Does creatine work?

[healthyjoel]

So I'm back from the gym this evening and find some creatine in my cupboard.

I remember looking into whether there is an evidence base for its effectiveness in the past (ie I probably did a Google scholar search on it, but maybe not even that). I think I concluded that the results were somewhere between unclear and unhelpful, but not harmful.

However, after another poke around the web I see that the NIH (America's National Institute for Health) rated it as 'possibly effective' for improving athletic performance... See the whole write up here: nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/dru...

I figure since it may help (and it was expensive when I bought it!) I might as well finish off the bottle.

How about you? Have you used it? What were your results?

[alex]

I heard some talk around it a few years back, but as always it's hard to tell effectiveness without a real control set. The fact these things come and go makes me doubt whether there are any real benefits, apart from to manufacturers, of course, who make their mint on fads like this due to trending.

[healthyjoel Administrator in reply to alex]

I know what you mean. You can't go wrong by just doing it the good old fashion way- eat well and lift weights.

[mattja]

I heard a rumour that it wasn't good for your kidneys but it seems that has been proven wrong jissn.com/content/10/1/26

[healthyjoel Administrator in reply to mattja]

Wow. Nicely spotted. Glad I won't be losing my kidneys!