Bodybuilding and Side Effects of Creatine Supplements

When a person is targeting for bigger body mass, he or she usually intakes bodybuilding supplements aside from having rigorous exercise. These supplements helps in building muscle mass and lose fat. Aside from that, these supplements are also helpful in aiding that person to improve at sports performance.

There is a huge collection of bodybuilding supplements in the market. Each of these supplements works differently to be able to help the person achieve the body mass that he or she wants. One of the most common bodybuilding supplements in the market is called creatine.

Creatine is an organic acid that was proven by several studies to give our muscle cells energy. Aside from giving our cells a burst of energy, creatine is also known to give strength, muscle mass and reduce recovery time for tired muscles. This organic acid is also proven to help the brain as well because of its ability to improve recognition memory, mental fatigue reduction and improve brain function. Because of its popularity, different forms of creatine supplements are now available like creatine monohydrate, creatine anhydrous, creatine citrate, creatine phosphate, creatine malate, creatine tartrate, creatine HMB, creatine ester, creatine titrate, liquid creatine, creatine gum and magnesium creatine.

However, there has been news circulating that creatine cause several side effects on one's body. One of the side effects being linked to creatine is related to kidney problems. Some people pointed out that long-term use of creatine might cause kidney stones to some users. But, solid evidence against creatine with regard to this ailment has not been provided.

Another side effect being pointed to creatine is renal stress. This condition will be triggered when a person with existing renal or kidney problems drink creatine. A person might also feel bloated but it could be due to the feeling of gaining mass.

The only proven side effect of creatine to the human body is diarrhea. However, this happened because the athletes using creatine took more than the prescribed amount of creatine. Diarrhea was immediately resolved after reducing the dosage.

Generally speaking, there has been no full proof evidence against the long-term use of creatine. Most of the allegations for this product do not have a strong data that the observed side effects are due to creatine. There are people that suspects that side effects happen on case-to-case basis and might vary according to the form of creatine. Only the over dosage of creatine linked with diarrhea has been proven and it is just logical since it is not really advisable to drink more than the prescribed amount of medication.