What do you tell your patients about one of the most common exercise supplements?
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1. Counselling Conundrum: a real question from a patient
2. Concise Conclusion: a straight-forward patient-friendly answer
3. Quick Wrap-up
Clearly, there are nuances that may not be captured in this format. The goal here is to provide you with helpful counselling tips which often draw from multiple sources or those which are not commonly accessed by busy healthcare providers serving the community.
Counselling Conundrum: "I just started lifting weights, and I've heard creatine is a good thing to take to gain muscle. Do you recommend it? Which one and how much should I take?"
Concise Conclusion: Creatine is a very popular and low-cost supplement that has been shown to improve performance during exercise, and in turn contribute to more muscle growth and strength. I do recommend taking 5 g of plain creatine monohydrate per day, as it is a safe and effective supplement.
Quick Wrap-up: We recommend creatine to anyone looking to improve muscle growth, strength, and exercise performance. It is one of the most researched supplements on the market, with established safety and efficacy. Discourage spending extra money on other forms of creatine; the cheapest and most researched is the monohydrate form, and there's no evidence other forms are superior in any way. Another tip is to ensure your patient is taking around 1 g of protein per pound of body weight.
Dive Deeper
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