What Is Natural Creatine?

One of the body's essential protein building blocks is called creatine, made by the body to fuel its muscular needs. Whether seeking to counter medical conditions that deteriorate muscular development or enhancing the productivity of workouts, people often eat diets rich in natural creatine and even take synthetic creatine supplements to fortify the body's muscle-building ability. Foods rich in natural creatine are mainly red meats, dairy products and seafood. For this reason synthetic creatine is also popular, since fitness-conscious eaters may not want to consume extraordinary amounts of those foods on a regular basis.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the body makes about half of the natural creatine it needs in three organs — the pancreas, liver and kidneys. The rest comes from portions of red meat, particularly wild game, and seafoods like tuna and salmon. Supplements are used to ensure the body gets its recommended 2 g daily, though UMMC notes that exercisers regularly take as much as 5 g a day during so-called loading periods or work-out days. These can be taken in pill form, but also in energy drinks and energy bars.

Medical problems are a major reason ordinary people seek out natural creatine and their supplements. Deficiencies can develop after the onset of diseases like muscular dystrophy. The drug also has been proven to counter the muscle loss suffered from Parkinson's disease and other conditions. Some physicians even recommend it as a complementary anti-depressant for bipolar and depressed patients.

In other cases, like heart disorders, this amino acid has proven "preliminary" effectiveness in promoting heart health, the UMMC asserts. Natural creatine is not just credited for helping those with damaged hearts. It is also suspected of lessening the levels of a few dangerous compounds in the arteries — the fat triglyceride and the toxin homocysteine.

With age the effect of natural creatine and creatine supplementation appears to recede, particularly its muscle-building properties. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) asserts that no official sports governing body has banned its use in higher-than-normal doses, since no harmful side effects have been reported. As far as effectiveness goes, the NIH reports that this substance is "possibly effective" for improving athletic performance and for countering the effects of the aforementioned medical conditions. As of 2011 this agency states there is "insuffient evidence" to determine how well it treats psychological conditions, high cholesterol and other rarer muscular diseases.