone who agrees with me that creatine can be harmful. I am an inline speed skater from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I took part in an international competition held in Pretoria. I was encouraged to be put onto creatine, but my mother objected. I recently spoke to Bruce Fordyce (9 time comrades winner) and he told me that creatine is a disguised steroid and must be avoided at any cost. I would like to hear more of your research so that I can convince my coach that it is unhealthy and dangerous.
Thank you,
Timothy M.
Response #4
Creatine is not some sort of digested steroid like the person from Africa stated. First of all, creatine is stored naturally in the body and is found naturally in the meats that we eat. What creatine does is free up inorganic phosphates within our body, which are used to create ATP (adinosine tri phosphate), which is the only energy source our bodies have. Everything we eat is eventually turned into this, but I will not venture into how. Once your body uses a molecule of ATP, the result is energy, lactic acid, water, and ADP (adinosine di phosphate), which is useless to our bodies. This is where creatine steps in. The creatine frees up phosphates within our bodies, which allows for quicker conversion to ATP, which can then be used for energy. True, this process causes the muscles to store a lot of water, but this should not be a serious problem as long as you drink plenty of water, which you should be doing anyway.
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