Check before you startThis one has documented interactions with medication classes where the consequences are serious. If you take any prescription medicine, run it past a pharmacist before starting.
How long to take it
Ongoing while training. Stores deplete over about a month after stopping.
Who it's actually for
Anyone doing resistance or high-intensity training; vegetarians, who start with genuinely lower stores; and increasingly studied in older adults for muscle retention.
Safe upper limit
VerifiedNo formal limit; 3–5 g daily is the standard dose
Extensively studied and safe in healthy people. Caution with existing kidney disease is precautionary rather than proven.
No toxicological UL exists. Health Canada's monograph instead sets permitted label doses: 3–5 g/day maintenance, or a supervised loading protocol up to 20 g/day short-term.
Interactions to know about
- Reduced kidney function — CKD, dialysis, or a single kidney
- Anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) — Ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac
- Diuretics (water tablets) — Furosemide, bendroflumethiazide, spironolactone
Other supplements:
Run your full list through the interaction check.
Practical notes
- Monohydrate is the studied form. The expensive variants have no advantage.
- Loading is optional — 5 g daily reaches the same place in about a month.
- It raises creatinine on blood tests without indicating kidney damage. Tell your doctor you take it.
- Drink adequate water.