Creatine monohydrate is one of the most controversial supplements of today. Many athletes and bodybuilders alike have started using creatine monohydrate as a supplement to their normal diets, with the hopes that it will increase their strength and size. Creatine occurs naturally in the body stored in the kidney and helps supply energy to muscles. It is mainly found in red meats and chicken, but many people take extra creatine as a supplement to get more of it into their bodies. The two major questions about creatine that need answering are: how well does it work? And is it safe to use? For athletes, it seems that the benefits of creatine outweighs the risk and hazard.

A randomized double blind placebo test done at the University of Bloomsburg tested the strength of roughly 30 subjects. The subjects were then given a strength-training program. Half of the subjects were given a standard (5g) dose of creatine monohydrate everyday throughout the trial period. The other half were given a placebo. They found that the group given the creatine had an 8% higher increase in bench press in comparison to the placebo. Also, they found that there was a 14% increase in maximal repetitions at a given percent of one rep maximum bench press in the control group compared to the placebo group.

There are several limitations to this study, including a small sample size, race, age, and gender. Since it is a university study, we can deduct that the subjects were roughly 18-25 years old. This is a good sample age for what I am looking at because serious athletes aren’t typically much older or younger than the subjects. Gender is another limitation because women in general aren’t as strong as men. It would have been interesting to see of their strength gains while on creatine were proportional to the men. Despite the other limitations, the evidence is sufficient enough to say that there is a correlation between creatine ingestion and strength gain. There are also many other studies to contribute to this. A logical mechanism for this is that the increase in creatine increases the energy that is transferred into the muscles, resulting in strength gain and delayed muscle fatigue.

So, if creatine works so well for strength gain, why wouldn’t every athlete use it? As it turns out, creatine is one of the most controversial supplements of today, mainly due to its side effects. According to webMd, creatine draws water from the rest of your body, so drinking extra water is very important. This will also help to flush out the excess creatine from your body. This shouldn’t be a problem for athletes, as hydration is already an important part of their daily lives.

Although there is concern that creatine can prove harmful to the kidney, liver, and heart, there is currently no significant evidence that supports this. For example, a published study in The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition failed to reject the null hypothesis that long term creatine supplementation while resistance training impairs kidney function, while consuming a high protein diet.

There have not been a substantial number of reported serious side effects when taking it, so the risk of creatine is not very high. If significant evidence arises that creatine does actually harm the kidneys, liver, or heart, then the hazard would be relatively high. Right now, however, the hazard is low.

For athletes, the strong correlation between creatine and muscle building is far more significant that the risks brought to the table, especially because of how active they are. After looking at this data, it seems that this natural supplement is perfect for athletes, especially in today’s world of sports where everyone is much bigger and stronger.