Side effects
Before giving general dosage instructions, the manufacturer’s instructions should be followed above all to avoid side effects as far as possible. Even though creatine is said to have many undesirable effects, the probability of proven side effects is relatively low. Mostly they occur in the loading phase due to the particularly high dosage.
Within this framework it can come to this: Water retention and muscle cramps are also possible. Since the daily requirement of fluid is high during a creatine cure, the user can expect to gain between one and two kilograms in weight. Creatine also has the characteristic of emptying the magnesium stores, which is why an increasing number of muscle cramps can occur during the cure.
Completely untrained people should avoid taking creatine at the beginning of a training program. Due to the increased muscle performance, “overtraining” can occur there. This means that muscles and cardiovascular system that are not yet accustomed to a heavy load are overstrained and this leads to health problems and damage.
Of course, great attention should also be paid to the quality of the product. Experts recommend to use only food supplements with the seal “Made in Germany”, even if products manufactured abroad are usually cheaper. However, they carry a higher risk of causing further side effects due to contamination or mixing with illegal anabolic steroids.
For people who suffer from kidney problems or have kidney disease, creatine intake should be avoided at all costs, otherwise complications may occur. In general, any side effects should be discussed with a doctor before starting supplementation.
- Stomach problems
- Flatulence
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Stomach pain
It is often heard that creatine can cause water retention.This cannot be generalized.
It is a fact that during a creatine intake phase one should consume more fluid. However, this is not because the amount of fluid that you ingest is directly converted into water retention. Rather, the creatine transports the water into the muscle cells, giving them more volume and making them fuller.
This is why you will also discover bigger and stronger looking muscles on your body. Through training, new muscles are built up, which in turn are filled with water. For this reason, you should expect to gain up to three kilograms of weight during a creatine cure due to the increased water requirement of the muscle cells.
So creatine does not cause water to be stored under the skin, which would make the muscles look smooth, but rather pumps up the muscle cells with additional fluid, thus creating optically more defined and larger muscles. This storage of water in the muscle cells by creatine is harmless and does not cause any health problems. Also the muscle-building anabolic effect of creatine is not hindered by the additional stored water. It is even maintained when the creatine stores are reduced again and the water retention decreases.
