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."

Comments

body odor?

[oakz]

One of the side effects, however, is an unpleasant body odour

...yeah...like this affects the slashdot crowd much...

Re:body odor?

[alchemist68]

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.

However, please note the reverse is not true

[clickety6]

Just because you stink, it doesn't mean you're clever!

Re:However, please note the reverse is not true

[Soko]

Just because you stink, it doesn't mean you're clever!

You are correct, sir. All of the (20+ so far) "smelly nerd" jokes stink, and none are clever.

Soko

Re: Odour

[Black Parrot]

> So I can intelligent and smell or stupid and smell nice. Ho hum life is full of hard decisions.

To paraphrase an old saw, "strong, intelligent, sweet-smelling: choose two".

Sensationalism

[Fungii]

This is just another in the long series of sensationalist stories about studies that show *** increases ***, or doing X makes you better at Y.

What annoys me about these stories is that they are always based on small (eg 45) groups and they basically amount to pseudoscience and they give a bad view of the scientific community in general.

For example, how many times have you read stories about either possible cures or causes of cancer? Journalists should stop coming out with this crap and cover real scientific stories.

Re:Sensationalism

[nanojath]

Thank you. Keep in mind also that 45 is the full test group - comprising both those receiving the active agent and those receiving placebo. So basically you've got these results on the basis of a couple dozen people.

There are other issues. Because Creatine occurs naturally in meat, they used only vegetarians in the study. While I understand their motive to reduce unknown variables in the active agent, it still boils down to using a non-typical population for the sample. Is there an impact? Who knows, unless you go the full distance, using a general population and finding some way to meter and account for their meat intake. Suffice to say, a lot of preliminary studies run afoul of the sample population they use - claims for particular foods made on the basis of a genetically discrete population's traditional diet is the classic example. Is it the diet or their genes creating the particular effect? You don't know until you test a general population.

This isn't to say this is bad science. It's just very preliminary. Unfortunately, the media judges the newsworthiness of science by how interesting, not how significant or reliable, they think the results are.

Re: That reminds me.

[Black Parrot]

> Some TV show or something did a poll catering to women. They asked them, "If there were a pill that made your ass bigger, but made you way smarter, would you take it?

If you took it as a suppository, would it make you a big-headded smartass?

Re:Odour or Odor?

[chef_raekwon]

We all know that it's Odor though..... right?

maybe we should ask Linus what HE feels is the correct spelling....

smelling the future

[yingjie]

"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.

Re:Kids these days

[Eric Ass Raymond]

I for one welcome all methods, biomechanical and biochemical alike, that help me to improve myself with the least amount of effort. Why? Because then I can put effort into improving myself in areas where artificial means are not (yet) available.

What you're saying is similar to dismissing cars, trains and bicycles because" they're for the sick and injured not for the lazy and impatient - just walk to work like the God intended."

Re:Arnold for Governor!

[mce]

If my memory serves me well, having a usable memory was apparently not a requirement for certain previous CA governors.

Re:That reminds me.

[Anoraknid the Sartor]

So ask the men "this pill shrinks your penis by an inch, but makes you way smarter - would you take it?"

Re:Take Niacin

[rtaylor]

Niacin is a vitamin, so it is completely safe.

Sure... Mercury is a natural mineral, so it is also completely safe to injest.

Be careful about unproven herbal treatments.

[vorwerk]

I'd be cautious before rushing out to get this one.

See:

Shopper's Drug Mart herbal info on Creatine

Some snippets from this link:

• "[T]here are some potential concerns with creatine. Because it is metabolized by the kidneys, fears have been expressed that creatine supplements could cause kidney injury, and there are two worrisome case reports"
• "Another concern revolves around the fact that creatine is metabolized in the body to the toxic substance formaldehyde."

Re:Take Niacin

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Depends...

[emilng]

Rubber duckies don't count

Re:Other Side Affects

[SonOfThor]

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!

Re:In other news...

[banks]

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.