Let's start with three myths regarding creatine
It causes unwanted bloating/weight gain
It causes too much muscle gain/mass
It's harmful to your kidneys and liver
Now let's talk facts
You do actually retain more fluid while taking creatine, but not in the form of "belly bloat". Retaining more water will naturally cause an increase in weight which may initially give you a pound or two extra on the scale. The water you are retaining is due to water filling your muscles as you work them. This helps both breaking down of muscle fibers and the regeneration process. The more water you have in your muscles, the healthier those muscles are.
Contrary to the belief of quite a few people, especially females who are skeptical about supplementing with creatine, significant muscle mass gain is not associated with using this supplement. As it does give you more quality workouts and muscle gain, your nutrition is going to be the key driver on how much muscle mass that you gain.
Creatine is THE MOST STUDIED supplement on the market currently. There are little to no side effects concluded from studies that have been conducted numerous times. There is a fear that creatine intake is directly correlated with an increase in creatinine (a muscle waste product created by muscle contraction). This is untrue. A systematic review was conducted by looking at 14 different studies in which women had no significant increase in creatinine levels while supplementing with creatine. (De Guingand, 2020)
More to come later on the benefits of creatine.
De Guingand, D. L., Palmer, K. R., Snow, R. J., Davies-Tuck, M. L., & Ellery, S. J. (2020). Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Females Taking Oral Creatine Monohydrate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients, 12(6), 1780. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061780
Comments