Open any fitness or sports magazine and they are right there. Supplements. They come in many forms: pills, powders, drinks and bars, each promising to give you an advantage on the competition. Marketing and selling these magic potions has become a multi-billion dollar industry.

Are supplements becoming the new vitamins?

“When it comes to sports, you need protein, glutamine and creatine,” former Sacramento State wide receiver Kenan Smith said.

Creatine or methylguanidine-acetic acid, scientifically speaking, is a trend in sports and exercise supplementation in recent years. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that is made in the liver, pancreas and kidneys. The creatine bought in your local nutrition store is creatine monohydrate.

In 1998 it was estimated that $200 million worth of creatine supplements was sold.

The supplement is most effective in those individuals who have lower than average creatine levels. Creatine is expected to increase muscle strength and endurance. By allowing faster rehabilitation of muscle tissue during high-intensity periods (weight lifting or sprinting), the body is allowed to stress for longer periods.

However, consumption of store-bought creatine monohydrate is highly variable as to how much muscle growth will be directly related to its addition to the consumer’s diet, according to the Australian Institute of Sports’ studies on the supplement.

As much as 30 percent of the population will have little-to-no increase of muscle tissue after shelling out $50 for a canister of creatine monohydrate.

Consumers of creatine should be prepared to put on weight quickly.

Creatine increases the body’s ability to retain liquids.

A study done by the NCAA in 1997 showed that 13 percent of its student-athletes used creatine monohydrate in the previous year.

Nutritional scientists are not persuaded by the flashy, adrenaline-driven campaigns to sell these supplements.

Athletes in these campaigns will say that their talent or ability is in part due to the supplement.

However,experts are cautious to say the same, and recent research is backing them up.

“Everybody can gain muscle,” said Dr. Roberto Quintana, a kinesiology professor at Sac State. “But the amount of muscle gain depends more on your genetic makeup, training and nutritional habits than a little creatine.”

In the May 2004 edition of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, a study on strength training found that the use of a post-exercise supplement containing creatine, whey (soy) protein and carbohydrates did not result in a significant improvement over the subjects using a placebo.

“I’ve taken a lot, but I’ve never gotten huge,” Smith said. “I’ve gotten stronger, though.”

A separate study done by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in October 2004 concluded that males who supplement with creatine had a small increase in lean muscle tissue over a six-week period and females had no increase.

Arm muscle size and maximum bench press weights increased for the males who took two grams of creatine after each workout.

A more recent craze in supplementation is nitric oxide, or more popularly known as NO2.

This chemical is also found naturally in the body during countless bodily functions, including circulation of blood and activity in the brain, genitals and stomach.

In general, nitric oxide allows blood vessels to open wider, to increase the number of blood cells entering muscle tissue, providing a greater “pump.”

The “pump” is the feeling achieved after muscles have been stressed and become inflamed.While there are a greater number of blood cells reaching the muscle, more nutrients are being carried to the muscle by these cells, potentially resulting in greater muscle gain during workouts.

Viagra also contains nitric oxide, for just the same reason.

After learning about supplements over the past few years, I, as an avid exerciser and non-athlete have come to the conclusion that supplements have a different effect on each individual.

“If you take enormous amounts of specialized protein,”Quintana said, depending on the individual, the protein can be converted into ammonia. “In the end, you end up having very expensive urine.”

If you are considering taking a particular supplement, research it, find out everything about the product.

Make sure you read any medical studies that have been done on the supplement to get a neutral perspective.

Supplements could never replace vitamins, but advertising agencies are trying very hard to do so.

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Brad Alexander can be reached at [email protected]