Is creatine banned by sports?
Different sports have different rules. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not specifically ban creatine but has an umbrella clause which bans ergogenic aids. Creatine qualifies as such in that it is a proven performance enhancer but to disallow it based on this clause would necessitate disallowing many other nutritional practices (i.e. carb loading) aimed at enhancing performance. It would necessitate the International Olympic Committee prescribing acceptable diet guidelines. Testing would be problematic and, as of now, there is no test that can definitively prove creatine supplementation. Most competitive sports have rules similar to the IOC. There is sometimes confusion that the NCAA has specifically banned creatine use (anti-creatine evangelists often state this). They have not. In August of 2000, they banned member universities from distributing it to their athletes (a move prompted to prevent larger, better financed universities from gaining a competitive advantage NOT
