thoughts on creatine

[Chemical King]

Just wanted some of you guy@s' opinion on creatine. There seems to be a lot of debate at the minute about weather or not this stuff is good for you or not. Im using the capsules at the minute and to be honest dont reslly think that they make much difference to my workouts.

Id apreciate your views

[Soldier of Misfortune]

Thats becuase capsules are $hit, youd haffta take like 20 a day to equal the powder if you took it instead. Do you eat steak? Chicken? Meat of any sort? Youre eating creatine. It just holds water in your muscles and makes you stronger because of it. Way down the road there might be side effects, but who gives a $hit when youre 80.

[nsa]

Get powder and take 5-10 grams ED.

[SickNasty]

haha if there is side effects of eating creating then many of our ancestors would have pissed their kidneys out.

[nsa]

As long as you drink enough water, there is no side effect that has been proven to be a health problem. Drink at least 1.5 gallons ED and your fine. If you can't drink a gallon ED then you run the risk of getting a creatine stone in your kidney. This is rare but i would imagine it is a b!tch to pass, just like any stone.

[sinista63]

not belittling your statements but i've never heard of creatine stones nor have i found anything of the sort in the medical literature. do you mean that the actual creatine forms stones or that the use of creatine results in stones (ie calcium phosphate/oxalate stones, uric acid stones, struvite stones, and such)?

[Chemical King]

Im currrently taking 2x1000mg capsules per day but 1st took 25 per day over 4 days as a loading dose, without any problems. I just cant seem to manage the shakes as I also take vitamins and bulk up shakes

[zedly]

mix creatine with v8 and it has no taste a all.

[nsa]

A freind of mine about a year ago was taking creatine for over a year straight and wasn't drinking anything near a gallon of water ED, he developed a calcium phosphate stone. That is what i am calling creatine stones, thats what people i have talked to have called them.

[Chemical King]

Ok, cheers lads

[DBarcelo]

Thats becuase capsules are $hit, youd haffta take like 20 a day to equal the powder if you took it instead. Do you eat steak? Chicken? Meat of any sort? Youre eating creatine. It just holds water in your muscles and makes you stronger because of it. Way down the road there might be side effects, but who gives a $hit when youre 80.

The theory behind the capsule is that will allow more creatine to pass the digestive system without being destroyed.

If you already take in a lot of creatine, then the effects of supplimented creatine will be more mild.

Creatine does a little more than just add water to the muscle to make you stronger.

No, there are no long term or short term side effects associated with creatine as long as you are not over doing it.

[DBarcelo]

If you take too much creatine AND you don't drink enough to flush out the kidneys, you could end up with some sort of stone formation. Generally, when you have too much creatine in your body, it just floats around in your blood and that can cause all kinds of health problems because your kidneys don't filter out creatine, they filter out creatinine. It is possible to cause a blockage of the nephron if the serum creatine level is too high and that can cause something else to cause a stone, but not the creatine itself.

And having a calcium phosphate stone can cause a lot of other issues, especailly if you are a person that works out a lot. Calcium phosphate is something that attracts and binds itself to phosphorus. That stone can bind to any phosphorus (which a person that works out a lot usually takes a lot of) and that causes the stone to grow faster plus the fact you now have less phosphorus in your system to fuel your muscles (which relies on most of it's energy from phosphorus).

[LoadeD_PistoL]

in the past i tried almost every creatine in the market and each brand bloats me and makes my face look fat, (V12 is best imo from all of them with less bloat) ......i hate it and at one point had kidney pains for overloading on it.....i've stopped using it and go with aas only and even on PCT i do not use it at all......

[sinista63]

If you take too much creatine AND you don't drink enough to flush out the kidneys, you could end up with some sort of stone formation. Generally, when you have too much creatine in your body, it just floats around in your blood and that can cause all kinds of health problems because your kidneys don't filter out creatine, they filter out creatinine. It is possible to cause a blockage of the nephron if the serum creatine level is too high and that can cause something else to cause a stone, but not the creatine itself.

And having a calcium phosphate stone can cause a lot of other issues, especailly if you are a person that works out a lot. Calcium phosphate is something that attracts and binds itself to phosphorus. That stone can bind to any phosphorus (which a person that works out a lot usually takes a lot of) and that causes the stone to grow faster plus the fact you now have less phosphorus in your system to fuel your muscles (which relies on most of it's energy from phosphorus).

i was gone for a few days. good job filling my spot man! its time to get back to spreading some knowledge around these boards

[Chemical King]

cheers lads

[CutMeUp]

One thing about creatine....

Its not a steroid...I think that too many people expect a large difference when taking it and not taking it. Like we all know it draws water into our muscles causing them to recover faster and to look bigger as you will have more water in your cells. If you arent drinking enough water then water will be drawn from your veins causing a loss of vascularity.

Also, the argument that creatine isnt bad for you bc you get it from red meat isnt a very good argument. You would have to eat a sh*tload of steak everyday to get a significant amount of creatine. Dont get me wrong, i supplement creatine I just dont like that argument.

In short, creatine along with other supplements you should be taking, tons of water, and diet all work together for the end result. Creatine by itself will not make a huge difference, but in conjunction with the other things will help to acheive your goals.

[sinista63]

One thing about creatine....

Its not a steroid...I think that too many people expect a large difference when taking it and not taking it. Like we all know it draws water into our muscles causing them to recover faster and to look bigger as you will have more water in your cells. If you arent drinking enough water then water will be drawn from your veins causing a loss of vascularity.

Also, the argument that creatine isnt bad for you bc you get it from red meat isnt a very good argument. You would have to eat a sh*tload of steak everyday to get a significant amount of creatine. Dont get me wrong, i supplement creatine I just dont like that argument.

In short, creatine along with other supplements you should be taking, tons of water, and diet all work together for the end result. Creatine by itself will not make a huge difference, but in conjunction with the other things will help to acheive your goals.

great post. i can't stand when people use the fact that something is "natural" to argue that a chemical substance won't have side effects. hemlock is natural. how about some of those people finish of their next meal with a nice hemlock elixir and get back to me on how "natural" herbs and supplements are safe.

[Chemical King]

Couldnt Of Said It Better Myself

[DBarcelo]

i was gone for a few days. good job filling my spot man! its time to get back to spreading some knowledge around these boards

Welcome back. I've been sick and not really getting around like normal. We gotta do what we gotta do.

[DBarcelo]

One thing about creatine....

Its not a steroid...I think that too many people expect a large difference when taking it and not taking it. Like we all know it draws water into our muscles causing them to recover faster and to look bigger as you will have more water in your cells. If you arent drinking enough water then water will be drawn from your veins causing a loss of vascularity.

Also, the argument that creatine isnt bad for you bc you get it from red meat isnt a very good argument. You would have to eat a sh*tload of steak everyday to get a significant amount of creatine. Dont get me wrong, i supplement creatine I just dont like that argument.

In short, creatine along with other supplements you should be taking, tons of water, and diet all work together for the end result. Creatine by itself will not make a huge difference, but in conjunction with the other things will help to acheive your goals.

Most vegitarians do see a major difference when they suppliment creatine and people that eat a lot of creatine rich foods tend to see a much lesser difference.

And something being a steroid alone isn't a measure of it's possitive effects. For example, cholesterol is steroid, but not a good one. You don't want too much of it in your body. Prednizone is a steroid, but it's side effect is the breakdown of muscle. Creatine is not a steroid, like you said, but even if it were, doesn't automatically mean you will get gains in size or strength because of it.

But I will say, creatine isn't normally bad for you. If you take the right dosage and drink fluids, it's okay. If you take too much or fail to hydrate yourself, you can have some major problems.

[nsa]

Yeah, steroid is a term thrown around alot by people who aren't very knowledgable.

The acutally definition of a steroid is a group name for lipids that contain a hydrogenated cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene ring system.

Some of the substances included in this group are progesterone, adrenocortical hormones, the gonadal hormones, cardiac aglycones, bile acids, sterols (such as cholesterol), toad poisons, saponins and some of the carcinogenic hydrocarbons.

So if it doesn't have a hydrogenated cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene ring system in it, it is not a steroid...

[fitnessNY]

I take EAS Phosphagen Hp and it tastes great, no aftertaste like muscle tech.

[CutMeUp]

Yeah, steroid is a term thrown around alot by people who aren't very knowledgable.

And something being a steroid alone isn't a measure of it's possitive effects.

Whoa fellas, I'm pretty sure you got the message i was sending. I wasnt giving a dissertation on steroids, i was assuming that readers would recognize what i meant. Throwing around the definition of a steroid doesnt change the points that i was making...that some people seem to expect aas type results by using creatine.

[DBarcelo]

I know what you were saying, just adding to what you were saying and also clearing up the whole steroid thing. A lot of people will take anything labeled as a steroid not knowing what it's effects really are, but just assuming steroids all have the same effects.