Over the past six months, Dr. Dina Kulik said she noticed more of her male teenage patients asking about creatine. <\/p>\n
\u201cCreatine comes up pretty frequently in conversations with my patients, particularly athletes, as they want to increase their endurance and their strength, and they\u2019re looking for a supplement that can help them achieve that,\u201d Kulik, a pediatrician in Toronto and the founder of Kidcrew clinic, said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
She said some coaches may have recommended it, or the teens were influenced to take it because their friends were using it. Kulik said she generally advises patients to be \u201ccautious,\u201d but so far, she hasn\u2019t heard from anyone who had side effects. <\/p>\n
\u2018They had body-image issues\u2019<\/p>\n
In the past few years, Dr. Mohammed Hassan-Ali said he has seen more preteen and teenage patients who have used creatine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of teenagers taking it as if it\u2019s like a multivitamin,\u201d he said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Hassan-Ali, a pediatrician who works in the Toronto area, said he discourages patients from using creatine due to the lack of studies on whether it is safe for youth. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe typically do recommend that children and teenagers avoid these types of supplements, especially things like creatine,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Hassan-Ali recalled a few months ago, he assessed a teenager for dehydration. The patient disclosed that he took more than the recommended amounts of whey protein and creatine, and that he wasn\u2019t hydrating enough during high-intensity exercises. Hassan-Ali said this led to dizziness and fainting spells.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were trying to improve their overall look and appearance, as they had body-image issues,\u201d Hassan-Ali said. <\/p>\n
The patient told him that many of his friends were taking similar supplements and energy drinks, as well as going to the gym after school. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, he felt that if he can do it as well and improve his overall look, he might feel more appealing to women and girls in this school,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Hassan-Ali said he had a \u201cfrank conversation\u201d with the patient about the side effects and provided resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still important to advocate for healthy nutrition and exercise and hydration, and it\u2019s also important for them to realize that there are people that they can talk to, rather than seeking some information online from unverified sources,\u201d Hassan-Ali said.<\/p>\n
![\"Teens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6UCDVKTBWVDGPGZILZIIFDAUXE.jpg\")
Workout gym teens Teens influenced by social media and their friends are taking muscle-building supplements such as creatine. (Pexels). \u2018Fairly safe to use\u2019<\/p>\n
Kyle Ganson, an associate professor at the University of Toronto\u2019s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, said he recommends users \u2013 especially youth \u2013 speak to health-care providers, trainers, coaches and other trusted professionals about using creatine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty well-researched dietary supplement, so generally it is fairly safe to use,\u201d Ganson said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday, noting that the dietary supplement should be taken at an \u201cappropriate dosage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ganson said he\u2019s worried that young people would be looking for \u201cshortcuts\u201d to improve their performance, which could lead to use of riskier substances, such as peptides and steroids. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it could potentially become a bit of a slippery slope, I think, for young people who want to see appearance and performance gains quickly,\u201d Ganson said. <\/p>\n
Creatine is a dietary supplement that is regulated under Canada\u2019s natural health products legislation.<\/a> Ganson said it is \u201crelatively loosely regulated\u201d compared to pharmaceutical products in Canada. <\/p>\n \u201cI think in general, a little more regulation around proving more safety and efficacy related to the products would be good from the … manufacturer\u2019s perspective as well,\u201d he said, noting that purity testing would ensure there\u2019s no contamination or adulteration during production.<\/p>\n Impact of \u2018looksmaxxing\u2019 on young men<\/p>\n According to a research paper co-authored by Ganson and published by Performance Enhancement & Health<\/a> in 2024, nearly 44 per cent of study participants reported that social media influencers were \u201ca primary influence\u201d in their use of muscle-building supplements. <\/p>\n Ganson, whose research includes muscle-building behaviours among adolescents and young adults, said creatine is a commonly used dietary supplement among young people, especially males.<\/p>\n \u201cThe typical person that\u2019s not really super invested in athletics, for example, likely isn\u2019t taking creatine,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for someone who is actively trying to improve their performance or build muscle, creatine is and can be an effective tool to do that, especially when done in conjunction with physical activity, weight training, proper nutrition.\u201d <\/p>\n Philip Veliz, a co-author of a University of Michigan study<\/a> published in August on the surge of creatine use, suggested a link between the \u201clooksmaxxing\u201d trend<\/a> and the rapidly growing popularity of the supplement among U.S. teens in recent years. The trend involves young men or boys who enhance their appearance through extreme measures, including breaking their facial bones, using steroids and getting plastic surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also this darker side of social media that\u2019s taking it a little bit too far, to where there\u2019s unrealistic expectations of what bodies should look like, and how you\u2019re supposed to attain that,\u201d Veliz, an associate research professor at the University of Michigan\u2019s School of Nursing, said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.<\/p>\n While creatine has been effective for decades, Stuart Phillips, a kinesiology professor at McMaster University, warned that it\u2019s expensive, only gives users \u201ca small edge\u201d and isn\u2019t enough to help significantly improve someone\u2019s athletic performance or health. <\/p>\n In a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Tuesday, Phillips said other factors \u201cwould have a much greater impact\u201d than creatine, such as going to the gym regularly, sleeping earlier at a regular time and avoiding junk food. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a slight nudge when the exercise itself does the vast majority of the work, and the creatinine adds this sort of thin layer of benefit on top,\u201d Phillips said. <\/p>\n With files from CTV News\u2019 Robin Della Corte<\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More teens are using creatine, a muscle-building supplement, to improve their appearance and fitness. While experts say it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[10787,103,61,60,446],"class_list":["post-630667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-apple-news","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}