Creatine supplement for 16year old

[boydoggies]

My 16yo DS enjoys working out/playing sports. He's taken a great interest in his diet and fitness. He has asked for a creatine supplement. I have looked online to find out if it's safe enough for an adolescent, but struggling to find out the information i really want.

Does anyone here use creatine? What are the pros and cons please?

Creatine occurs naturally in some foods. Could he increase his intake of those foods? It's always best to use a food first approach.

Creatine is a great supplement for brain cognition, can help facilitate better sleep (recent studies), improve recovery…plus many other benefits. Creatine monohydrate is what you need. It’s very cheap. I use MyProtein but as long as it’s Creatine monohydrate any brand is fine.
He will need to increase his water intake if he currently doesn’t drink much fluid. May also give him a bad tum if he tries to overload the first few weeks. Sticking to 3-5g will be best.

Here’s some more info on a very well respected fitness page https://www.mindpumpmedia.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-creatine

I couldn't find any significant risks when I looked into it (17y old son just starting using it) as long as no known kidney issues. american advice suggests avoid below 18 due to unknown long term risks though, so I'd probably discourage it in younger teens.

Thanks all. I shall read and explore further. My lad knows that I need to learn more about this supplement before allowing him to take it. His diet is pretty good, but we could boil a few extra eggs to support his protein intake too!

I take it myself but I instinctively feel that it's probably better to wait until you are an adult to use it. I have it in my porridge but don't have it every day.

I get mine from My Protein as well.

creatine has also been used to prevent muscle loss due to aging. This is an article about creatine https://nutritionfacts.org/video/are-there-any-side-effects-to-taking-creatine/ The main concern seems to be that about 1/2 of the 33 samples tested contain excessive levels of contaminants. The article says that an independent test set up recommended the one by 'Bulk Supplements' which is also one of the cheapest.

Interesting about contaminants - certainly if you are playing sport at a high level be careful, you don't want the doping control people to come knocking and find something. Admittedly you need to be at a very high level for that.

No necessarily that high level. My son swims competitively and some of his peers have had to give samples to the anti doping people at National level competitions even though they were absolutely not in contention for medals or even finals. These were 15 year old kids. They are told to check any supplements they take even if just protein powder or multi vitamins against some sort of register I can't remember what it's called though as DH deals with that.

Admittedly not such an issue if you only train in the gym or play Sunday league.

I take creatine for age related muscle loss, I can’t believe that will be a problem at 16. Does it not naturally start to reduce in your 20’s? I’m just thinking he won’t get the gains or faster recovery that I as a 40yr old would because he isn’t suffering the lack?

could just be a waste of money.