Common Creatine Myths Dispelled!

Yesterday I was reading this thread on the Muscle & Strength Forum (great forum by the way) and I thought it was about time to make a post about creatine myths. Since I got into the gym in 2001 I have heard all sorts of stories about creatine. Some of them are so far fetched it’s laughable!

So I’m going to list all the creatine myths I can think of, and hopefully spread a good word to what really is an awesome supplement for muscle building and increasing strength. In fact, for several years creatine has been the most commonly used supplement by Olympic athletes.

List of creatine myths:

1. Creatine is a steroid. Believe it or not, this is about the most common myth I have heard. Creatine is a 100% natural product, it’s actually found in foods like red meat and oily fish. The problem is, the amount of creatine in these foods is so minute that it’s unrealistic to try and get a reasonable amount of creatine from them. For example, you would need to eat around 2kg (4.4lbs) of raw red meat to get the same amount of creatine as 1 heaped teaspoon of creatine monohydrate provides.
2. Creatine causes kidney damage. Unless you have a pre-existing medical condition, creatine use should not damage your kidneys or liver. Most of the hype has been the result of anecdotal reports. In one study which tracked healthy athletes over a five-year period, football players who used creatine at levels up to 15.75g of creatine per day showed no effect on markers of renal or kidney stress.
3. You can get enough creatine from your diet. Read myth number 1, it’s virtually impossible to get enough creatine from diet alone. When you cook foods the creatine is lost, so what little creatine was in there is now gone.
4. Creatine makes you fat. This is impossible! It’s not uncommon for lifters to report an almost immediate gain of weight when they start taking creatine. This is due to water retention inside the muscles, not fat gain. This is also known as “water weight”.
5. Creatine must be loaded. Studies are beginning to suggest that the loading phase of creatine is not essential. In most cases, taking between 5 to 10 grams of creatine per day is sufficient. While the loading phase is not essential, it may saturate your muscles with creatine faster. While it may be faster, it’s definitely not essential.
6. Creatine benefits all athletes. This is false because creatine will only benefit you if you need short bursts of power. Athletes like long distance runners for example may not benefit from supplementing with creatine.
7. Creatine increases anabolic hormones. This is not so common, but untrue. While creatine can boost strength and lean mass, research from the University of Leuven in Belgium has shown that it doesn’t not alter anabolic hormone response to training. These hormones included growth hormone, testosterone, and cortisol.
8. All creatine is the same. Not true. Creatine can contain contaminants such as creatinine, sodium, dicyandiamide, and dihydrotriazine.
9. The more creatine you take the better. Last, but not lease, the old favorite - take more creatine to get bigger! No study has suggested that taking more creatine is beneficial in any way. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Even on a 220 pound bodybuilder, studies have shown that up to 40% of the daily 10g dose is wasted. Less is more, 5g per day is sufficient.

Have you heard any creatine myths that I haven’t listed here? I’d love to hear them, post them in the comments below!

Pic credit: bodybuilding.com