Creatine is clearly one of the best studied nutritional supplements of all time!
With the increasing popularity of creatine among athletes, many scientists focused their studies on understanding the consequences of creatine supplementation. Consequently, since the early 1990s several hundred peer-reviewed scientific articles have appeared that have examined, or discussed, the implications of dietary supplementation with creatine monohydrate in humans and animals.
The fact that creatine monohydrate is one of the few nutritional supplements that has been clearly shown to provide an ergogenic benefit has made it the subject of intense scientific study and scrutiny. Paradoxically, the close attention that creatine has received from the scientific community has served to exaggerate any adverse consequences that it might possess.
Nonetheless, the latest research is showing that creatine supplementation is a relatively safe practice, especially when compared to other nutritional practices commonly employed in athletics. Moreover, creatine supplementation has been revealing some rather unexpected benefits at the cellular level that do not require an exercise stimulus in order to be manifested. Creatine supplementation is not without risks, however, and some discretion is in order