Q: how good is creatine mixed with a high protein diet (i train very hard in the gym 5 times a week, 3 weight days 2 cardio 2 rest). would taking it stop my body from producing it?

A: Good question! Creatine is one of the few proven safe and effective supplements. Most people will benefit from creatine supplementation through increased strength in weight training (it won't do anything for endurance cardio exercises). Some people (20-25% of population) are not sensitive to creatine and will not gain anything out of it.

Whether creatine supplementation will suppress its natural production in your body, none of the studies I've seen found it to be true. So some people do stay on creatine year-round. Most still cycle it just in case constant supplementation suppresses its natural production over time. So if you want to err on the side of caution, I'd recommend cycling creatine in 8-week periods or so: 8 weeks on, 8 weeks off, 8 weeks on, 8 weeks off, and so on.