Creatine
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Creatine is a well-studied, safe and beneficial food supplement.
Creatine occurs naturally in our diets. Meat, fish and dairy contain creatine. It plays an important role in our metabolism processes as a phosphate group carrier1. Aadam from Physiqonomics explains this in a simplified way that laymen like me can understand this23. A more elaborate illustration can be found in Kreider, R. B., & Jung, Y. P. (2011). Creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J. Exerc. Nutr. Biochem, 15(2), 53-69.
The ISSN’s (International Society of Sports Nutrition) official position on creatine is clear:
- Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes with the intent of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.
- Creatine monohydrate supplementation is not only safe, but has been reported to have a number of therapeutic benefits in healthy and diseased populations ranging from infants to the elderly. There is no compelling scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine monohydrate (up to 30 g/day for 5 years) has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals or among clinical populations who may benefit from creatine supplementation.
They conclude:
Creatine monohydrate remains one of the few nutritional supplements for which research has consistently shown has ergogenic benefits. Additionally, a number of potential health benefits have been reported from creatine supplementation. Comments and public policy related to creatine supplementation should be based on careful assessment of the scientific evidence from well-controlled clinical trials; not unsubstantiated anecdotal reports, misinformation published on the Internet, and/or poorly designed surveys that only perpetuate myths about creatine supplementation.
And specifically on its safety (for healthy adults):
The only consistently reported side effect from creatine supplementation that has been described in the literature has been weight gain [5, 22, 46, 78, 91, 92, 112]. Available short and long-term studies in healthy and diseased populations, from infants to the elderly, at dosages ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 g/kg/day for up to 5 years have consistently shown that creatine supplementation poses no adverse health risks and may provide a number of health and performance benefits.
Creatine does not seem to have any major mental benefits.3