Creatine myths

Anyone who is even remotely involved in sport or fitness will almost certainly have heard something about creatine. Equally, you will almost certainly have heard one or two horror stories or completely exaggerated claims about the performance-enhancing effects of creatine.

This often leads to athletes who could actually benefit from using a creatine supplement not being sure whether they should use creatine or not, as they doubt its safety and harmlessness to health. As a rule, most of these statements are nothing more than myths that have little to do with reality. The fact is that creatine is one of the safest and most effective supplements in the fitness world and is completely safe for long-term use.

This article will address some of the most common creatine myths and explain why they are nothing more than myths.

Is creatine comparable to anabolic steroids?

Anabolic steroids are synthetic analogs of the male sex hormone testosterone. The possession and use of these compounds is illegal in many countries. Anabolic steroids are more or less widespread on the black market, but you certainly can't buy them legally in a supplement store.

In contrast, creatine is a completely legal sports supplement that is widely available in many stores, which now even include ordinary supermarkets. Creatine has been freely available without a prescription for several decades and is considered very safe and harmless to health based on a huge amount of scientific research.

Although creatine certainly has performance-enhancing capabilities based on increasing strength and muscle endurance while promoting cell volumization, unlike steroids, all of these effects are based on non-hormonal pathways.

Can creatine damage the kidneys?

As with any supplement, it is of course advisable to consult your doctor before using creatine. There are also numerous scientific studies on creatine that clearly show that creatine can be considered safe and harmless to health for healthy adults without pre-existing kidney damage, even with long-term use.

Even if there are isolated anecdotal reports of kidney damage in creatine users, these health problems are very likely based on undetected kidney damage that already existed prior to creatine use.

Can creatine cause muscle cramps or injuries?

This is probably the most widespread creatine myth among athletes, repeated so often by so many people that potential creatine users who have never used creatine themselves unfortunately often take this statement as fact.

If an athlete using creatine gets a muscle cramp, they are quick to blame it on the creatine used, even though the actual reason for the cramp is more likely to be a lack of hydration, poor electrolyte balance or a number of other factors that can result in cramps.

In a large-scale study of over 1500 participants, creatine supplementation in athletes did not result in an increased incidence of muscle cramps. In fact, the members of the group that used creatine reported fewer muscle cramps than the members of the control group that did not use creatine.

Similarly, many athletes mistakenly believe that creatine can increase their risk of injury. However, scientific research has shown that creatine does not increase the likelihood of injury.

A study conducted with 72 professional football players as subjects concluded that athletes who supplemented creatine experienced fewer muscle cramps, less muscle stiffness, fewer strains, less dehydration and fewer overall injuries.

Perhaps even more interesting is a study conducted in 2001, which showed that creatine supplementation could accelerate rehabilitation in subjects after immobilization of one of the extremities during exercise training.

Conclusion

The creatine myths debunked in this article are merely the most common misconceptions. If you dig a little deeper, you will find many more. I hope that this article has encouraged readers to take a healthy dose of skepticism about anything they hear in the future that is overly negative about creatine.

I can only encourage everyone to search relevant search engines such as PubMed or Google Scholar for legitimate scientific literature and studies when it comes to creatine or other supplements. You shouldn't necessarily rely on personal anecdotes or statements from training colleagues or coaches, but instead consult meaningful, independently peer-reviewed studies when in doubt.

Of course, all this advice also applies to overly positive claims about a particular supplement. If you look at the exaggerated advertising claims made by some companies about the effects of creatine or other supplements, you should always bear in mind that creatine is not a steroid but a natural supplement and therefore you cannot expect steroid-like results - even if some manufacturers like to claim this.

To conclude this article, it should be mentioned that there are well over a thousand if not thousands of studies conducted with creatine, the vast majority of which show that creatine is a safe and effective supplement. Whether you are a recreational or professional athlete, or simply want to maintain good health, creatine can be a useful addition to your personal supplement plan.