Dr. Hossam Mowafi, Professor of Critical Cases at the Faculty of Medicine, Kasr Al-Ainy, warned against a nutritional supplement commonly used by gym goers to build and strengthen muscles.
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Mowafi said during his program “My Lord, Increase Me in Knowledge”, broadcast on Sada Al-Balad channel, that the dietary supplement he is referring to is creatine, stressing that taking it without consulting a doctor is a grave mistake.
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The professor of critical care medicine explained that the aim of visiting a doctor before taking a creatine supplement is to find out whether there are contraindications to obtaining it or not and to determine the safe dose of it.
He stressed that consuming creatine indiscriminately threatens the health of the body in the long term with diseases that may be difficult to treat, and may reach the extent of kidney failure.
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According to Healthline, creatine causes kidney failure, due to high blood creatinine, which may also lead to liver disease.
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And when creatine is excessive, a person may develop a set of side effects, identified by “WebMD” in the following issues:
– overweight.
– Breathing difficulty.
– diarrhoea.
– Tired.
– fever.
Nausea.
– vomiting.
Stomach upset.
Headache.
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The risk of side effects of creatine increases in some cases, namely:
Take creatine with caffeine and ephedra.
– Take creatine without caring about drinking an abundant amount of water.
– Taking creatine in light of diabetes, kidney and liver diseases.
Taking creatine under the age of 18.
Take creatine during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
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