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Nutritional supplements

Creatine gains in popularity as safety questions abound; the FDA can't wait to regulate or outlaw the substance

Wednesday, June 09, 2004
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)
Tags: nutritional supplements, strength training, the FDA


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Creatine has rapidly become wildly popular among people looking for an edge in strength training and sports performance. One study indicates as many as 16% of teenagers use creatine, and 57% of people who frequent health clubs also take the nutritional supplement. Creatine has been clinically proven to increase lean muscle mass and boost performance, but is creatine safe?

When it comes to creatine, you can count on two things happening. First, some users will abuse it and consume ridiculous levels of the substance in a desperate effort to boost their performance. And secondly, the FDA and organized medicine will do everything they can do discredit creatine as part of their campaign to regulate or outlaw all nutritional supplements. These two actions go hand in hand, of course: as a few isolated abusers of creatine are found to exhibit negative side effects, the FDA will leap at the opportunity and publicly declare creatine to be "dangerous to everyone" in a sensationalist manner. The campaign to discredit creatine will, in fact, closely mirror the FDA's campaign to suppress ephedra -- a common weight loss herb that is actually remarkably safe, despite what you may have heard in the popular press.

Creatine is like most other nutritional supplements: if used widely, it can assist in reaching health goals like losing weight or attaining greater physical strength. But if abused, it can overload certain body organs (the kidneys, especially) and ultimately cause serious health problems. The key is to understand that the substance is not the problem, it's the desperation and lack of nutritional wisdom of certain individuals that's the actual source of the problem. The FDA would argue that since a few people can't figure out how to limit their consumption of creatine to safe levels, then the substance should be removed from the reach of the entire population. It reminds me of the state of Oregon, where it's illegal to pump your own gas at a gas station. Minimum wage attendants have to pump all your gas for you in Oregon, because the state legislature decided that the average gasoline consumer somehow has even lower intelligence than the attendants who work there.

The FDA thinks the same way about the general public: since a few people are too stupid to limit their consumption of creatine, it should be restricted from everyone. It's an insult to the intelligence of the thinking, lucid people in American society. Yes, the number of lucid people may be shrinking rapidly thanks to brain-destroying diets (hydrogenated oils, aspartame, MSG) and food additives, but there are still tens of millions of people running around this country who can think for themselves, and in my view, the FDA has no right to restrict their access to relatively safe nutritional supplements like creatine. Technically, creatine is no more dangerous than coffee. There are probably thousands of deaths caused each year by the frequent consumption of coffee, yet the FDA isn't at all interested in banning that substance.

Do I use creatine myself? I tend to stay away from it, but on occasion, I will consume a tablespoon of creatine as part of a pre-workout protein drink made with soy milk, stevia and whey protein. In my experience, it definitely helps with the workout. But I don't rely on it as a foundation of my physical health, and I would never consume it on a daily basis. It's not like vitamins and minerals -- creatine isn't something you need on a daily basis. It can, however, help the intensity of your workout if used wisely.


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About the author:Mike Adams (aka the "Health Ranger") is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com) and a globally recognized scientific researcher in clean foods. He serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs. There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation. Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation.

Adams is a person of color whose ancestors include Africans and Native American Indians. He's also of Native American heritage, which he credits as inspiring his "Health Ranger" passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution.

Adams is the founder and publisher of the open source science journal Natural Science Journal, the author of numerous peer-reviewed science papers published by the journal, and the author of the world's first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books.

In his laboratory research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten. Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder, and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products.

In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue, a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories.

With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software. Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com, a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies.

Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply. He has also exposed "strange fibers" found in Chicken McNuggets, fake academic credentials of so-called health "gurus," dangerous "detox" products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams, the California raw milk raids, the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics.

Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents. Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness.

In addition to his activism, Adams is an accomplished musician who has released over a dozen popular songs covering a variety of activism topics.

Click here to read a more detailed bio on Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, at HealthRanger.com.

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