TRUTH: CREATINE DOES NOT AFFECT THE KIDNEYS


One of the most popular and well-established sports supplements on the market is creatine. Since its discovery in 2012 and introduction to the market as a commercial product in 1993, it has been used. Numerous long-term studies have proven the safety of creatine as a supplement. However, creatine is now known to cause kidney damage because of its long history.


Creatine supplementation may harm the kidneys is one of the persistent myths surrounding the substance. This myth is what I refer to as "evergreen" because it persists despite being repeatedly disproven by research.

This myth first appeared because of:

  • Creatine will pass through the kidneys after it is absorbed from the intestines because they are the body's primary detoxifying organs.
  • It is known that the kidneys process creatine. Creatinine, a byproduct of creatine's breakdown, exits the body through the urine.
It should be obvious that taking creatine will result in higher urine creatinine levels. The issue was that elevated urine creatinine levels had long been considered a reliable indicator of kidney damage. Therefore, when you take supplemental creatine, your creatinine levels will rise, but this does not mean that your kidneys are damaged.

Let's look at the research. All available research has shown that taking extra creatine has no effect on individuals with normal kidney function.

1. A group of Turkish researchers under the direction of B. Taner published a study in 2011 in the journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation Plus. I found one study where the researchers looked at a single 18-year-old patient who had normal kidney function but experienced stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting after taking creatine for just five days at a dose of 20g for the first five days and then 1 g/day for six weeks. Acute renal failure was identified as the patient's condition. The patient fully recovered 25 days after ceasing the supplementation with creatine. Numerous opponents of creatine will stand up and applaud after reading this study. But cling on. You should not evaluate a supplement or anything else in this way. The study mentioned above should help us understand the following:
  • In this study, there was only one patient, who experienced a negative reaction after consuming creatine but who was not required to undergo any creatine testing.
  • Just because you have a negative reaction to something doesn't mean it's bad. Anything could cause a negative reaction. It's possible that they are allergic or sensitive to it.
  • Even worse, there are many counterfeit supplements on the market that have extremely toxic additives in them. As there was no evaluation of the supplement as such, it may be a fake supplement that is to blame for the reaction.
  • No other study, not even a long-term one, has shown creatine to be harmful for human consumption; on the contrary, creatine has been deemed safe for kidneys.
  • Even the study's authors concluded that a decade's worth of thorough research has established the safety of taking creatine as a dietary supplement.
  • The patient's creatine intake was perfectly within normal limits, and there had never been an overdose.
  • Additionally, the researchers advise against it for healthy people, only for those with kidney disease.


Creatine is, however, completely safe for the kidneys, as shown by a number of studies:


2. A research team led by R. Lugaresi published a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2013. Creatine (20g/day for 5 days, followed by 5g/day for the duration of the trial) or a placebo was given to the participants for 12 weeks. Throughout the study, all participants engaged in resistance training and consumed a high-protein diet. The subjects taking creatine experienced no change in kidney function after 12 weeks.

3.  A 2009 study conducted by a group of researchers under the direction of R. A. Souza, which was published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. In this study, rats that were either sedentary or exercised were given high doses of short-term (5g/kg/day for 1 week) and long-term (1g/kg/day for 4–8 weeks) creatine supplementation. The study produced conflicting findings: long-term creatine supplementation (4–8 weeks) may negatively impact the structure and function of the kidney and liver in rats that are sedentary. Rats that had exercised, however, had no such effect.

4.  A Brazilian research team led by B. Gualano published a study in 2011 in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. It was determined in this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study how creatine supplementation affected the kidneys of type 2 diabetic patients. For a period of 12 weeks, the patients were assigned at random to receive creatine or a placebo. Throughout the study, all of the patients were moving. The study found no relationship between creatine supplementation and diabetic patients' kidney function, which opens a new avenue for investigation into the therapeutic use of creatine in diabetic patients.

5.  A team of Brazilian researchers conducted another study on postmenopausal women (age, 58+3 years) and published the results in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism in 2011. In this study, the postmenopausal women were given either creatine (20g/day for 1 week and 5g/day after that) or a placebo for 12 weeks. Once more, neither the women's kidney filtration rates nor function was affected.
6.  According to the literature that is currently available, creatine supplementation appears safe when used by healthy adults at the recommended loading doses (20 gm/day for five days) and maintenance doses (3 gm/day), according to a 2004 study by American researchers Yoshizumi & Tsourounis that was published in the Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy. Creatine may be linked to a higher risk of renal dysfunction in people with a history of renal disease or those taking nephrotoxic medications. Additionally, since creatine supplements have the potential to raise creatinine levels, they run the risk of mislabeling renal dysfunction.  
7.  B. Gualano and colleagues published a study in the American Journal of Kidney Disease in 2010. This was a brief study to evaluate how adding creatine would affect someone with only one kidney. A 20-year-old man received creatine supplementation for 35 days (20 grammes per day for five days, then 5 grammes per day for the following 30 days). Even when a person only had one kidney, short-term creatine supplementation had no effect on them.

8.  In a 2007 article in Subcellular Biochemistry, American researchers Persky & Rawson came to the conclusion that few clinical studies have found an increased incidence of side effects associated with creatine supplementation. Studies on renal, hepatic, cardiac, and muscle function have not discovered any clinically significant departures from normal values. Persky and Rawson also discovered that, in people who take creatine supplements for up to five years, there are no negative effects on renal health.

9.  A slightly older study, conducted in 1999 by Belgian researchers Poortmans & Francaux and published in the Medical Science in Sports & Exercise, looked at the effects on a control group over a long period of time (10 months to 5 years). They discovered that taking oral creatine supplements for a short, medium, or long period of time did not have any negative effects on healthy people's kidneys.

10.  In a 2008 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, B. Gualano and coworkers examined the effects of creatine supplementation (10g/day) on renal function in healthy, sedentary males (18-35 years old) who underwent exercise training for three months. When healthy males who are exercising aerobically take a high dose of creatine for three months, no renal dysfunction is induced.

11.  The impact of prolonged creatine ingestion on renal function in rats with normal kidney function or pre-existing kidney failure was examined in a 2003 study by a Belgian research team led by Y. E. C. Taes and published in the journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. Creatine supplementation has no negative effects on kidney function in either control animals or animals with pre-existing renal failure.

12.  In June 2005, a study was published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy by American researchers K. A. Pline and C. L. Smith. Large doses of creatine supplements may unintentionally raise creatinine concentrations, the study claims. Between 1996 and 2004, there was a study done on the research papers on creatine. The study discovered that supplementing with large doses of creatine may inadvertently elevate creatinine concentrations because creatine is converted to creatinine in the body. Long-term supplementation with creatine had little impact on creatinine levels.


Even though the use of creatine in patients with renal diseases has been supported by animal studies, the overall results are not entirely certain regarding kidney damage. Although some studies find creatine to be safe, they do not recommend its use in patients with renal disease. Creatine use in individuals with renal disease should be approached cautiously, according to a 2001 study by J.W. Edmunds and colleagues that was published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease.

Conclusion: Creatine has been shown to be a safe supplement for people with normal kidney function in both short and long-term studies using low, medium, and large doses of creatine. Kidney damage is not brought on by creatine. Before giving creatine to someone who already has kidney disease, a doctor may need to be consulted. Utilizing creatine while exercising would be preferable. Creatine might only serve to improve your couch potato status.