What is creatine? How does it actually work?
Bodybuilders, Olympic athletes, and gym goers have used creatine as a fitness supplement. Creatine is naturally found in foods such as red meat and seafood, but supplementation has become very popular.
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If you walk into the gym, scroll through a fitness TikTok, or listen to a health podcast, you might hear someone talking about creatine. Once considered a niche supplement used primarily by bodybuilders and elite athletes, creatine has quietly evolved into a popular product.
Part of its popularity is due to the fact that it’s relatively affordable, easy to use, and backed by extensive scientific research, says Jen Messer, registered dietitian and president of the New Hampshire Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. But another reason is that its potential benefits extend beyond just muscle building, as creatine also appears to support aspects of athletic performance, recovery, healthy aging, and brain function.
Here’s what creatine is, why it’s good for you, and how much it’s safe to take.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound “primarily made from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine,” Messer says.
She explains that the human body produces approximately 1 to 2 grams of creatine per day, primarily in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas.
People also get creatine through food, especially animal products such as red meat, poultry, pork, and fish. However, it is naturally present in foods in relatively small amounts. For example, it takes approximately 1 to 2 pounds of meat to get the same amount of creatine found in common supplements.
That’s why many athletes, gym goers, and older adults choose to increase their creatine intake through supplements. Such supplements are typically sold as powders, capsules, gummies, and ready-to-drink beverages. “But the most studied and commonly recommended one is creatine monohydrate,” says Yashi Ansari, RD, a certified sports dietitian and registered dietitian based in Los Angeles.
What does creatine do? And is it good for you?
For many people, creatine supplementation is helpful. Creatine is well known for improving high-intensity athletic performance, especially during activities that involve short periods of exercise such as sprinting, weightlifting, jumping, and interval training, but many studies have also shown that creatine supplementation can improve anaerobic capacity, training volume, strength, power output, and lean muscle mass gains, Messer said.
“Creatine may support strength, power, and repetitive sprint performance, especially in trained female athletes,” says Ansari. Part of the reason is that women tend to store naturally lower baseline levels of creatine in their muscles than men.
However, the potential benefits of creatine may extend beyond athletic performance in both men and women. “Research is now extending to neurodegenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease,” Messer said, as well as “traumatic brain injury, diabetes, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and sarcopenia in the elderly.”
Ansari said new evidence also points to cognitive benefits, “such as improved reaction time, concentration, and mood.”
Creatine has even been shown to potentially help symptoms of depression. For example, “an eight-week RCT study in adults with depression receiving cognitive behavioral therapy showed that daily supplementation with creatine monohydrate improved symptoms of depression more than a placebo,” says Ansari.
How much creatine should I take per day?
One reason creatine remains so popular is that in addition to being effective, “creatine supplements have been proven to be safe for most healthy people when used appropriately,” says Ansari.
And the most common side effects are generally mild and temporary. For example, some people experience increased water weight, bloating, stomach discomfort or gas, especially if they start at a high dose, Ansari says. However, she says you can often minimize such symptoms by reducing your daily intake and staying well hydrated.
It is also important to consider that creatine has not been well studied in all populations. “There’s not a lot of data on safety for pregnant and breastfeeding women,” Messer says. The same applies to children and adolescents, as creatine has not been extensively evaluated in the pediatric population. People with pre-existing kidney disease or certain metabolic abnormalities may also need to be more careful.
At the same time, many concerns surrounding creatine are not strongly supported by current evidence. Despite persistent internet rumors, “well-controlled studies in healthy subjects, including long-term supplementation for up to five years, have shown no adverse effects on kidney function in healthy individuals,” Dr. Messer says. She also cautioned that research has not established a clear causal link between creatine intake and hair loss, although debate continues based on limited initial findings. “Another common myth is that creatine causes dehydration. However, creatine does not seem to increase the risk of dehydration and may actually improve thermoregulation,” she points out.
Still, intake levels are still important. The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends a typical maintenance dose of creatine monohydrate of approximately 3 to 5 grams per day for most adults.
In terms of type, creatine monohydrate remains the gold standard as it is the most studied, cost-effective, and consistently effective form. “We advise customers to avoid the terms ‘blend’ and ‘proprietary blend’ when it comes to creatine supplements, as these terms can imply that the product contains unclear amounts or unnecessary additives,” says Ansari. Instead, “look for supplements that have been third-party tested, such as NSF Certified Sports Approved Supplements,” she says.
