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Creatine and the Kidneys
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Can Creatine Cause Kidney Damage?
The continued research that is going on with creatine shows that you have to take a lot of creatine to have it affect your energy and recovery. It is for this reason that scientists where convinced that it is putting extra strain on the kidneys.
Although most of what you take ends up in your urine with the production of the creainine that is needed to take out the creatine that you have taken it still needs your kidneys to do the work. That's why there's some concern that creatine supplementation could damage kidneys.
To get rid of the extra creatine, you have to make more urine, studies estimate it to be about 25% more each day. The good news is that after a lot of intensive research is that there has been no renal insufficiency shown on the kidneys if you are drinking that extra 25%.
In a specific study done in one case an existing kidney condition flared up when the athlete started taking creatine. This is rare and it is thought that taking creatine will affect one in 2000 people negatively. It was shown in another study that the athlete developed serious inflammation of the kidneys.
So the bottom line is that there is a risk which is very low, but it is certainly not zero. Obviously it goes without saying that the risk is almost certainly much higher for someone who already has a kidney condition. It is strongly recommended that you consult a doctor before going onto creatine.