HOUSTON – Creatine is a popular supplement among athletes. Now the benefits are expanding beyond those in the gym.
WHAT IS CREATINE?
It’s a building block for a lot of the cells in our body. It has been shown to improve muscle building, repair, prevent injury, and enhance performance.
“But it’s super helpful for the rest of the body, for aging, for neurocognitive function,” explained Dr. Kathy Nguyen with Memorial Hermann Medical Group Sports Medicine. “I highly recommend creatine. We’ve had about three decades of research on creatine and it’s one of the supplements that I think it’s pretty beneficial for adults, adolescent age children and then also males and females. So really doesn’t have any negatives.”
IMPROVED LONGEVITY
“We always think it’s for muscle building and performance enhancement but it’s super helpful for the rest of the body, for aging, for neurocognitive function, for our bone health, and even just for in general, like muscle healing, injury prevention, injury healing,” Nguyen said.
HOW TO GET CREATINE
Dr. Nguyen says the body naturally makes creatine after eating red meat, seafood, and fish but the most beneficial and sophisticated form is from supplementation.
She recommends creatine monohydrate.
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Creatine monohydrate is well-studied, well-absorbed, and easy to consume since it can be added to any liquid at any time of day.
“The safe amount is about .3g/kg to .8g/kg per day,” she said.
When measuring grams, it may be convenient to use a pre-sized scoop.
WHO SHOULD NOT TAKE CREATINE
The only people Dr. Nguyen says to avoid creatine is pregnant women and young kids.
SIDE EFFECTS
If you’re using too much, stomach upset, some diarrhea can occur.
Dr. Nguyen said you can even avoid that by taking it in smaller increments, several times a day.
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