CREAMAG

• For people with healthy kidneys, there is no reason to worry about taking creatine.
• For people with only one kidney, current evidence suggests there is no cause for concern.
• For most people with already damaged kidneys, current evidence also suggests there is no cause for concern.

At this time, the only side effectCreatine theory is related to the combination of kidney problems and water retention, in particular focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), as assessed in one case study. Although typically case studies linking creatine to kidney damage are fairly weak in design (people reporting using “sports supplements” and having kidney damage, but with no clear connection to creatine).

Pritchard NR, Kalra PA. Renal dysfunction accompanying oral creatine supplements. Lancet. 1998;351(9111):1252-1253. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)79319-3

What Creatine Does for Women. There is a common misconception that creatine is only for men looking to build bulky muscles. As a result, many people believe that creatine for women is a bad idea unless they want to look like a professional bodybuilder. These assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth. Creatine is a standout supplement for anyone looking to improve their health and fitness, with benefits especially relevant to women.

The benefits of creatine for women are similar to those for men: it helps you gain muscle and strength faster, improves anaerobic resistance, improves muscle recovery and increases performance in intense exercises.. Basically, it's a total win for women who exercise. Plus, some research suggests that women who supplement with creatine tend to seegreater relative improvements than men in these areas. Where men typically experience an improvement of around 5%, women enjoy an increase of around 15%,which highlights how effective creatine is for women.

Some health and fitness “authorities” recommend taking creatine on an empty stomach to “speed up its absorption” and help you get its benefits sooner. However, research tells a different story. While it’s okay to take creatine without food, studies show that consuming it with carbohydrates can increase its absorption.This is because the insulin your body releases after eating carbohydrates helps transport creatine more efficiently into your muscle cells.

Critically, this is only beneficial in the first few weeks of creatine supplementation. Taking creatine with carbohydrates during this period helps to “saturate” your muscles with creatine more quickly, so you’ll experience its benefits sooner. For long-term creatine users, the situation changes. After the first few weeks of consistent use, your muscles reach “peak creatine levels” and how or when you take it becomes less important. At this point, the key is to consistently take a daily maintenance dose to maintain your creatine levels.

Creatine stores in your muscles will gradually deplete, causing a decline in your athletic performance. However, this does not happen overnight.As long as your muscles are fully saturated when you stop taking creatine, you can expect to maintain about 80% of your creatine stores for up to 2 weeks,andIt will take about a month of not taking creatine for your levels to return to their "baseline."

In a placebo-controlled study, participants were randomly assigned toreceive 10 g daily of creatine monohydrate or a placebo for an average period of 310 days.The study showed that there were no differences in the appearance of non-sedative effects between the group supplemented with 10 g of creatine vs. the placebo group. In addition, after taking 10 g of creatine for 310 consecutive days, no differences were detected in the levels of urea in blood or albumin in urine.

Groeneveld GJ, Beijer C, Veldink JH, Kalmijn S, Wokke JH, van den Berg LH. Few adverse effects of long-term creatine supplementation in a placebo-controlled trial.Int J Sports Med. 2005;26(4):307-313. doi:10.1055/s-2004-817917