Creatine
Creatine has become a very popular product with teen athletes, with annual sales totaling over 200 million dollars. It is advertised as a natural product that provides larger, more powerful muscles, and is especially popular with high school football and track athletes, as it may increase power for short-term sports action. Creatine is actually an essential amino acid, which means that it's a necessary nutrient for human beings, and occurs naturally in fish, milk, meat, and other foods.
What we don't know about creatine
Creatine has undergone very little scientific study. We don't know anything about its long-term effects, and we don't know what doses are dangerous. The doses kids take are varied and often mixed with other drugs or chemicals that have their own unknown effects.
What we do know about creatine
We do know that creatine produces no improvement in long-term endurance activities. We also know that a number of side effects are possible, including abdominal pain, nausea, loose stools, increase in weight due to the retention of water, muscle cramps, and muscle strains. Case reports indicate that dehydration and even death may occur when athletes take creatine and exercise in hot weather. Reduction in kidney function and enlargement of the heart muscle have been observed in kids. Additionally, creatine supplementation suppresses the body's own production of creatine. We do not know what effects this may have on a growing child. There are simply too many unknowns about creatine at this time to be letting our kids use it to win an occasional football game.
