Creatine is it Bad For You? (Kidneys, Hair Loss, and More)

Creatine, is it bad for you?

I recently did a video on the benefits of creatine. In the comments, quite a few expressed concerns about the safety of creatine, particularly with kidney function and hair loss.

Granted, it’s been a long time since I worried about my hair, but I do like my kidneys. So I decided to take a closer look at the potential risks of creatine.

We’re gonna start with what we know Creatine does—focusing on what could be perceived as negative.

Creatine does cause weight gain. This isn’t fat or muscle; it’s water. Creatine draws water into the muscle cells. They say you can gain from 2 to 6 pounds.

There’s no evidence that Creatine causes dehydration. Still, because it draws water into the muscle cells, you might find a need to increase your water intake to be fully hydrated, avoiding symptoms of dehydration like water retention and cramping.

Over supplementation of Creatine has been found to increase the risk of gastrointestinal distress. A study was done on soccer players, and it found those who took a 10 g dose every day for 28 days which is double the recommended amount, had an increase in diarrhea and GI tract distress.

Even at the recommended serving, as I mentioned in my last video, a friend of mine had to reduce his intake from 5 to 3 grams before he got rid of his stomach upset issue.

A subscriber told me that using Creatine raised his blood pressure by 10 points.

So I did some research on this, and I couldn’t find any connection between increased blood pressure and creatine, with most studies stating they found it didn’t affect blood pressure, but worth noting if you start taking Creatine and find your blood pressure increasing try stopping for a while and see if it improves.

The case of this subscriber is what’s called an-ec-do-tal evidence. It’s based on a personal account rather than research or hard evidence. Keep this in mind because it ties in with the next risk Creatine has been associated with.

And that's Kidney damage. This accusation comes from two primary sources.

Creatine raises crea-tin-ine levels in the blood, these levels are used as a measure to diagnose kidney or liver problems. So it creates a false positive and can cause your doctor to think the increased levels are from your kidneys.

So it’s important to let your doctor know you are supplementing with creatine before having a test done and, of course, follow his directions, you should stop taking Creatine at least 3 weeks before testing to prevent a false positive.

There was a case of a young 18-year-old weightlifter who was taking a bunch of different supplements, including creatine, and he got sick with acute kidney failure. 25 days after he stopped taking the supplements, he recovered fully.

We don’t know what else he was taking or if there was something in that patch of product.

To be clear, I’m not against an-ec-do-tal evidence. If I’m doing something and it’s not working for me, I’m going to stop doing it no matter what the research tells me.

But looking at the research helps make an initial decision giving us an idea of overall Results.

They’ve done some on people with kidney disease, but it isn’t as well studied, and I would agree with a 2018 review that stated while Creatine has no detrimental effects on healthy kidneys. It would be advisable to suggest it not be used by people with kidney disease or anyone at potential risk for kidney dysfunction.

They looked at whether Creatine increased dihydrotestosterone or DHT, and this hormone contributes to hair loss in men.

How much DHT affects hair loss is primarily genetic. In this study, DHT didn’t increase outside of the normal range.

The more sensitive your hair is to DHT, the greater the odds of you losing it. On the upside, DHT plays a positive role in muscle growth.

[ETAisNOW]

Never gonna listen to a shirtless guy wearing a bow tie no matter what.

[adamzoubi]

i'm not a doctor, but today i had pain in my back ribs, went to the doctor, it's my kidneys.
they are damaged, the only 2 reasons i can think of are not drinking enough water, and creatine... just saying.
btw, i don't drink, i don't smoke, i eat healthy, i exercise, and i'm 26

i'm not saying ceatine is bad but i'm gonna stop taking it, maybe forever..
PS: i never took more than 5 grams a day

[paulflynn]

been taking it for years. Never have had a bad blood test come back.

[hehateme]

My GFR was 58 on creatine and 78 off of it. It definitely effects kidney function while on it.

[viveviveka]

There is a lot of hype snd exaggeration circulating. The combination of marketing, profits, journalistic sensationalizing (both about the dangers and about the benefits), rumor and repetition makes for a confused maze and morass of falsehoods and inaccuracies.
I am now leaning toward improving my intake of high quality whole foods rather than more supplements, powders, potions, and drugs. I feel I've been spending hundreds of dollars — probably thousands over the years — basically for nothing, or even in some cases somewhat deleterious or meaningless effects.
Eugene Sandow and others in the pre-supplement-industry, pre-hype days had more solid advice.
Jack LaLanne was pretty good to. Exercise is king, diet is queen, together they make a kingdom.
Part of the problem is that many people want to avoid the hard work of optimal exercise. Part of the problem is misplaced emphasis.
I'm losing faith in the razzle-dazzle supplement mentality, and want to return to a natural, whole-food approach.
I'll be listening more to people like Sandow and LaLanne, and less to the corrupted and confused, contemporary-snake-oil world.

[rccosplay]

It's been a long time that I worried about the hair but I need both kidneys🤣🤣🤣 Good one👍

[freightrain]

I took creative all through my 20s, every time I was on it, my blood pressure would always be at hypertension levels. Then when I was 38 years old, I found a cancer tumor on my left kidney the size of a nickel. I always gained an average of 5-7 lb while on creatine, I suspect my genetics and years of creatine use definitely had something to do with it.

[enteoz]

I'm definitely not taking creatine when I get older, too easy to replace with the natural creatine you get in foods from eating properly, and also having the proper fluid intake already gives plenty of muscle volume with proper training. There's no way a slightly lower theoretical potential in testosterone would inhibit someone who is eating, drinking, and training their body properly. Only the super heavyweights that already eat all day above 380 lbs would need to experiment with stuff like that.

[kristianspot]

The only supplements worth taking are for joint and bone strenght if you take weighlifting seriously. You can gain enourmous size with high intensity training without any supplements naturally.

[equteachme]

It is my understanding that creatanine levels can test high in persons who consume high amounts of animal protein and that this type of high consumption can stress kidney's. I consume a plant only diet and creatine is one of the supplements I take, 5 g daily, I'm 64y. I understand that plant protein, has no effect on kidney's. I'm kind of perplexed by the weight gain worry, I would think a pound of water in your cells is much better then a pound of fat?

[Blurp]

What if you already have very high blood pressure and start taking creatine???

[NJN]

Great video! Do you cycle on and off creatine? Or stay on 5 grams all the time? Thanks!

[bzerk]

I wanna load creatine mono and idk if I will get kidney damage should I proceed, im health and have no problems

[samsonbabayan]

Very small amounts are great for most people.Part of the Mitochondria ATP TRIPHOSPHATE.Diabetics cannot handle it.Howe, I’ve met people who got cured from type 2 diabetes and take small amounts of creatine and they say it helps them tremendously.

[krrishmudiraj]

My father and ancestors have kidney stone history should I take creatine??? Please answer me

[warrenhoffman]

My GFR and creatinine levels are good, however my BUN and BUN/Creatinine ratio is high. Not sure if it’s ok to use.

[RydinginStyle]

Is it possible to creatine phosphate version that uses sodium to uptake the creatine could raise the blood pressure I was wondering if creatine monohydrate would be a better option for people with hypertension?

[earlcoles]

How long can I take creatine monohydrate every single day before I should take a break ?

[christophdenner]

I'm wondering what a safe daily dose could be for a 225 lbs person? I sure don't wanna harm my kidneys in any way.

[paulgermano]

It makes me laugh when people who don't know any better compare using it with PEDs.