Creatine: Safety, Benefits, and How It Works

Creatine. It is the most well known, as well as the most studied supplement in the industry right behind whey. There are studies going back decades with pretty conclusive evidence that points to creatine being extremely safe. But if creatine has so many studies, then why does it have so much opposition? My opinion is that most opposition is due to a lack of understanding. Average people do not understand creatine. When a 12 year old boy wants to start lifting weights and tells their mom they want to buy a magical powder that will make him big and strong, his mom is absolutely correct to worry. After all, something that makes you build muscle and strength is probably a steroid, right? Possibly. But that is not what creatine does.
Is Creatine a Steroid?
The short answer: Absolutely not. To understand why creatine is not a steroid, you must first understand what a steroid actually is.
What are Steroids?
Why is it that males are almost always more muscular than females? Why can a man naturally be 200 pounds of muscle, but a woman will never naturally reach that level of muscularity? Simply put, males naturally produce a hormone called testosterone. You have most likely heard of it. Testosterone is what makes a man a man. It's what causes his deep voice, body hair, facial hair, strength, and what we think of as masculine instincts. It's what causes males to fight over females, in human social settings and in nature. A performance enhancing steroid is basically synthetic testosterone, or other synthesized hormones that are actually more anabolic than testosterone. Some steroids are not even found in nature. Steroids can carry some nasty side effects and a lot of health risks later on in life.
What is Creatine?
So now that we have a basic understanding of what steroids are, what is creatine?
Creatine is found in almost every animal, including humans. We get it from meat and we naturally synthesize it. Creatine is a completely natural organic acid that provides cellular energy to your cells. It is found in the highest concentrations in muscle cells. Creatine and steroids can not even be compared. One works hormonally, one works inside of your cells naturally. Creatine will not make you superhuman like steroids. Steroids can push your body past physiological limits. With years of training and a perfect diet might be able to be a little over 200 lbs of lean muscle naturally. With steroids you can put on another 20-50 pounds. If you are pushing your body past a natural limit, you are putting multiple organs under extreme stress, especially your heart. Creatine does no such thing. Creatine will indirectly help you add strength and mass by allowing your muscle cells to work just a bit harder.
How Does Creatine Work?
If you were awake for high school biology, you probably learned about cellular energy. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), glucose, cellular respiration, and all of that fun stuff. If not, I will give you the brief rundown.
You cells contain a bit of a molecule called adenosine triphosphate. You cell generates energy by breaking a phosphate bond in the mitochondria. Any time a bond is broken, energy is released. The adenosine triphosphate then becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and needs to find another phosphate atom to bond with so that it can break it in the mitochondria. Creatine bond with phosphate and becomes phosphocreatine, which is stored in the cells. Phosphocreatine can rapidly turn ADP into much needed ATP. That ATP can then go break another bond for cellular energy.
Think of your cells as a steam engine train. The ATP represents a worker that has a shovel full of coal, while the ADP represents a worker with an empty shovel. The ADP worker has to go to the next car over to get a shovel of coal to put in the fire to keep the train running. Creatine would represent a supply of coal in the same car as the fire. The ADP worker would have to walk a few feet instead of to the next car over to get the much needed coal, which represents phosphate. It is a natural function of life. Creatine is already working in your body keeping your cells alive and energized.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9626085