Creatine is a substance in the body derived from protein. The muscles break it down into another substance, known as creatinine, which the kidneys then filter from the body. Your physician may order a blood test to check your creatine levels if he suspects you are experiencing a number of different health conditions. Because creatine is vital to giving you energy, maintaining normal levels is important to your health.
Production and Levels
Your body uses about 2 g of creatine a day for normal functions. You take in about 1 g per day via the foods you eat, such as lean red meats, wild game and fish like herring, salmon and tuna. Your liver, kidneys and pancreas make the remaining 1 g of creatine needed for your daily functions. Your physician can use a variety of basic blood tests to test both your creatine levels and the creatinine level in your body, which indicates how well your body is breaking down creatine.
Vegetarian Diet
Your body can store and create creatine, but it first requires that you eat sources, especially protein foods, to make creatine. If you are a vegetarian and do not regularly take in enough proteins that contain the amino acids glycine and arginine, you may not have enough amino acids stored for your body to make creatine. This can result in lower levels in the body.
Athletic Performance
Creatine is a popular supplement with athletes and weightlifters because of its abilities to build muscle mass and provide energy during an exercise session. If you have been exercising intensely -- at a vigorous pace for more than an hour -- your body may have lower creatine levels. If you do choose to use creatine supplementation to improve athletic performance, check with your physician first, as taking creatine supplements is associated with some drug interactions, including with diuretics and some heartburn medications.
Organ Dysfunction
Low creatine levels can indicate that one or more of the organs that make creatine in the body are not working properly. This includes your liver, kidney and pancreas. If you have low levels of blood creatine, your physician may recommend further testing to determine the functioning of each of these organs. For example, if blood creatinine -- creatine's waste product -- levels are high, this can indicate the kidneys are not properly functioning, because the kidneys are responsible for filtering creatinine.
References
- Lab Tests Online; Creatinine; March 2011
- National Kidney Foundation; Glomerular Filtration Rate; 2011
- Mount Auburn Hospital; Creatinine and Creatinine Clearance; August 2010
- Taylor and Francis Group, LLC: Dietary Protein and Amino Acids; 2008
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Creatine; Steven Ehrlich, NMD; June 2009
