CREATINE

BY: AMBER WILLIAMS

HW499: BACHELOR'S CAPSTONE IN HEALTH AND WELLNESS
UNIT 4 ASSIGNMENT

What is Creatine?

Creatine is a chemical that is present inside the body, usually

found in the muscles.

It is naturally made by the body, but can also be found in foods.

Creatine is also formulated in laboratories and sold as a

nutritional supplement.

Creatine is most associated with improving athletic performance

and increasing lean muscle mass.

Research shows that creatine can be effectively used by youths

and young adults, but is not as effective for older adults (" Creatine:
MedlinePlus Supplements," n.d.).

Useful Information on creatine:

Examine.com

NCCIH

Safety Research

Examine.com is a website ran

independently with the goal of
provided unbiased information
on nutritional
supplementation. This is
done through the thorough
inspection of research
information. Creatine is one
of the most researched
supplements out. This
website holds a plethora of
information on the
supplement.

The National Center for

Complementary and
Integrative Health is a federal
agency which provides
essential information and
research on products that
designed for health and
wellness.

As mentioned previously, there is

great deal of research available on
creatine. Of particular interest is
the safety of the product. There
are many peer reviewed journals
providing such information. These
can be generally found in an
literary database. The link above
is one such example of a peer
reviewed journal.

("Independent Analysis on
Supplements & Nutrition |
Examine.com," n.d.)

("Creatine: MedlinePlus
Supplements," n.d.)

("BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Full

text | Creatine supplementation
during pregnancy: summary of
experimental studies suggesting a
treatment to improve fetal and
neonatal morbidity and reduce
mortality in high-risk human
pregnancy," n.d.)

Other Educational Resources

There are other resources

available to become more
educated on creatine
supplementation.

Online lectures can be found,

such as the one below.

Creatine lecture ("Creatine," n.d.)

There are also online learning

modules such as the one located
here: Creatine Information
("Creatine Supplementation for Sports and
Performance CEU Module EAS Academy,"
n.d.)

(Image credited to examine.com)

Recommended Dosage

For the purpose of athletic performance, the recommended

dosage is as follows:

20 grams for 5 days (known as loading phase), followed by 2 grams a

day for maintenance

Water intake during creatine supplementation should be 64 ounces

per day.

*It should be noted that creatine has other purposes other than just
athletic performance. Some of these other purposes are to prevent
heart failure, to help Parkinsons disease, for gyrate atrophy, for
muscular dystrophies, and for McArdles disease. All of these uses
require different dosage recommendations*
("Creatine: MedlinePlus Supplements," n.d.)

Additional Recommendations
(possible recommendations)

It is also recommended, by some, that creatine use is cycled.

The reason for this is based of the idea of diminished returns.

This basically means that when first used creatine will have a robust
affect within the human body. As time goes on, the affect will be less
and less robust as the body adjusts to the supplement.

In order to prevent this, one should cycle off of the creatine

supplement every 6 weeks or so.

However, creatine is naturally made by the body so there is not a

necessity to cycle. It could be beneficial, but the research is lacking
("Do You Need To Cycle Creatine? - Supplement-Geek.com," n.d.).

Creatine precautions?

Creatine is generally accepted as being a safe product for use.

However, there are a few precautions to be aware of:

Before taking creatine, be sure to check ingredients to be sure you

are not allergic

Be sure to tell your doctor of previous illnesses before taking. Of

particular concern is kidney disease, liver disease, and diabetes

Some forms of the supplement may contain sugars. If diabetic, you

may want to avoid these forms of the supplementation.

Side effects for this product are rare, however, the following is
possible:

Muscle cramps, reduced ability to tolerate heat, symptoms of

dehydration, fast heartbeat/dizziness ("Creatine Monohydrate Oral Precautions and
Side Effects - Diet & Exercise," n.d.).

References

References

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Full text | Creatine supplementation during

pregnancy: summary
of experimental studies suggesting a treatment to
improve fetal and neonatal morbidity and
reduce mortality in high-risk human
pregnancy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://
www.biomedcentral.com/1471- 2393/14/150

Creatine Monohydrate Oral Precautions and Side Effects - Diet & Exercise. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.healthcentral.com/diet- exercise/r/medications/creatine-monohydrate-oral-20897/sideeffects

Creatine Supplementation for Sports and Performance CEU Module EAS Academy. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://easacademy.org/trainer- resources/article/creatine-interactive-learning-module

Creatine. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzILG7zIr4

Creatine: MedlinePlus Supplements. (n.d.). Retrieved from

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/873.html

Do You Need To Cycle Creatine? - Supplement-Geek.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://supplementgeek.com/do-you-need-to-cycle-creatine/

Independent Analysis on Supplements & Nutrition | Examine.com. (n.d.).

http://examine.com/

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