creatine safety in high school athletes

[jpea]

how safe is the use of supplements, specifically creatine, in a high school training room?  varsity football players are using it to increase their size, speed and lifting ability.  we are not allowing our son to use it as we feel there has not been enough long term use of it to determine its safety...he feels he is being passed by and is feeling pressure from the other players to use it...

[dcdre14]

I'm a 27-year old healthy male.  I and many of my friends used creatine off and on back in college - usually for a few weeks at a time every few months.

From what I and my friends experienced, it definitely increases strength and improves physique... with no SHORT-TERM side effects that any of us have noticed.

That having been said, who knows what the long-term effects of using creatine are?

One thing we noticed is that creatine's muscle-building effects are temporary.  Once we stopped taking it, our strength would quickly return to pre-creatine levels, and our muscles would quickly lose whatever gains we experienced.  A few of my friends solved that problem by simply taking it every day permanently... I venture to guess that this would increase the risk of side effects down the line.

My advice is to stay away from the stuff altogether.  The best case scenario is that it TEMPORARILY improves strength and muscle-mass with no side effects whatsoever down the line.  The worst case scenario has yet to be determined...

Tell your son to eat plenty of high-quality protein (whey, egg whites, fish, chicken, soy), get enough sleep, and not to listen to the hype of unproven supplements.