What is Creatine and what does it actually do?
Creatine is a nutrient produced by the liver, or comes from sources like red meat and fish. It is a non-essential nutrient as the body makes it from the amino acids L-arginine, glycine, and L-methionine. 95% of the bodies Creatine is located in skeletal muscle.
Creatine helps to re-create ATP in the body which is needed for muscular contraction. As Creatine can do this quicker than any other energy source its use in the body is for explosive movements lasting for approximately 8 seconds or less making it ideal for weight training, athletic events, rugby, martial arts and many other explosive sports and pastimes. It is also a muscle cell volumiser, so it can if taken in large doses cause water retention, great for bodybuilders wanting a bulkier look; I would recommend Sci-MX Creatine monohydrate for people wanting this type of look. For athletic events smaller doses are best consumed, no more than 5 grams a day so that this does not happen, as the extra weight could hinder performance; I would recommend Sci-MX Creatine CT-MX Capsules for sports and athletic events.
For more information on Creatine please feel free to ask more questions.
What are the risks when using Creatine and are there any side effects?
For most people using Creatine correctly it has no health risks at all. Anybody who has kidney problems should not use Creatine as this may place extra strain on a damaged or diseased kidneys.
Other side effects of Creatine which are not harmful are water retention. During the loading up phase of Creatine excess water is accumulated in the muscle cells giving the muscles a fuller look, this is what a lot of bodybuilders like about Creatine as well as the increase in power. For athletes who want the power without the water retention because of the extra weight which could be detrimental to their sporting events for example footballers, sprinters, tennis players, I would suggest a 5 gram serving of Creatine a day without the loading up stage. It may take longer to get the power increases but at least your performance will not be hindered by the extra weight carried by the water retention.