Creatine Safe! For Diabetics, as Well.

Ever since creatine has been introduced to the supplement market there is a certain part of the medical establishment who condemns every body builder's favorite supplement as kidney killer no1. While there have been numerous studies that showed that healthy people are not at risk of kidney problems or even kidney failure from creatine consumption the study by Gualano et al. (Gualano. 2010) is the first to show that even type 2 diabetics can safely consume creatine:

The creatine group presented higher muscle phosphorylcreatine content when compared to placebo group (CR Pre 44 ± 10, Post 70 ± 18 mmol/kg/wt; PL Pre 52 ± 13, Post 46 ± 13 mmol/kg/wt; p = 0.03; estimated difference between means 23.6; 95% confidence interval 1.42-45.8). No significant differences were observed for (51)Cr-EDTA clearance (CR Pre 90.4 ± 16.9, Post 96.1 ± 15.0 mL/min/1.73 m(2); PL Pre 97.9 ± 21.6, Post 96.4 ± 26.8 mL/min/1.73 m(2); p = 0.58; estimated difference between means -0.3; 95% confidence interval -24.9 to 24.2). Creatinine clearance, serum and urinary urea, electrolytes, proteinuria, and albuminuria were unchanged.

These results do not only confirm the safety of creatine even in a potential risk group, it is even, as the scientists state, "opening a window of opportunities to explore [creatine's] promising therapeutic role in this population".