Here at Sally-Ann Creed, we hold purity and integrity as a core belief. It’s why we use only the best ingredients in our products, and rely on the latest science when offering our advice.
Creatine as a product comes with some incorrect preconceptions, and we wanted to clarify some of these for you, especially as we’ve been getting some questions lately.
There have been over SIX HUNDRED clinical trials involving more than 13000 people over the last 30 years testing the long-term efficacy and implications of taking creatine. After all these years, and after all these clinical trials have been conducted in humans on both healthy and medically managed populations, there have been NO adverse events reported.
In one of the most recent metastudies (a study conducted using the results of other studies), it was found that “When the number of participants reporting side effects was considered from all studies, no significant differences were observed in the frequency of GI issues (PLA 4.05%, Cr 5.51%, p = 0.820), muscle cramping/pain (PLA 0.07%, Cr 0.52%, p = 0.085), or any other of the 33 side effects evaluated, including clinical markers of health and renal function.”
In plain english, what that means is that there are no significant side effects from taking creatine. Any suggestion that creatine can cause these adverse side-effects is simply false. Our team has spent MONTHS researching the benefits and possible side-effects of creatine, and both our dietitian and food scientist have given it the big thumbs-up as the benefits (reduced brain fog, more energy, etc) are undeniable.
Once we had done our research, we then spent weeks sourcing products from around the world. Because the quality and integrity of our products is so important to us, after much research and deliberation, we chose the purest creatine that we could find. Yes it comes from China, but it’s also as pure as that from Europe, but just more affordable, so that you as the consumer don’t need to pay an arm and a leg for the wonderful benefits of this product. We’re not ashamed of our suppliers, because they’ve been fully vetted and accredited, and always meet or exceed European standards. Our creatine is 99.9% pure. While some creatines may contain high levels of these harmful chemicals, our creatine contains virtually none, and is one of the cleanest creatines you can find:
- Diacyanimide: <0.005%
- Creatinine: <0.01%
- Dihydrotriazine: None
- Heavy metals: <0.001%
FUN FACT: There have been claims that creatine was banned in France due to a cancer risk. The truth is that yes it was, but this was due to an opinion piece (not a clinical study) written by the AFSSA, which was later reversed after proper research proved that there was no proof that creatine caused cancer, and has been on sale ever since.
In fact, a 2015 study looking at supplemental creatine of 7g per day for 7 days and then 5g for 23 days does not lead to increase of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines. “Individual analyses revealed that diet, rather than creatine supplementation, was the main responsible factor for HCA formation in these cases. This study provides compelling evidence that both low and high doses of creatine supplementation, given either acutely or chronically, did not cause increases in the carcinogenic HCAs”.
The undeniable benefits of creatine:
As women enter menopause, their oestrogen levels naturally decline, causing, among other things, brain fog. Creatine has proven to be an incredible way of countering this. People often mistakenly believe that because of this, creatine is a hormone regulator. The great news is that creatine’s positive impact on our brain function helps beat that brain fog, allowing us to better manage our menopausal brain fog and live life to the fullest.
Creatine by itself does not cause mass gain. This is a common misconception caused by the fact that many bodybuilders use it as a means to increase their energy levels, and boost recovery. Without weight training, creatine will simply boost the levels of energy-boosting ATP in your body, allowing you to achieve more.
As we mentioned at the start of this blog, we trust in science, and we want you to trust us too. We also understand that sometimes fear can be a barrier, so if you’d like to read more about creatine, you can browse over 20 studies listed on our creatine page here. Otherwise, please feel free to email us any questions you might have to our dietitian Carrie-Ann or our food scientist Dr Anja, who will be happy to answer any questions you might have, and hopefully put your mind at ease.
All our love,
The Sally-Ann Creed team
