“Creatine damages your kidneys.”
Moderate confidence because studies generally do not find reduced kidney filtration with usual creatine doses, but samples and follow-up are limited. A rise in creatinine alone does not prove kidney damage.
Modern randomized and meta-analytic evidence does not show kidney damage from standard creatine doses in healthy people. Creatinine blood tests can rise without a true fall in measured kidney function.
Safety note: Standard creatine doses are well studied in healthy adults, but evidence is thinner in pregnancy and in people with significant kidney disease.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: If you have kidney disease, are pregnant, or take medicines that affect kidney function, ask a clinician before using creatine.
Healthy adults do not need to avoid creatine because of kidney-damage fears at standard doses.
If you use creatine, tell your clinician before kidney blood tests so the results can be interpreted in context.
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