Layne Norton - The Safety Of Creatine

[admin]

Is creatine safe for use? This article will answer the question once and for all. With scientific studies!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/layne22.htm

HOW TO REVIEW: Post Your Review Of This Article - CLICK ON POST REPLY BELOW! You do NOT need to be a registered member to post a reply in this section!

[str8flexed]

ryan if you happen to get around to it, i made a spelling mistake in that article...I called ADP adenosine tri-phosphate instead of adenosine-DI-phosphate. I think it's the 2nd paragraph down. Sorry just like to be complete...damn and I thought I proofread it thoroughly...o well...only human.
Peace

[YellowJacket]

Bump for an awesome article.

[Fletch]

This article is an excellent argument with a great deal of scientific references. However, I feel that you can make the article much more persuasive with a few grammatical changes. Also, I feel that the piece could be a little more sympathetic to the other points of view about creatine. For some reason I imagine you yelling at the reader of your paper. (no offense)

The key to any paper is to edit, edit, and edit some more. I would recommend you ask a couple knowledgeable friends (about writing, not supplementation) to read your paper and make edits where they feel that the paper would read a little more smooth. I strongly urge this if you are contemplating on submitting this paper as a part of your writing portfolio.

Taking the paper to the Campus Writing Center to have checked for structure never equates to the paper lacking necessity for improvement. I worked at the Writing Center briefly last year for extra work-study pay. I quit after the portfolio deadline because I was tired of seeing students coming in completely dependent on another students' approval so that they could say their paper was complete. The more editing you do, the stronger your works will be. I've included a couple examples of where I feel you could reword your lines to make improve reader's flow....

"There is a good reason for this increase in creatine sales: it is safe and it works! There are a great number of studies touting it's effectiveness and its safety, however, over the past few years some people have questioned creatine's safety with opinions that are not verified by science."

You have used "There" as the opening word in 2 consecutive sentences without making a reference to any of your articles. Also, get rid of the word "good". We should never see that word in an article. You make alot of generalizations that need to be more detailed. "great number of studies" = how many? "over the past few years" = how many years. I suggest rewording the paragraph to something like this.....

"There is a valid reason for this increase in creatine sales: it is safe and it works! Studies exist touting it's effectiveness and its safety, however, pessimistic views have questioned creatine's safety with opinions that are not verified by science."
next.....

The NCAA has recently banned the distribution of creatine by colleges to its players and is even considering banning the use of creatine.

ditch the words "has" and "even". In an argumentative paper we want to refrain from using any passive voice.

Creatine is a combination of three different amino acids, glycine, arginine, and methionine.

Creatine is a combination of the three amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine.

When creatine is taken in the form of a supplement it has several benefits for hard training athletes.

When supplemented with a proper diet, creatine has several benefits for athletes involved in rigorous training. (or something like that)

If ya wanna talk more in detail...give me a copy of your paper when you get a moment this week and I'll make some more complete revisions for you. Remember that these are only my opinions and you should not make changes if you feel you do not need to.

Last edit that glares out at me....

Following the NCAA's logic superior training equipment may be an unfair advantage to schools with more money, but do they ban or limit the amount or quality of training equipment a school can buy? Of course not, creatine however seems to be treated differently because of the misconceptions that surround it.

This is where I feel the flow could be improved the most utilizing proper puntcuation. It seems that you were running on your train of thought through the 2 paragraphs prior to the conclusion. Here is my rewording of the lines.

The NCAA's argument on competitive advantages can be ambiguously interpreted. Superior training equipment is an unfair advantage to schools with higher spending budgets. Currently there is no limit to the amount, or quality of training equipment a school can purchase. Creatine and all other safe dietary supplements should be addressed on the same guidelines. The misconceptions that surround dietary supplementation keep the NCAA from addressing these arguments as one issue.

Overall....great article Layne. Your references are top-notch and I have yet to see you turn in an article that wasn't worth reading or referring to. Some changes to the flow of the article as well as noting your references is what will separate this article from all the other creatine articles on the forum.

- Fletch

[kas]

I think Fletch is right about some of the flow of the article. All in all great article and I like the references. Great job.

Layne, you gave an excellent argument for the use of Creatine. You used scientific knowledge to support your thesis, and you successfully contradicted the popular thought that Creatine damages the kidneys. You also provided information to contradict the popular notion that Creatine has a negative impact on the endurance of athletes. Well done!

However, I believe that you have failed to address an important theme in the arena of sports nutrition. In this particular case, how does Creatine affect the heart. Mainstream thought is that Creatine does damage to the heart. It has been spoken of that Creatine forces muscles to push blood through the system faster than the heart can keep up with, and as a result it often causes an irregular heart-beat for users of Creatine. What is your response to that? Do you have scientific proof to counter-act this?

I am not arguing against your stance, I am simply wondering if you have any scientific knowledge that might shed some light on how the heart reacts to Creatine use. I feel that athletes, body-builders, and even the casual weight-lifters deserve to know how Creatine may or may not damage the most important organ in the human body.

Layne, if you do have a response to my review, I will be checking the review section of your website to see what you might have to say. And I will respond if you have anything that you would like for me to address, or if you simply have some information for me.

Thank you,

Steve Anonymous.

[str8flexed]

Steve,
I have actually researched this and there is no evidence to suggest that creatine may damage the heart other than speculation by people who really don't have any basis for their claims. What I did find through my browsing of the peer review research is evidence that creatine may actually help protect the heart against certain diseases and it definately has a neuroprotective effect against diseases like parkinsons, etc.

here is an abstract of a scientific journal article to support this

Neuroscience. 2002;112(2):243-60. Related Articles, Links


Health implications of creatine: can oral creatine supplementation protect against neurological and atherosclerotic disease?

Wyss M, Schulze A.

Roche Vitamins AG, Biotechnology Department (VFB), Building 203/113A, CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland. markus.wyss@roche.com

Major achievements made over the last several years have highlighted the important roles of creatine and the creatine kinase reaction in health and disease. Inborn errors of metabolism have been identified in the three main steps involved in creatine metabolism: arginine:glycine amidinotransferase (AGAT), S-adenosyl-L-methionine:N-guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT), and the creatine transporter. All these diseases are characterized by a lack of creatine and phosphorylcreatine in the brain, and by (severe) mental retardation. Similarly, knockout mice lacking the brain cytosolic and mitochondrial isoenzymes of creatine kinase displayed a slightly increased creatine concentration, but no phosphorylcreatine in the brain. These mice revealed decreased weight gain and reduced life expectancy, disturbed fat metabolism, behavioral abnormalities and impaired learning capacity.Oral creatine supplementation improved the clinical symptoms in both AGAT and GAMT deficiency, but not in creatine transporter deficiency. In addition, creatine supplementation displayed neuroprotective effects in several animal models of neurological disease, such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. All these findings pinpoint to a close correlation between the functional capacity of the creatine kinase/phosphorylcreatine/creatine system and proper brain function. They also offer a starting-point for novel means of delaying neurodegenerative disease, and/or for strengthening memory function and intellectual capabilities.Finally, creatine biosynthesis has been postulated as a major effector of homocysteine concentration in the plasma, which has been identified as an independent graded risk factor for atherosclerotic disease. By decreasing homocysteine production, oral creatine supplementation may, thus, also lower the risk for developing, e.g., coronary heart disease or cerebrovascular disease.Although compelling, these results require further confirmation in clinical studies in humans, together with a thorough evaluation of the safety of oral creatine supplementation.
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J Sci Med Sport. 2005 Sep;8(3):305-13. Related Articles, Links


Effects of creatine supplementation on aerobic power and cardiovascular structure and function.

Murphy AJ, Watsford ML, Coutts AJ, Richards DA.

Human Performance Laboratory, University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales. aron.murphy@uts.edu.au

This project aimed to determine 1) whether creatine (Cr) supplementation affects cardiovascular structure and function and 2) to examine its effect on aerobic power. Eighteen males undertook aerobic testing on a cycle ergometer and echocardiographic assessment of the heart. The experimental group (N = 9) ingested 20g x day(-1) of Cr for seven days followed by l0g x day(-1) for a further 21 days. The control group (N = 9) followed an identical protocol ingesting a placebo for the same period. Assessment was performed pre-, mid- (seven days) and post-testing (28 days). A MANOVA with repeated measures was used to test for group differences before and after supplementation. The Cr group demonstrated a significant increase in body mass for the pre-mid (1.0 +/- 0.6 kg) and the pre-post (1.5 +/- 0.7 kg) testing occasions. Submaximal VO2 decreased significantly from the pre-mid and pre-post testing occasions by between 4.8% to 11.4% with Cr supplementation at workloads of 75 W and 150 W. Other oxygen consumption measures and exercise time to exhaustion, for the Cr group, showed decreasing trends that approached significance. Additionally, there was a significant pre-post decrease in maximum heart rate of 3.7%. There were no changes in any of the echocardiographic or blood pressure measures for either group. The present results suggest short term Cr supplementation has no detectable negative effect on cardiac structure or function. Additionally, Cr ingestion improves submaximal cycling efficiency. These results suggest that the increase in efficiency may be related to peripheral factors such an increase in muscle phosphocreatine, rather than central changes.
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hope that helps clear things up

[Dallas68]

hmmmmm well that disproves my mothers unfounded queries of the heart/kidney issues on the long term and all that...but you know what no matter how much information i give her she will not budge but i do enjoy these articles of yours and they at least clear up for myself that i am right...

sad innit

[Foreigner]

Good article I just read it. I started taking Creatine yesterday and I'm still kinda paranoid.

[entropy1]

decent read layne, but i would have like you to have mentioned the effects of creatine on people with exisiting renal insufficiency/failure.

[str8flexed]

i am unaware of studies looking at creatine use with renal insufficiency. usually people with renal problems aren't too willing to engage in a study where they have to load the kidneys. That would be a hard one to sell to the IRB on a campus