Essay on The Fight For Creatine

Free The Fight For Creatine papers

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Creatine is an amino acid that is produced in the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. The natural creatine that is produced in the body replenishes adenosine triphosphate, which fuels muscle use. Creatine helps to add in extra repetitions during a lifting program. When adding in extra repetitions there are better chances of building muscle bulk. Many people feel creatine should be banned just like anabolic steroids because of long-term side effects. However, creatine is not as dangerous as some think and it should not be banned.

Creatine is not only produced naturally but can also be bought as a supplement. Whether you buy it in powder or pill form it seems to have the same effect. Within the past few years creatine has become widely known as a supplement that can be bought to help add bulk to a person’s body. Many professional, college, and high school athletes can be seen using this supplement during their daily workouts to help build bulk faster. Some of these athletes have even been seen breaking records that have been around for many years.

Mark McGwire will go down in history as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. But will his image be tarnished because of his use of androstenedione? No, because the drug has never been banned in professional baseball. This is a drug that does many of the same thing that creatine does. Androstenedione is naturally produced in the gonads and adrenal gland. In the liver, it is transformed into testosterone, which encourages muscle growth. “McGwire says “andro” helps him train harder and recover quickly from injuries” (Schrof).

When looking at Mark McGwire you see a 6-foot 5-inch, 250-pound mass of muscle. Obviously creatine has done something for him if he can bulk up muscle. Would he have been able to break the home-run record without the use of creatine? It is hard to say. Even more important, will his use of this cause lasting effects on his body? Will there be long-term side effects or even short-term side effects that could cause him to have to stop playing baseball (Schrof)?

When looking at some of the research one might see someone say that creatine, in supplement form, could stop the normal production of creatine in user’s body. Recent studies show that when creatine was used in rats, it down-regulated their natural production of creatine in their body. The studies of these rats have caused questions on long-term effects of the use of creatine. The scientists feel that this could cause creatine synthesis deficiency. The symptoms for this deficiency are fatigue, muscle atrophy, poor exercise capacity, and neuromuscular deficiencies (Kreider).

The data for long-term side effects in humans is limited but there have been some studies. They put people on creatine for five to 140 days and then watched their creatine levels after they were taken off creatine. One study showed that after four to six weeks the level of naturally produced creatine returned to normal. In theory, if the synthetic creatine surpassed normal creatine production, the creatine in muscle should have dropped below base levels. When looking at athletes who have taken creatine and have now stopped you might expect them to show some signs of creatine synthesis deficiency. However, this has not yet been seen. “Currently, no evidence indicates that creatine supplementation permanently suppresses the creatine synthesis in humans” (Kreider).

Creatine could cost between 50 and 90 dollars. Despite the price and the creatine is still very popular. Some high school football coaches even say that their athletes should not take this drug. Not considering the advice of their coaches, some of these...

Kreider, Richard B. “6 Creatine fears: Real concern or false alarm?” Joe Weider’s Muscle & Fitness November 1999: 160-161. .

Schrof, Joannie M. “McGwire Hits the Pills.” U.S. News & World Report September 7, 1998: 53-54. .

Sullivan, Dana. “Crazy for creatine.” Joe Weider’s Shape October 1999: 40-42. .

Springen, Karen, Marc Peyser, and Jennifer Lach. “The New Muscle Candy.” Newsweek January 12, 1998. .