Ninety-five percent of creatine in your body is stored in the skeletal muscle, where it is used to produce the energy compound adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, that powers the muscles. Your body makes creatine from amino acids. The liver, kidney and pancreas all participate in making creatine. But diet accounts for the other half of your daily creatine need, according to Rice University. The other way to get creatine is through supplementation. Creatine supplements are widely used in the U.S. but need to be taken with medical supervision.
Benefits of Creatine Supplement
Because of its role in regenerating energy, creatine is touted for boosting athletic performance, especially in high-intensity, short-duration sports such as sprinting and weightlifting. People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, Parkinson's disease, muscle dystrophy or other muscle diseases may benefit from creatine supplement with improved muscle strength, exercise endurance and overall health status, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Heart disease patients, including those with heart failure, may experience less fatigue and greater exercise capacity after taking creatine. In heart patients, creatine may lower the bad fat triglyceride in the blood and decrease homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood that increases the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Creatine Supplementation Protocol
Creatine monohydrate, which is creatine with a water molecule attached, is the most commonly used creatine supplement. Various protocols of supplementation exist. One protocol reviewed by both the National Institutes of Health and the University of Maryland Medical Center calls for a five-day loading period with 20 grams of creatine daily, followed by a maintenance phase when two to five grams of creatine are taken daily. This protocol produces maximum muscle creatine load that is maintained over time. But the creatine load and the benefits achieved vary with your initial creatine level and your health. Young, healthy individuals with low creatine store are most likely to benefit from the supplement.
Dehydration Concern of Creatine Supplement
Taking creatine increases the need for water because creatine draws water to the muscles at the expense of other parts of the body. For this reason, creatine may cause dehydration if extra water is not consumed. The National Institutes of Health recommends 64 ounces or eight cups of water when taking creatine supplement. If you are working out in a humid and hot environment, you may need even more water to compensate for the water loss through sweat. Do not combine creatine with caffeine or caffeinated drinks, ephedra and diuretics. These combinations tend to accelerate water loss and have been linked to stroke in anecdotal incidents, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Increased Risk of Kidney Stones
Once your body reaches maximal creatine store, excess creatine is excreted by your kidneys. Taking creatine supplement at the commonly used dose can increase your kidney excretion of creatine by as much as 90 times, says Dr. Mark Jenkins of Rice University. This may potentially damage the kidneys and promote kidney stone formation, especially when dehydration is present. As an example, Dr. Jenkins cited a baseball player for the Houston Astros who suffered from kidney stones because of creatine supplement and dehydration. People with kidney diseases should not take creatine supplements.
