Creatine Side Effects

I used to wonder how do these body builders develop such mind boggling and awe inspiring muscles. Amongst the few answers I got, one of them was creatine, in addition to diet and rigorous workout regime. So for all those who might be stuck on the answer to that question, creatine is the answer. It is normally consumed in the form of pills as creatine supplements. But what exactly is creatine and what are creatine side effects? So here is more on facts about creatine and other creatine related issues.

Creatine

As mentioned earlier, before we go on to creatine side effects, it is essential to know what is creatine and then move on. So creatine is basically a naturally occurring nitrogenous organic acid in vertebrates. It serves as an energy supplier to the muscle. Around half of the stored creatine in animals and human beings has its source in food, mainly fresh meat. Three different amino acids are responsible for biosynthesizing approximately half the amount of creatine daily. For those who are non-vegetarians, they might not need to take supplements, but vegetables do not have creatine and therefore vegetarians have low levels of muscle creatine. Creatine is advised for treatment of several muscular disorders, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Athletes are also benefited by creatine, because it is shown to have reduced lactic acid, which is produced when we tire our muscles. That helps them in exercising unhindered for muscle building. But there are creatine side effects as well, which have been enumerated in the following paragraph.

Side Effects of Creatine

• Creatine supplements are believed to lead to water retention, kidney stones and bloating. Along with kidney stones it causes renal dysfunction.
In addition to that, it causes wheezing, appetite loss and diarrhea and dehydration.
• There are risks of a heart stroke when creatine supplements are taken in combination with ephedra, for the simple reason that it works on muscles. So it can have an impact on the muscles of the heart as well.
• In case of wrong consumption of creatine, muscle cramps, nausea and seizures are also experienced. Decrease in muscle mass is also supposed to be one of the creatine side effects. Muscle tear and muscle pulls are also a part of cretine side effects.
• The concentration of urine is also a lot more than usual, precisely as a result of water retention.
• There is also a theory that if you are regularly consuming creatine and then when you exercise, you experience a lot of pain. However this has not been proved as yet.

Creatine Monohydrate Side Effects

As they say that a coin has two sides, the same goes with creatine monohydrate side effects. Ironically, the most widely used formula when it comes to creatine supplements is creatine monohydrate. It is used by many body builders and athletes for enhancing performance or high intensity exercise or physical activity. But the travesty is that even creatine monohydrate is labeled to have side effects and these are almost the same as creatine side effects. That is again, dehydration, nausea and so on. But the advantages are more than disadvantages. Moreover, quite a few have not been concretely proved. The side effects of creatine also depend on who is taking it and in what physical condition that individual is. With regards to monohydrate creatine, it is believed that it has been proven to be the most effective. However, some of the harmful side effects of creatine have not been proven as yet. But on the contrary, side effects of creatine have also not been proven.

So the cue to be taken from all this is if you are in the best of health and consume a proper dosage of creatine with requisite precautions, (like drinking more water to deal with the dehydration) creatine would cause no harm.

Therefore, if you are pondering over creatine consumption, take care but do not be afraid of the creatine side effects. Just follow the rules of the game! Best of Luck!