Athletes who compete should always be aware of what their governing body has placed on the banned substances list, personally, and not put this in the hands of others, lest costly mistakes be made. Many people would like to take creatine but wonder whether or not it is a banned substance; that question is answered here.

Creatine is legal to be sold and used under government law, and also legal to use under the organizational bodies of most professional sports in most countries. You will, of course, have to make absolutely certain for yourself, but in most cases, yes.

Some may wonder why creatine – a substance which enhances performance – could be legal. Personally, I think sports would like to ban creatine if they could (because it does enhance anaerobic performance) but the plain truth is, it would be very difficult to ban because creatine for two very definite reasons:

1: It is found in many food sources such as beef and fish.

In people who don’t supplement with creatine, those who include more fish and beef in their diets will obviously have more creatine (estimated to be around approx. 5g per 1lb of beef or salmon) making it almost impossible to ban, as this would be a de facto ruling which demands everyone who competes to consume the same diet – something completely impractical and unworkable.

2: Creatine is also synthesized by the body.

As with all chemicals, compounds, proteins and hormones created within the human body, everyone produces different amounts naturally, so creatine cannot really be banned as this would be an unfair slap in the face to those who naturally produce more. Some athletes naturally produce far more testosterone than others, too, and provided they’re not taking steroids (synthetic testosterone) they cannot be banned – and naturally high testosterone provides far more of an advantage than naturally high creatine levels.

So to answer the question of whether or not creatine has been banned, the answer is no. It seems almost inconceivable that it ever could be or would be; but it’s a crazy world we live in so don’t fall asleep and always keep up to date with your sporting organizations rules and regulations yourself, and leave nothing to chance.