How Safe Is Creatine
Just because creatine is natural, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is safe. Supplements aren’t held to the same standards by the FDA as medications, which means you can’t always know exactly what’s in your supplement, or in what amounts.
Researchers still don’t know the long-term effects of taking creatine supplements, especially in young people. Adolescents who take creatine often do so without their doctor’s advice, which can cause them to take more than the recommended dose.
Although most healthy people can take it with no problem, creatine can, in rare cases, have adverse effects, particularly when used in excess. Side effects can include:
- Weight gain
- Stomach upset
Taking the stimulants caffeine and ephedra with creatine can increase the risk of side effects.
Creatine isn’t recommended for people with kidney or liver disease, or diabetes. Others who should avoid taking it are children under age 18 and women who are pregnant or nursing. Also don’t use creatine if you are taking any medication or supplement that could affect your blood sugar, because creatine may also affect blood sugar levels.
If you do take creatine, drink enough water to prevent dehydration.
No matter how healthy you are, let your doctor know before you take creatine or any other supplement.
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Causes Of High Creatinine
Causes listed below are commonly associated with high creatinine. Work with your doctor or another health care professional to get an accurate diagnosis. Your doctor will interpret this test, taking into account your medical history and other tests. A result that is slightly higher may not be of medical significance, as this test often varies from day to day and from person to person.
1) Kidney Disease
Creatinine is most commonly checked to measure kidney function. If creatinine is high, it may indicate kidney disease or impaired kidney function .
Diabetes can cause injury in the blood vessels of the kidneys which in turn reduces the ability of the kidneys to filter the blood from waste products including creatinine .
2) Diet High in Protein
Studies have found that a protein-rich diet elevates the levels of blood creatinine both in healthy and individuals suffering from kidney failure .
Also, eating cooked meat just before the test can cause a spike in creatinine levels. This happens because cooking converts the creatine present in meat into creatinine .
3) Exercise
Exercise can increase creatinine short-term, due to muscle damage, or long-term, due to an increase in muscle mass .
Studies in healthy individuals show a direct correlation between muscle mass and the levels of blood creatinine. This correlation is significant for both adult men and women .
4) Creatine Supplements
In People With Healthy Kidneys Long
This page is regularly updated, to include the most recently available clinical trial evidence.
Each member of our research team is required to have no conflicts of interest, including with supplementmanufacturers, food companies, and industry funders. The team includes nutrition researchers, registereddietitians, physicians, and pharmacists. We have a strict editorial process.
This page features 24 references. All factual claims are followed by specifically-applicable references. to see the full set of referencesfor this page.
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Is Creatine Safe For Your Kidneys Examine
Boosts Performance During High
A study has shown that supplementing with creatine during high-intensity interval training can help improve performance. Creatine increases the body’s production of phosphocreatine, which is an essential element in the production of energy. Phosphocreatine is also essential in improving athletic performance in exercises of different intensities at different times, such as high-intensity interval training.
In fact, researchers believe that creatine is among the most effective supplements when used for high-intensity exercise. Over 70% of studies have shown a strong positive correlation between creatine supplementation and improved performance in high-intensity exercise, while the other 30% still showed a small positive effect, meaning no negative effects have ever been discovered.
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Why Is This A Concern
Considering creatines popularity as a sports supplement, it isnt surprising that concerns have been raised about potential adverse effects especially on the kidneys.
Why the kidneys?
To store the creatine you ingest, and the creatine your liver produces, your skeletal muscles, your brain, and other tissues transform it into phosphocreatine. And when they use their stores to recycle adenosine triphosphate , often called lifes energy currency, one of the byproducts is creatinine.
Your kidneys excrete this creatinine unchanged. If their function declines, so does creatinine clearance. Creatinine clearance can be estimated from a blood test or measured through a combination of blood test and 24-hour urine sample.
Creatinine blood levels are the most commonly used indicator of kidney function: it is assumed that if your levels are high, your kidneys havent done their job.
Your skeletal muscles make for > 90% of your creatine stores, so the more muscle you have, and the more you use it, the more creatinine you produce. Also, greater animal protein intake has been associated with greater muscle mass and higher creatinine excretion. And yes, supplemental creatine can increase your blood levels of creatinine beyond the normal ranges but can we really conclude your kidneys are being damaged?
Concerns have been raised over creatine supplementation because it can increase creatinine levels beyond the normal range a marker of kidney damage.
Almonds Are High In Fiber
Kidney disease patients, especially ones undergoing dialysis often have digestive issues which lead to constipation. Constipation in kidney disease patients can add to the stress that they already have to undergo.
Fiber acts as a lubricant in the small intestine, it binds to the consumed food and allows easier passage to the large intestine and to the rectum. Since almonds have a sufficient amount of insoluble fiber, it can be beneficial for kidney disease patients suffering from digestive problems as well.
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What Are The Short
One thing is almost certain: If you take creatine, youll gain weight.
“Creatine is a quick way to add muscle, but not without some water weight, too,” Carolyn Brown, R.D., a nutrition counselor at Foodtrainers. “Most people gain between two and four pounds of water retention in the first week.”
But that water weight is good, Roussell points out: “Creatines going to pull more water into your muscles, making your muscles bigger and fuller.”
And if you’re not gaining weight on creatine in the short-term, you may not be drinking enough water. Make sure you’re well-hydrated when you’re taking creatine supplements.
May Cause Weight Gain
An ounce of almonds contains about 164 calories . Though this is not a problem by itself, if you consume almonds in excess , on top of your regular diet, you can pile on pounds.
This is especially true if you do not indulge in regular physical exercise.
It is highly unlikely almonds by themselves can cause weight gain. Consuming them in excess as well as following a poor lifestyle makes one prone to weight gain.
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Food Choices Can Affect Kidney Health
- Avoid processed foods and choose fresh fruits and vegetables instead.
- Follow a low-salt diet. Salt should be limited especially if you have high blood pressure, protein in your urine, or swelling, or difficulty breathing. Eating less than 2000 mg a day of sodium is recommended.
- Limit protein if you have moderate-to-advanced kidney disease . A high-protein diet, which is popular for losing weight, maybe safe for people with normal kidneys but can put a strain on poorly functioning kidneys to rid the bodys protein waste. However, a diet too low in protein can cause loss of muscle and make you frail.
Many healthcare professionals recommend the Dash Diet, however, it is important to discuss your individual nutrition needs with your healthcare professional or dietitian before starting a diet.
Improves Strength And Endurance
A meta-analysis reveals the results of different studies, showing that taking creatine improves the weight-lifting abilities of young men who do resistance training. Creatine increases levels of phosphocreatine, which in turn increases the production of ATP energy. ATP energy is the main source of fuel for high-intensity workouts, which leads to an increase in strength and power.
One study that looked at athletes over a period of four weeks found that people had an average of 17% improvement in cycling sprints, an 18-pound increase in one rep of bench presses, and a 20% greater work load when using a lower amount of weight when taking creatine supplements. Clearly, creatine improves several aspects of both strength and endurance. The average increase is thought to be around 5%.
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Supports And Enhances Brain Function
Creatine is an important neuroprotectant, meaning it can help increase the survival of nerve cells against environmental hazards. Supplementing with creatine replenishes lost creatine stores in the brain, which usually happens from lack of sleep or stress.
As previously mentioned, creatine plays a role in the creation of energy, which is also helpful in your brain. Your brain cells use ATP energy to communicate with each other, and, without creatine, they are unable to perform this essential function.
When you supplement with creatine, the levels of energy in your brain are increased, which can not only reduce fatigue, but also improve memory processes. Additionally, this increase in energy metabolism encourages brain cell regeneration, which can help reduce symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases.
Creatine is also thought to help the brain endure trauma associated with the production of reactive oxygen species. These small molecules can damage cell structures, and include oxygen ions, free radicals, and peroxides. Their damage to cell structures may possibly create a foundation for many neurodegenerative disorders.
What Are The Ways To Make A Kidney
If you have diabetes along with kidney disease, you need to control your blood sugar to prevent more damage to your kidneys. A diabetic diet and a kidney-friendly diet share a lot of the same food items, but there are some important differences. There are some ways your kidney-friendly diet and diabetic diet can work together. Below are a few food items that are good for you, if youre diagnosed with both diabetes and kidney disease.
- Fruits: Berries, papaya, cherries, apples and plums
- Vegetables: Cauliflower, onions and spinach
- Proteins: Lean meats , eggs and unsalted seafood
- Carbohydrates: Whole-wheat breads, sandwich buns, unsalted crackers and pasta
- Fluids: Water, clear soups and unsweetened tea
- If you drink orange juice to treat low blood sugar, switch to kidney-friendly apple juice. It will provide the same blood sugar boost with a lot less potassium.
Your doctor and/or dietician will help you to create a meal plan that helps you control your blood sugar level while limiting sodium, phosphorus, potassium and fluids in the body.
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Creatine And Fear Mongering
While a great rule of thumb, If its too good to be true, it usually is sometimes gets misused by people trying to take down whatever appears to be great just to appear controversial.
Personally, I feel there are many valid reasons to say that creatine isnt perfect. Creatine non-response, or how some people simply do not get the claimed benefits of creatine due to how their body is, is a great example.
Varying response rates explain why some people gain easily over five or more pounds of muscle while using creatine while others are lucky to gain one pound over a year. Reliability in beneficial effects yet unreliability in magnitude isnt the best feeling to us nonresponders.
However, rather than this valid example creatine was linked to kidney damage seemingly because it had to have something wrong with it and kidney concerns are an easy go-to among worrywarts.
But claims stated without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, which makes it a bit of a predicament when a good chunk of this fear mongering came out of a misinterpretation of actual evidence.
What Foods Help Repair Kidneys
A DaVita Dietitians Top 15 Healthy Foods for People with Kidney Disease
- Red bell peppers. 1/2 cup serving red bell pepper = 1 mg sodium, 88 mg potassium, 10 mg phosphorus.
- Cabbage. 1/2 cup serving green cabbage = 6 mg sodium, 60 mg potassium, 9 mg phosphorus.
- Cauliflower.
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Creatinine In Kidney Disease: When To Worry About
- Could running marathons be hard on your kidneys, or at least biomarkers that track kidney injury> this paper in AJKD seems to suggest so. Join us to discuss this intriguing data and whether it should impact on runners, on May 23 and 24th
- fights against free radicals which is the very root cause of a variety of diseases and ageing
- Creatine is safe. There is a myth out there that says creatine is bad for your kidneys. This is because testing kidney health involves testing body levels of creatine. When people loading creatine came in to get a test, technicians would see the high levels of creatinine and incorrectly think the kidneys were failing
- Blood creatinine test: Creatinine is a waste product produced by your muscles. It is entirely filtered from the blood by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. It is entirely filtered from the.
- A, B6 and C, phosphorus, iron, manganese, potassium, and calcium. When taken in excess, it can cause metals to.
Creatine Supplements And India Risk Factors And Side Effects
- 05 Aug 2019
In misguided attempts to quickly get bulky muscles, a large section of India’s urban youth is falling prey to the lure of dangerous supplements like Creatine.
Here’s what you need to know about the potential risks and life-threatening side effects associated with the unregulated consumption of supplements like Creatine.
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Oranges And Orange Juice
While oranges and orange juice are arguably most well known for their vitamin C content, theyre also rich sources of potassium.
One large orange provides 333 mg of potassium. Moreover, there are 473 mg of potassium in 1 cup of orange juice .
Given their potassium content, oranges and orange juice likely need to be avoided or limited on a renal diet.
Grapes, apples, and cranberries, as well as their respective juices, are all good substitutes for oranges and orange juice, as they have lower potassium contents.
SUMMARY
Oranges and orange juice are high in potassium and should be limited on a renal diet. Try grapes, apples, cranberries, or their juices instead.
Processed meats are meats that have been salted, dried, cured, or canned.
Some examples include hot dogs, bacon, pepperoni, jerky, and sausage.
Processed meats typically contain large amounts of salt, mostly to improve their taste and preserve flavor.
Therefore, it may be difficult to keep your daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg if processed meats are abundant in your diet.
Additionally, processed meats are high in protein.
If you have been told to monitor your protein intake, its important to limit processed meats for this reason as well.
SUMMARY
Processed meats are high in salt and protein and should be consumed in moderation on a renal diet.
Pickles, processed olives, and relish are all examples of cured or pickled foods.
Usually, large amounts of salt are added during the curing or pickling process.
SUMMARY
Creatinine Levels : What Is Considered A Bad Creatinine Level
7 Easy Ways to Lower Creatinine Levels Naturally. Alrighty here they are, what I have put together is some really easy tips you can put into practice straight away to help boost your kidney function, while having a direct impact on your creatinine blood levels. 1. Vegetarian Die Your urine creatinine levels can reveal kidney problems. Your doctor will either order a spot test – when you give a small urine sample at a random time in the day – or a 24h creatinine urine test. The 24h test is more accurate, as long as you carefully follow the instructions. If your levels are low, you may have kidney issues The production of natural creatine is a protein building block that is stored in your muscles and used as energy. When your kidneys are healthy, creatinine is safely removed from the body. The aim of normal creatinine levels in the blood should range between 0.6 to 1.2 mg/dL for men, and 0.5 to 1.1 mg/dL for women Creatinine is the most acute indicator of how well your kidneys are working. Since the generation of creatinine is stable, high creatinine always means your kidney fail to excrete creatinine with urine. Therefore, they are often recommended to take plenty of water to reduce creatinine. However, how much water should you drink
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