Creatinine vs Creatine? The difference is that creatine is a compound found naturally in human beings. Your kidneys and liver produce creatine and it comes from foods such as eggs, red meat, fish, chicken, turkey, etc.
Creatinine vs Creatine? iStock-photo credit: RHJ
Creatinine is a waste product from the blood of the breakdown of creatine. The level of creatinine in your blood is the marker that shows how functional your kidneys are. How doctors check for kidney diseases is checking your creatinine levels.
Creatine can also be found in dietary supplements whether it be powder, pills or gummies. It helps your muscles produce energy through ATP. If you have high creatinine levels it means your kidneys are filtering blood properly. Doctors use a marker called the GFR which stands for glomerular filtration rate. And GFR measures how fast your kidneys remove waste from blood.
Your GFR levels will evaluate your kidney health and any potential kidney disease. If you take creatine supplements it will increase your creatinine levels in your blood test. And why this is happening is you are adding more creatine to your body outside of whatever creatine has been added from food.
One of the negative things about creatine is it will make you retain water which can be a problem with someone that has kidney problems.
There was a case study where a person with kidney problems took creatine, and their kidney function worsened. Once they stopped taking creatine their kidney function improved. If you have severe kidney health issues, then it is not advisable to take creatine. And you may need to consult a doctor about it before doing it.
Creatinine is when the body breaks down creatine as energy as a form of waste product.
One of the reasons why creatine is such a popular dietary supplement is because of its ability to increase lean muscle mass and strength for fitness enthusiasts.
The Bottom Line is creatine is a compound that is produced naturally in the body and can be found in red meat or supplements. Creatinine is a waste product that comes from the break down of creatine used for energy. Creatinine can also measure the health of your kidney levels based on your creatinine blood markers.
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