Creatine is an amino acid that increases muscle bulk and thus has become a favorite of athletes worldwide. A new research claims that creatine may also act as an antioxidant.

"We have shown that exogenously added creatine at concentrations comparable to those attainable in plasma upon oral supplementation, exerts direct antioxidant activity in cultured mammalian cells exposed to various oxidizing agents," wrote lead author Piero Sestili from the Università degli Studi di Urbino, Italy.

Creatine actually occurs naturally in fish and meat but its supplemental form has been banned in some countries because of previous studies linking its long term supplementation to increased cancer risk.

However, this new Italian research on creatine is the first to look into the effect of creatine on human cell cultures exposed to a range of oxidising agents, including hydrogen peroxide and tert-butylhydroperoxide. The study showing potential antioxidant activity of creatine is published in journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine (Vol. 40, pp. 837-849).

Source: NutraIngredients