u/Conscious_Match8849

There are so many ads for collagen products out there—all kinds of creams, ointments, and dietary supplements containing collagen. I’ve even bought some myself to improve my skin. Recently, I read an article that described collagen’s composition and effects. Imagine my surprise when I learned that taking it is practically useless. That it’s just a protein, and in the body it breaks down into amino acids and is then used for various purposes, not for the reason I was taking it. And that applying it to the skin is completely absurd. It turns out it’s synthesized in the body, and there’s no way to apply it directly for a specific purpose. In short, the only thing left to do is drink more vitamin C. What do you think about this? Maybe I misunderstood something?

I’ve come across a lot of different opinions and questions about creatine here on Reddit. And if you start typing “creatine” into Google, suggestions like - creatine reddit, does creatine work reddit, creatine results reddit, and so on pop up right away. In other words, it’s a very popular topic, despite the vast amount of research and evidence supporting it.

I want to share my own experience. I’m 45 years old. I’ve been working out for almost 4 years now. I do strength training and CrossFit. At 42, I had a big belly and my muscles were in pretty bad shape. Over these 3 and a half years, a lot has changed—both physically and mentally. I lost 12 kg and gained a decent amount of muscle mass. Creatine definitely helped me with that. In fact, it’s arguably the most effective supplement for sports.

The main questions I’ve come across here are - does creatine work, is creatine worth it, creatine side effects, and, for some reason - does creatine cause hair loss. I don’t understand this aspect at all. Where did that come from? We get creatine from food, such as meat. Besides, our bodies produce it on their own.

Is creatine safe? Creatine consists of three amino acids and plays a direct role in ATP synthesis. In other words, it determines the amount of energy in your muscles. Creatine has a cumulative effect. So how long does creatine take to work? I start to feel the effects of taking it after about 10–14 days. But I think that’s the case for everyone. At the same time, it doesn’t matter at all whether you do a loading phase with a double dose of 10 grams or not.

How to take creatine? I can say that I’ve tried different ways of taking it (both before workouts, 15 grams at a time, and at different times of the day...) and I can say that it doesn’t make any difference. I settled on taking 5–7 grams a day without any loading phases.

The most noticeable visual effect of creatine is that your muscles fill with water. You simply look bigger and better in the mirror. So, this happens 10–15 days after you start taking it. Once you stop taking it, the water gradually goes away. But here’s the miracle! You get smaller, but your strength stays. The progress you made with creatine remains even during breaks in your intake.

This is roughly how I take it: 5–6 months with creatine, then 2–3 months without. During that time, my strength and endurance drop a little, but not by much. And so the cycle goes. I haven’t noticed any creatine side effects myself. No hair problems (well, aside from age-related ones, of course... :) )

To sum it up, here’s my take. I’d recommend taking it to absolutely everyone, especially those who do heavy physical labor—5 grams a day. You’ll get a boost of strength and energy. Whether to take breaks or not is up to you. As far as I know, there’s no evidence of side effects from long-term use. But I prefer to take breaks.

And yes! Creatine is now produced chemically from petroleum. I don’t know how you’ll feel about that now.