Slashdot Mirror
Creatine Found to Boost Brainpower
Eric Ass Raymond writes "According to this BBC article, researchers from the University of Sydney and Macquarie University in Australia have found that the dietary supplement creatine - a natural compound found in muscle tissue - can improve not only your athletic performance, but also your intelligence and memory. One of the side effects, however, is an unpleasant body odour."
"Reports of gastrointestinal distress, stomach cramps, nausea and diarrhea are also frequently reported, especially during the loading phase when greater amounts of creatine are being ingested daily." (creatinemonohydrate.net)
ugh, double the odor issues.
See:
Shopper's Drug Mart herbal info on Creatine
Some snippets from this link:
Well, not completely safe.
High intakes of niacin can cause:
Liver Damage
Severe Gastrointestinal Problems
Moderate doses of niacin are excreted in our urine and so cause no harm. However, high doses of the vitamin used for treatment of diseases may expand the blood vessels, thereby resulting in rashes, itching and headaches. The condition may arise in connection with doses of only 10 mg, especially when they are taken on an empty stomach. The reaction can be unpleasant, but is otherwise harmless.
High doses of niacin, more than 1,000 mg per day, consumed over a long period of time, are believed to produce side-effects like indigestion, stomach ulcers, liver problems and elevated blood concentration of uric acid and glucose. Most side-effects have been reported to arise in connection with daily doses in excess of 2,000 mg. Doses of less than 500 mg are generally considered harmless.
You're retarded.
Anyone who told you they got those side effects from "using creatine" was bullshitting you. They were using some serious gear, not just creatine. In case you didn't know, it's actually quite difficult for most people to "look like a juicer" without some form of anabolic steroids or possibly a keen stack of prohormones. Natural body builders don't generally look like body builders, and they rarely compete, because they simply cannot pack on the muscle with the same ease of a hormonally-enhanced body builder. Creatine, while it does work, does not pack on the muscle like steriods do. If it did, it would be a controlled substance. Here comes the cluestick!
Can't test for creatine- it's in the body naturally. There was some talk a few years ago of testing for elevated levels of creatine in athletic competitions, but it just wouldn't work. The levels fluctuate too much naturally for any test to provide good data.
Besides, people have been experimenting with the various "smart drugs" for years and years, and the various academic testing boards couldn't care less. I don't think amount or type of chemical assitance could realiably provide an increase in the reasoning skills these exams test.
--Use this space for notes--
One of the side effects, however, is an unpleasant body odour
To counteract the foul stench caused by metabolizing creatine, take chlorophyll which is available at your local health food store. Chlorophyll is a natural internal deodorant that assists in destroying the stinky metabolites produced in our bodies, including bad breath. It does this through the chemistry of porphyrins, which are known to be very reactive when they are de-metalated (removing magnesium or copper from the porphyrin metal center in the case of chlorophyll).
On a somewhat related note, when you bruise your skin and observe yellow/brown/blue colorations in the area of the injury site, the hemoglobin (a porphyrin with iron in the metal center) is being broken down into the components of bile, which are those colors mentioned. In fact, some medications have porphyrins in them, so don't get exposed to direct sunlight when taking these meds, as de-metalated porphyrins break down into radicals upon exposure to UV radiation. This is why they are also used as insecticides.