Scientists: Creatine unlikely to cause cramping or dehydration

Top Creatine Formulas Like These May Be Safer Than You've Been Led To Believe

One still-widely-held misconception about creatine is that it greatly disrupts water metabolism in the body, leading to mild side-effects like cramping or even severe side-effects like dehydration. Many product labels, articles, nutrition experts, even the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) against using creatine when exercising intensely in hot environments.

It’s still important to drink plenty of water when exercising, whether you’re using creatine or not.

But a study just published in the July 2008 British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that the evidence just doesn’t support such concerns, or related concerns about muscle cramps or dehydration. The researchers, from the Department of Health and Exercise Science at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, concluded that creatine actually improves athletic performance in hot or humid weather, helps maintain blood plasma volume and thermoregulation and lowers both heart and perspiration rates.

This is not to say that creatine should be used recklessly or indiscriminately. But it should pave the way for more people to take advantage of creatine’s considerably wide range of benefits.