Creatine: Helping White Men Jump

   Creatine is a wonder supplement, typically ingested in powder form, that allows you to gain weight, reduce recovery time, and increase muscle mass.  It's legal, it's available, and it's being consumed by thousands of young adult men struggling to get bigger and lift heavier weights.  Americans spend +/- 14 million dollars a year on the product.  Is it safe?  I went on a hunt of the online communities and university publications to find out.

    Creatine is an organic acid that is naturally produced in the skeletal muscle.  The body manufactures about half of the creatine we store.  The rest we ingest from eating meat - specifically wild game, beef, herring, tuna, and salmon.  Vegetarians have markedly lower levels of creatine in their systems.   The theory behind it's weight-gaining potential is that it causes "cell volumization" by drawing water into the muscle cells.

     According to studies conducted by the University of Maryland Medical Center, preliminary results show that the increase in muscle mass one experiences with creatine may be useful in treating muscular dystrophy and heart failure.  They are optimistic that creatine is more useful than potentially dangerous.  That said, creatine has noted side effects including dizziness, high blood pressure, and stomach cramping.

    The danger seems to be that creatine has not been studied on subjects under the age of nineteen.  According to Men's Health side effects appear to be the result of the consumer allowing himself to become dehydrated or overusing the supplement.  Logically speaking, these should be the people most likely to misuse a substance.

      The NCAA is very conflicted about creatine.  Its policy is that athletic trainers cannot give creatine to athletes or mandate that they use it.  However, athletes are free to use creatine on their own.The French Agency of Medical Security has said the use of creatine is "against the spirit of sportsmanship and fair competition."

     Online bodybuilding forums are very supportive, not only of the supplement but of each other.  Veteran body builders urge newcomers to drink plenty of water, follow the guidelines, and reduce dosage to "maintain" physique once the desired weight gain has been achieved.  I am suprisingly disappointed this expose uncovered nothing harmful (and may need to evaluate why I would wish doom this way) but it appears that creatine is, for all intents and purposes, safe.