While no major studies have revealed adverse effects of creatine in adolescents, there also hasn’t been as much research done on this age group.Imgorthand/Supplied
As long as there are competitive sports, there will be athletes searching for the one thing that will make them better, faster and stronger. For many teens (and adults, too), creatine seems like that magic bullet: An accessible, relatively inexpensive, easy-to-take supplement that can improve performance and help build muscle.
“Youth sport has gotten more competitive,” says Cara Kasdorf, a Waterloo-based registered dietitian and the co-owner of Blueprint Nutrition who specializes in working with athletes. “Everyone is looking for that edge.”
When Kasdorf gives talks at high schools, she finds that many teens are already supplementing with creatine and are fairly educated about it.
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Madeline Feist, a Toronto-based kinesiologist at b-Stretched, says she is most commonly asked about creatine by male clients aged 15 to 17 who are getting into lifting weights and “starting to be a little more aware of what their bodies look like.”
But for every teen excited about the chance to get a leg up on the competition or escalate the growth of their rapidly changing body, there’s a parent who has spotted a label on the creatine tub warning those under 18 against consuming the product. Kasdorf says parents she speaks to are generally concerned about the safety of supplements, particularly performance-enhancing ones, for developing bodies.
If you’re a parent of a teen who is curious about creatine, here’s what you need to know.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound produced by the kidneys, liver and pancreas, 95 per cent of which is stored in skeletal muscle tissue. It can also be found in foods, including red meat and some seafood.
During high-intensity exercise or activity, the creatine stored in muscle tissue can help produce energy that allows you to push a little harder for a little longer.
Though you produce creatine naturally daily, you also lose it daily. And while the amount of creatine your body makes is enough to carry out routine functions, you need a bit more to see benefits to athletic performance. You would need to consume a pound of ground beef to gain just two grams. That’s why people often turn to supplements.
How does it work?
Creatine is one of the most studied supplements, and research has shown that you can increase your creatine stores by 15 to 40 per cent through supplementation.
“You’re basically making it easier for your muscle cells to get more energy, so in the long term you’re able to train harder,” says Feist.
Creatine supplementation seems to have the greatest impact on athletes in sports that require “big, fast, explosive bursts of energy and movement,” she explains. Think soccer, swimming, wrestling, hockey, dance, gymnastics, and traditional strength sports. It can help you get that extra rep or two on a heavy back squat before hitting failure, hold your top-end speed on a sprint, or recover a bit faster after a burst of movement.
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What it can’t do is make you grow Popeye biceps the second you swallow a scoop. “One of the misconceptions of creatine is that it exerts a direct action on the muscle where it can get it to grow stronger directly,” says Andrew Jagim, director of sports medicine research at Mayo Clinic Health System, based in Wisconsin. “I usually say it has more indirect effects where it creates a situation where you might be able to train harder or with a higher training capacity. And if you’re doing that over time, then that can help you get bigger, stronger, faster.”
It’s worth noting that creatine does not seem to have a significant impact on performance in endurance sports such as distance running.
What should parents keep in mind?
Sometimes when a parent and teen get to Kasdorf’s office, they’ve already been advised by their pediatrician to avoid creatine. While no major studies have revealed adverse effects in adolescents, there also hasn’t been as much research done on this age group.
“Comparatively to other populations, we do know a bit less when it comes to creatine supplementation in kids,” says Jagim, who has co-authored multiple reviews of studies on the safety and efficacy of creatine use in children and adolescents. “But there is still enough evidence, in my mind, to support its safety.”
For additional confidence, choose a creatine monohydrate powder that is independently or third-party tested. Look for emblems from certifying bodies such as NSF Certified for Sport, or Informed Choice/Informed Sport, suggests Scott Forbes, department chair of physical education studies and a faculty of education professor at Brandon University in Manitoba.
While your teen may talk about creatine cycling or loading, experts recommend picking a low-maintenance dose and sticking with it. It’s possible to oversupplement with creatine, but doing so is not inherently dangerous.
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“There isn’t an unlimited amount that we can store. There’s a saturation point,” says Jagim. “And once you’re at that point, there’s no real benefit of just taking more and more. You’re just wasting your money.”
Jagim usually scales back the daily dose for teen athletes because their bodies are smaller.
Perhaps most important, experts say, is to make sure your teen knows that creatine is not a cure-all.
“To me, creatine is actually one of the most effective supplements, but it’s also one of the most overrated,” says Forbes. In a review and meta-analysis Forbes co-authored, creatine supplementation – when combined with resistance training – did increase muscle thickness, but only by about one millimetre.
“It does work, but the effect sizes are relatively small,” he says.
The bottom line
While experts say creatine is safe for adolescents, they recommend consulting with your child’s coach or a registered dietician for guidance on dosage. They also advise that if your teen is supplementing with it, it should be considered a single piece of a larger puzzle that includes other healthy habits.
“There’s no magic bullet,” Forbes says. “It’s just consistent exercise, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and eating sufficient calories, and probably getting sufficient sleep. I know that’s not what people want to hear, but those are kind of the big sledgehammers and the things that are going to have the big impact.”
Alyssa Ages is a journalist and the author of Secrets of Giants: A Journey to Uncover the True Meaning of Strength. She is also a strongman competitor and endurance athlete, as well as a former personal trainer and group fitness instructor.
