If you've ever wondered if this controversial supplement will work for you, just read this article on the true and unbiased creatine facts and you'll finally know. We'll go over both sides of the creatine debate and look at just how accurate the information is.

Creatine is one of the very few supplements that actually has years of extensive research conducted on it by countless university and medical centers world-wide.

Here are three proven creatine facts to get started; Creatine can help you increase your strength, it can make you leaner and it can improve your speed.

Possibly the biggest reason for using it as a part of your over-all exercise program, is of course to significantly improve muscle strength, size and endurance.

Before getting into any more creatine facts and discussing any potential creatine dangers or creatine side effects you have to understand what it really is.

Your muscles need something known as Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP as fuel. In most individuals, muscles only have a supply of ATP that will allow for a short duration of work lasting about 6 seconds.

Unfortunately, most exercises and activities require more than 6 seconds to complete. One of the main benefits of creatine is that it acts as ATP fuel in your muscles to allow your muscles to continue working at maximum capacity for another 12 seconds or so.

Look at it this way; think of your muscles as a car engine. The Adenosine Triphosphate is the fuel and creatine is an octane booster that allows for a much improved level of performance.

Most people find the greatest benefits from using creatine is during high intensity, muscle contraction work such as; all forms of weight lifting and sprinting.

That doesn't mean that people who jog, compete in marathons, bike races, etc. won't see an improvement. It's just that high intensity activities have more pronounced results.

During endurance activities it appears that creatine will only help your ATP system as much as it needs to and no more.

Here are a couple more fitness related creatine facts: Creatine has been proven to reduce what's known as "Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness". This is the extreme sore & stiff feeling you have in your muscles 2 days after lifting weights.

Another of the benefits of creatine is that it drastically reduces recovery time. This means you can work out harder without the risk of overtraining.

Here are some creatine facts that will save you a bunch of money; Plain discount creatine is all you need to achieve noticeable results. There's no need to waste money on the numerous "designer creatine" brands and products that are much more expensive and don't offer any additional benefits.

Creatine facts about naturally occurring creatine in your body; Creatine is found naturally in everyone's body. Your body can manufacture it's own but not enough for improvements in health and fitness.

Creatine is also found in foods such as beef, pork, salmon, cod, herring and tuna.

You may be asking yourself this question right about now: If creatine occurs naturally in the above listed meats why not just get it that way?

Actually there are a few good reasons why this will not work.

First, vegetarians need creatine too. If you don't like eating meat you can't get creatine from a food source.

Next, no one can eat the required amount of meat each day that it takes to get enough creatine in your system to make a difference. Even if you could eat enough it still wouldn't do you any good because you would be very overweight and unhealthy.

By getting your creatine from a quality supplement you can make sure you are getting the proper amount in the easiest way.

Creatine facts concerning how much you should be supplementing with; Most companies producing and selling it suggest a dose of about 2 - 5 grams each day. This would equal approximately ½ to 1 full teaspoon.

If you have a larger frame and more muscle mass you should stick with the 5 grams per day to see the best results.

Some reports have suggested certain creatine side effects such as extreme dehydration. Here are the creatine facts; It actually "super-hydrates" your muscles making dehydration almost impossible.

Now, the only proven negative creatine side effects occur in people with pre-existing kidney problems. Creatine is excreted through the kidneys and because of the "super-hydration" will cause your kidneys to work harder.

Hopefully these creatine facts will help you make an informed decision on using it to help you reach your health & fitness goals.