What the kidney doctor told me about creatine...
When I was in highscool I was one of the jocks. Yes I played football and went out for track and field. I enjoyed playing strong safety on the football team and enjoyed sprinting on the track team. I got involved with a lot of supplementation to aid my track and field time (11.2 seconds) on the 100 meter dash. Not great but good enough to join the track team in College. I didn't do this, instead I went to the AirForce and had a better expenience than College Sports could offer me.
However, after math class one day my friend came up to me and asked if I was taking creatine. At the time I wasn't because I don't like how gritty it is (even though this is the perfect supplement for a sprinter because it replenishes ATP really fast). I figured if it is really gritty and nasty ever time you take it, it probably isn't that healthy for you, and boy was I right. My friend basically told me his Dad is a Neprologist (a kidney doctor) and is operating on Kidney's all the time. Most of the time the patient was taking Creatine when getting their kidney operated on. This stuff is terrible for your kidney's he said. Stay away from it; however, there are special people. I do think that once in awhile there is a special person that can take creatine, such as Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman but are you that special person? Can you risk acute renal failure? I just want you to watch out for number one out there and maybe ask Jesus and the Creator and Lucifer if you are the person that should be taking creatine or not. It might help you get to the bottom of it. I have a feeling some people have weaker kidneys than other people.
I do know that there is a test for kidney function called the Glomerular Filtration Rate or GFR. This is a measure of your overall kidney function. In a normally functioning Kidney your GFR is 120 and goes down with age. Creatine will for sure lower your GFR quite a bit meaning it is not filtering as much. When it gets low you get yourself into trouble. I think if you are going to take it at least get your GFR tested to see if you are a special population and talk to your Dr. about it. If your GFR is already low (Senior Citizen) then I'd say forget creatine. You decide but be smart, it is a nasty substance.
