COMMUNITY: The good news about creatine

Editor's note: Adam Rees is founder of GRIT GYM, a gym based on results, creating a culture and lifestyle of performance, strength, health and freedom to live life on your own terms. Rees attended Wartburg, worked under nationally recognized strength coach Matt McGettigan at ISU and is generally a glutton for information and improvement in all forms.

By Adam Rees, community contributor

The wonderful thing about continual research is we keep making incredible finds.

Five years ago we uncovered the health benefits of VitaminD3. There was a time when we knew fish oils and good fats worked but no one batted an eye until we knew why and how far-reaching it this very small but extremely powerful addition to the diet really is.

When we unlocked the benefits of creatine 30 years ago we had no idea, until recently, that every mom, grandpa and teenager actually should be taking this daily.

Could it be true?

Creatine can be of huge help for much more than an extra rep in the weight room. In fact, it could potentially keep us from getting heart disease as well as improve our test scores. It may also help grumpy grandpa feel a little more cheery and help you remember the “to do” list before leaving the house.

Creatine has gotten a horrible reputation. But creatine works for most people. There are some of us who already get enough in our diet on a weekly basis called “nonresponsive” (though it's very, very rare). This simply means that if we were tested the increases in power endurance would not be conclusive to improvement.

Creatine does not make you stronger. It improves strength endurance, so maybe you get an extra rep at the end of a set.

The real gift of creatine is in its health benefits, especially the mental side. If you want a healthier, better-thinking mind, creatine is good stuff. It's not a miracle - nothing is - but it works.

There's also a little additive companies are regularly adding to supplement concoctions called glycocyamine. This little guy is a precursor to creatine. The thought is that it will increase the amount of creatine in the body (a good thing).

However, glycocyamine is utterly pointless because we already can take creatine directly. It is already legal and safe if done correctly.

Glycocamine is bad because it increases homocysteine, which is highly connected with heart disease. Interestingly, consuming extra creatine decreases the amount of homocysteine in the body, which opens a new look into other health benefits,

Creatine got ripped apart because people had no idea what they were doing and started drinking absurd amounts. Creatine is a diuretic and their bodies were trying to process (for some people well over 50 grams a day, when they only needed 5) the excess, which led to a laundry list of gastro intestinal, kidney and serious dehydration issues, such as cramps to the point of muscle spasm.

Some of these were serious enough to ruin athletic careers and most gave people the worst few days they've ever spent in a bathroom.

Be careful with this supplement. Taking more than 5 grams a day will not help you. Stay at 5 gram (about 1 tablespoons) and only take it well after your workouts, practice and/or competitions and with a lot of water.

• For more of Rees' advice go to www.GRITGYM.com/resources and adamrees.blogspot.com. Email Rees at adam@gritgym.com