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Josh Matayka
Professor Marrocco
English 102
3 May 2012
Benefits and Myths of the Ergonic Aid Called Creatine
Many people have heard of creatine. Whether they are an athlete, bodybuilder,
high school student, job consultant, or the everyday couch potato, most people have
probably heard the positive or negative aspects of creatine. For those in either position it
is beneficial to know what creatine is, how it is beneficial and what the real, scientific
facts are behind common myths. Though society has often had a negative outlook on
creatine, the benefits are numerous, and there are no dangerous side effects if taken
correctly.
The first question that should be addressed is, “What is creatine?” Creatine is a
white crystalline compound found esp. in the muscles of vertebrates both as
phosphocreatine and as the free form and also in the blood and obtained from meat
extracts (Merriam, Unabridged). To clarify, phosphocreatine is creatine that is bound to
phosphate, while free form is creatine by itself. Approximately ninety-five percent of
creatine is stored in skeletal muscle. About two thirds of the creatine in the body is
phosphocreatine, while the rest is in free form (Kreider). Creatine is a naturally occurring
amino acid and is made by the human body in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas (Ehrlich).
Foods that contain the highest amount of creatine are beef and fish. Creatine should then

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be considered natural, because it can be found in everyday foods and is produced in the
body.
There are many different types of creatine available on the marketplace including
creatine monohydrate, creatine phosphate, creatine ethyl ester, tri and di creatine malate,
creatine serum, effervescent creatine, creatine citrate, creatine kre-alkalyn, creatine orate,
and a few others. There are also different forms in which creatine can be consumed; these
include powder, liquid, conjugated (super concentrated), micronized, tablets, capsules,
drink mixes, energy bars and other forms. This paper will mainly be referring to creatine
monohydrate because it is the most commonly tested by far. It is also the most basic form
of creatine. Creatine monohydrate is essentially creatine bound with water. Each
molecule of creatine monohydrate is made up of eighty-eight percent creatine and twelve
percent water. This means that if you take five grams of creatine monohydrate you will
really be putting 4.40 grams of creatine in your body (Daniels). The main forms this
paper will be referring to is powder and micronized (since micronized is essentially the
same thing, except increased surface area and it is much smaller).
The next question that should be asked is, “How exactly does creatine work
within the body?” An enzyme known as creatine kinase catalyzes a reaction with creatine
and adenosine triphosphate (ATP, the body’s main energy source) through hydrolysis to
create phosphocreatine and adenosine diphosphate (ADP). In other words, the creatine
kinase takes a phosphate from the ATP and gives it to the creatine to become
phosphocreatine (therefore leaving the ATP with one less phosphate and becoming
ADP). This process is used to convert the free form creatine within the body to
phosphocreatine. This process is also reversible, and the body usually does so in order to

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create ATP for energy when the muscle cells are undergoing contraction. In turn, this
makes intense exercise largely dependent on the amount of phosphocreatine stored in the
muscle. As phosphocreatine stores become depleted during intense exercise, energy
availability diminishes due to the inability to resynthesize ATP at the rate required to
sustain high-intensity exercise (Kreider). Taking creatine as a supplement allows the
body to retain much more creatine than it can obtain naturally from foods. This higher
concentration of creatine within the body allows it to have a much higher stored amount
to use up when performing short duration, max effort exercises. This is also why some
people get better results than others. Those who have naturally high amounts of creatine
in their system prior to taking a creatine supplement will not have as much of a strength
and muscle increase as someone with lower amounts of creatine in their system. This is
why it is common for vegetarians to have a much better effect from using creatine than
someone who has meat in their diet. There is, however a maximum saturation point of
creatine within the skeletal muscle. The average human has the capacity to store up to
160 grams of creatine under certain conditions (Kreider).
Now that the concept of creatine and how it works in the body has been
explained, the next step is to analyze what benefits one actually obtains from creatine,
both short and long term in nature. There are several short term benefits from taking
creatine supplements. Performance levels in training seem to be much greater when a
person is taking creatine compared to someone who is not. It is as simple as this: “If you
can lift one or two more reps or five more pounds, your muscles will get bigger and
stronger,” says Chad Kerksick, Ph. D., assistant professor of exercise physiology at the
University of Oklahoma (Risher). The increased level of phosphocreatine provides more

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energy during the workouts, in turn letting the weightlifter lift more, which is responsible
for increased strength and lean muscle mass. Pennsylvania State University, in a study
led by Jeff Volek, conducted a twelve week trial discovering that creatine consumers
wound up stronger in both the bench press and the squat, in comparison to subjects using
a placebo supplement. They also witnessed twice the gains in lean muscle mass and a
much faster recovery rate (Hurley). Creatine seems to boost exercise performance, energy
levels, muscle mass, strength, and even improve a person’s recovery rate after working
out. What else does creatine do?
Believe it or not, creatine has actually seemed to be useful in combating heart,
muscle, and neurological diseases. Potential medical uses of supplemental creatine have
been investigated since the mid 1970’s. Initially, research focused on the role of creatine
monohydrate and/or phosphocreatine in reducing heart arrhythmias and/or improving
heart function during ischemic events (Kreider). In a few clinical studies of people with
heart failure, those who took creatine in addition to standard medical care were able to
increase the amount of exercise they could do before becoming fatigues, compared to
those who took placebo. Creatine has also been reported to lower levels of homocysteine.
Homocysteine is associated with heart disease, including heart attack and stroke
(Ehrlich).Studies in early Parkinson’s disease patients indicate that creatine may help
slow the rate of disease progression. Creatine may also improve strength and the results
from physical therapy in patients with Parkinson’s (Spano). After several months of
creatine supplementation in both men and women with borderline high cholesterol levels,
the results showed reduced low-density lipoprotein levels by almost one-third. Moreover,
analogous findings were reported in the journal Metabolism. Twenty-eight days of

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creatine supplementation and resistance exercise lowered total cholesterol levels
significantly more than resistance exercise alone (Hurley). It seems that there are
numerous benefits that creatine can be useful for in the clinical setting. While there have
not been an extensive amount of studies done, and more research is warranted, the studies
that have been conducted look promising.
Many of these studies have been conducted on adult athletes, but what about
children and people over sixty? While there have been far fewer studies on children and
adolescents than on adults, (eighteen through fifty-nine) no study has shown creatine
monohydrate to have adverse effects on children. In fact, long-term creatine monohydrate
supplementation (e.g., four to eight grams/day for up to three years) has been used as an
adjunctive therapy for a number of creatine synthesis deficiencies and neuromuscular
disorders in children (Kreider). The JISSN even approves the use of creatine
supplementation by high school students if taken correctly. They even state doing so may
actually provide a safe nutritional alternative to illegal anabolic steroids or other
potentially harmful drugs (Kreider). Unfortunately, one of the few drawbacks in creatine
is that it seems to have no effect in people over the age of sixty (CREATINE: Uses, Side
Effects, Interactions and Warnings). A study was done to see if short term ingestion of
creatine would increase body mass and exercise performance in older individuals. There
was no significant difference in isometric strength between groups from pre to post
supplementation. The data suggests that acute oral creatine supplementation does not
increase isometric strength and only produces small increases in isokinetic performance
and body mass in men over the age of sixty (Rawson). Creatine has the same affect on
women as it does on men. Many women shy away from it, however because of the water

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gained during the loading stage. While it is likely the user will initially gain three to five
pounds, the increased muscle mass will in the long run, help burn off more fat. Also,
when the user cycles off of creatine they will lose that extra water weight.
So, if creatine seems to be so beneficial to both men and women under the age of
sixty, then why does it get such a bad reputation? There could be many answers to this.
Creatine use is widespread among professional and amateur athletes and has been
acknowledged by well known athletes such as Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and John
Elway (CREATINE: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings). McGuire and Sosa
are both famous for anabolic steroids as well. Steroids are basically synthetic versions of
testosterone and they are not naturally found. One reason creatine seems to have such a
bad rep is because in the past it has been associated with steroids. People who claim
creatine to be a steroid are severely misinformed and have not done much, if any,
research on the topic. Obviously it’s not an anabolic steroid because steroids are illegal,
and creatine can be bought at supplement and even grocery stores.
Another reason creatine has gotten a bad name is because it has been said to have
harmful side effects, especially relating to the functioning and health of the liver and
kidneys. Poortman’s and Francaux reported that the claims of deleterious effects of
creatine supplements on renal function began in 1998. These claims followed a report
that creatine supplementation was detrimental to renal glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in
a 25-year-old man who had previously presented with kidney disease (glomerulosclerosis
and corticosteroid-responsive nephritic syndrome) (Kreider). First a French sports
newspaper criticized creatine of causing kidney damage, and then several European

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papers followed. This propaganda is likely the main cause of creatine having a bad
standing.
Many myths have arisen that make people opposed to ingesting creatine. Some
people will claim that all weight gained during supplementation is due to water retention.
This is only true during the loading phase. The loading phase is during the first week of
supplementation. In order to fully saturate the skeletal muscle within the body the user
must take a larger dosage during the beginning stage of supplementation. After the first
five days or so, the user then goes into the maintenance stage. The user decreases the
amount of creatine they take in during this stage only so that they can maintain saturation
levels. When a person goes through the initial loading phase they will bloat up by three to
five pounds due to the cell’s ability to expand by absorbing more water. All weight
gained after, however is purely muscle.
Another common myth is that people who take creatine are more susceptible to
injuries such as pulled or torn muscles, cramps, and muscle spasms. This is completely
untrue. Many people are quick to assume that it was the creatine they were taking that
was the cause of their injuries, when in reality it was due to lack of hydration, a low
electrolyte balance, or a host of other factors. In a recent and very large (nearly 1500
participants) study, creatine supplementation did not result in increased incidence of
cramping amongst athletes. In fact, the groups using creatine actually suffered from less
cramps then the non-creatine group (Evans). Another study was conducted on American
football players. A study conducted using seventy-two NCAA Division One football
players as subjects found that the athletes supplementing with creatine experienced less
muscle cramps, muscle tightness, muscle strains, dehydration, and total injuries (Evans).

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Of all the myths maybe the most prominent one is that the long term effects of
creatine are unknown. Over the last few years a number of researchers have begun to
release results of long term safety trials. So far, no long-term side effects have been
observed in athletes (up to five years), infants with creatine synthesis deficiency (up to
three years), or in clinical patient populations (up to five years) (Kreider). One cohort of
patients taking 1.5 – 3 grams/day of CM has been monitored since 1981 with no
significant side effects (Kreider). The longer creatine is on the market, the more studies
that will be presented, but of all the ones that have been publicized so far, none have
shown injurious side effects. Creatine has been proven over time and time again to be
beneficial to the body with no damaging side effects. There have been hundreds of
studies done on it, in fact over 600 studies done in total (Evans).
If the question was to be asked, “Does ingesting a creatine supplement increase
the user’s strength and muscle mass?” , the answer would technically be no. Ingesting
creatine by itself will do nothing for the body accept maybe put on unneeded weight. The
whole purpose of taking creatine is to use it to the user’s advantage when working out. It
must be ingested and the user must lift weights in order to see results. It must also be
taken in the proper doses. It does not make sense to take it in high doses, above what the
body needs, because the rest is excreted after skeletal muscle stores are saturated (Evans).
Certain things can be done to boost the effectiveness of the creatine such as pairing it
with carbohydrate or carbohydrate and protein (Kreider). Consuming creatine while on a
nutritious diet only betters the chances of absorption of muscle cells. If taken correctly,
creatine is the most efficient ergonic aid in improving exercise performance, augmenting
strength gains, and increasing lean muscle mass on the market.

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Works Cited
Daniels, Joe. "Types of Creatine...." Bodybuilding Supplement News. N.p., 2008. Web. 13
May 2012.
Rawson, ES, and PM Clarckson. "Acute creatine supplementation in older men." NCBI.
PubMed, 21 Jan 2000. Web. 13 May 2012.
Kreider, Richard. "International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine
supplementation and exercise." (2007): n. page. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.
Evans, Rian. "3 Creatine Myths Cracked, Case Closed!". Bodybuilding.com. N.p., 23 Apr
2010. Web. 27 Apr 2012.
"CREATINE: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings." WebMD. N.p., n.d. Web.
27 Apr 2012.
Hurley, Kurt. "Creatine Side Effects: Is Creatine Bad for You?". creatinesideeffects. N.p.,
05 Nov 2005. Web. 27 Apr 2012.
Spano, Marie. "How The Bodybuilding Supplement Creatine Enhaces Your Health!".
Bodybuilding.com. N.p., 30 Aug 2010. Web. 27 Apr 2012.
Risher, B. "Men's Health." Creatine: Side Effects, What it is, What it Does. N.p., 2012.
Web. 27 Apr 2012.
Steven, Ehrlich. "Creatine." umm.edu. University of Maryland Medical Center, 2011.
Web. 27 Apr 2012

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Merriam, G. and C. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English
Language, Unabridged. 1st ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Riverside Press,
1961. Print.