Creatine Safety

Is Creatine Safe to Take in the Long Run? Find out here...

Note: Our top pick for the best Creatine supplement is Pumped Extreme Kre Alkalyn Creatine.

When creatine hit the scene many people thought it was a steroid, maybe even a legal steroid alternative or something that just wasn’t on the up-and-up.

Athletes and bodybuilders taking creatine were (and still do) making awesome gains.

The stuff has to be illegal, right? Wrong. It’s legal. What’s more is it’s safe.

Of course at first nobody knew for sure whether it was safe. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Duh!

Fortunately, because creatine generate such amazing results, it’s been studied extensively. It’s probably one of the most studied supplements of all time.

The result of endless investigation: creatine is not harmful for you, even if taking it in the long run.

Let’s take a look at some studies:

1. Study #1 [1]

23 NCAA Division II football players aged 19 to 24 years with 2 years of strength-training under their belt were split into 2 groups – one group took creatine, the other group took no creatine.

Daily consumption was 5 to 20mg (standard doses) for .25 to 5.6 years.

Result: ”creatine has no long-term detrimental effects on kidney or liver functions in highly trained college athletes.”

2. Study #2 (A review) [2]

JR Poortmans and M. Francaux performed a review of numerous creatine studies as well as other literature and found “there is no evidence of deleterious effects in healthy individuals.”

Note that this article doesn’t discuss whether creatine is effective … there are many (and I’m talking many) of studies that show creatine is a very effective supplement for building muscle and strength.

References:

[1] Mayhew DL, Mayhew JL, Ware JS. Effects of long-term creatine supplementation on liver and kidney functions in American college football players. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2002 Dec;12(4):453-60.

[2] Terjung RL, Clarkson P, Eichner ER, Greenhaff PL, Hespel PJ, Israel RG, Kraemer WJ, Meyer RA, Spriet LL, Tarnopolsky MA, Wagenmakers AJ, Williams MH. American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Mar;32(3):706-17.

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