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Creatine has been around for years as a supplement for athletes, but it’s recently been getting renewed attention from fitness and wellness influencers. They claim it can help not just with exercise performance but also with muscle and bone loss during menopause and even memory and cognitive issues.
So is there anything to these claims? Let’s look into it.
What is creatine?
Despite how it’s sometimes marketed, creatine does not directly build muscle. Instead, it is a component of your body’s energy system. It’s made by your organs, but you can also get it by eating meat or seafood.
After creatine enters the bloodstream, it travels to your muscles, where it is stored as a compound called phosphocreatine. When your muscles need energy quickly, phosphocreatine spurs the creation of a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the most available and quickly processed source of fuel for your cells.
“For the energy systems that produce short bursts in high-intensity activities like sprinting or weightlifting, those are the first energy stores your body utilizes,” says Charles Kenyon, DO, a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor and sports medicine specialist at UW Medicine, who had a previous career as the Seattle Mariners’ performance specialist and coordinator of sports science.
This creatine-enabled fuel can provide energy to your muscles for about 5 to 10 seconds — enough time to, say, lift a weight or do a pushup.
How does supplementing with creatine help your athletic performance?
Creatine supplements are often sold in a capsule or a powder that can be added to a drink or smoothie. The most commonly used form of the compound is called creatine monohydrate, which provides your body with a very concentrated amount of creatine. This allows your muscles to store even more phosphocreatine and, the hope is, to have extra ATP available for more reps of an exercise or movement.
“Over the last several decades, there's been a lot of research around creatine and optimizing those energy systems specifically around those more explosive and high-intensity activities that occur in short bursts,” says Kenyon. “Of all the different supplements, creatine is one of the most well-researched.”
And there is good news: These studies have found that for athletes doing high-intensity sports, creatine has a small but significant positive effect on their performance. For an athlete, even a small boost could be a huge advantage in a competition or race.
It could also mean squeezing more out of resistance training.
“If you have more available energy stores, you can, in theory, do more reps or more sets of exercise, which then in turn builds muscle,” says Kenyon.
In fact, one meta-analysis of 39 studies looking at creatine’s effect on muscle gain in a total of 1,100 healthy people found that those who took creatine while strength training gained 2.4 more pounds of lean body mass (the weight of everything in your body besides fat) than those who took a placebo while strength training.
But, again, creatine does not build muscle on its own. Those who took creatine supplements without resistance training did not see any benefits, even if they were doing regular aerobic exercise.
Can creatine help with aging and menopause?
Recently, creatine has gotten attention in the longevity world. Wellness influencers have claimed creatine can improve memory and focus; promote bone health; and decrease muscle loss after menopause.
According to Kenyon, outside of athletic performance, the research is much less robust. For example, while the brain does also store creatine, the evidence that taking creatine supplements has cognitive benefits is more limited.
What about for healthy aging and menopause? Similarly, research so far does not show that creatine has a significant benefit for bone health. But it does show that creatine can help mitigate sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass.
The key, again, is that taking a creatine supplement on its own won’t prevent muscle loss. Muscle is maintained by taking creatine while regularly engaging in strength training.
What to know before trying creatine
If you’re interested in adding creatine supplements to your wellness routine, there are a few things to keep in mind first.
Get a resistance training routine
Once more, taking creatine supplements without doing any strength training is not going to accomplish much. So if you don’t already have a strength training routine that you can stick to, work on that first. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends fitting in resistance training at least twice per week. If it’s been a while since you’ve used weights, start with bodyweight exercises and gradually build up from there.
Don’t skip the other fundamentals
It’s also important not to forget good recovery, including 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, staying hydrated and eating enough protein — around one gram per kilogram of body weight per day. That works out to about 60 grams of protein for a person who weighs 160 pounds.
Talk to your doctor
If you’ve got the above covered and you’re ready to try creatine supplements, the good news is that taking creatine at the recommended dose of 3 to 5 grams per day is generally safe. (The most common side effect is stomach irritation.) That said, any supplement could have unintended consequences with medications you're taking or underlying medical conditions you have. It’s always a good idea to consult your doctor before trying a new supplement.
Look for this label
Even though creatine itself is safe, that doesn’t mean you know exactly what you’re getting from a creatine product being hawked on your social media feed.
“Supplements fall into a gray area for the Food and Drug Administration, so there's not a lot of regulation or assurance about the quality, impurities or issues with cross-contamination,” says Kenyon.
That said, many supplement brands get their products tested and certified by the National Sanitation Foundation, an independent public health organization, which ensures the quality of the product. Look for the blue and orange NSF “Certified Sport” label on creatine products to make sure you’re getting a trustworthy supplement.
No need for a loading phase
Some products might recommend a “loading dose,” or taking more of the supplement at first to build up your levels of creatine. But that’s not actually necessary.
“There were earlier studies that suggested 20 grams or so should be taken every day for a week or longer to load up the muscles with creatine,” says Kenyon. “But as the research has evolved, it seems to be just as effective in the long term to take smaller doses of 3 to 5 grams a day.”
So, should you take creatine?
Whether or not you want to try taking creatine supplements is a personal decision. If you’re an athlete looking for a performance edge or someone going through menopause who is worried about muscle loss, research indicates there could be some benefits for you. But for the average weekend warrior, while the risks are minimal, it won’t magically make you noticeably stronger or fitter — only the hard work of doing regular strength training and taking care of your health will do that.
