Creatine
Creatine is a natural substance found in your body and in foods like red meat and fish. It's stored mostly in your muscles and helps you quickly produce energy, especially during short bursts of intense activity like sprinting or lifting weights. When you take creatine as a supplement, you're basically topping up your body's energy reserve so your muscles can perform better and recover faster. That’s why it’s popular among athletes, gym-goers, and people looking to build strength or muscle
Primary benefit: Enhances muscle energy reserves for improved performance and faster recovery during intense, short-burst activities.
Target audience: Athletes, gym-goers, and individuals seeking to build strength or muscle.
Key caution: Be careful if your kidneys are being investigated
Is this used to correct a deficiency or achieve supramaximal levels?
Supermaximal
Is it taken for life span or health span?
Healthspan e.g cognitive function, excersise performance. Perhaps indirectly some lifespan benefits.
Is it targeting a specific disease? Or general health?
General Health
Any genetic involvement?
Having the AMPD1 gene is associated with greater muscle mass gain when you supplement with Creatine
Is there a biomarker to track its effects?
N/A
MOA of supplement
Creatine helps your body make energy quickly, especially during short, intense activities like sprinting or lifting weights. It increases phosphocreatine levels in your muscles. Phosphocreatine gives a phosphate to ADP to make ATP, which is the main energy molecule in your body. This process happens fast and supports anaerobic respiration (energy production without oxygen), improving strength, performance, and recovery. Creatine is taken into muscle cells through special transport proteins and is changed into phosphocreatine by an enzyme called creatine kinase. Some creatine also gets into the brain, and higher doses might help with brain function.
Risk vs reward
+ Improvements in muscle performance
+ Possible injury prevention and recovery benefits
+ May enhance cognition inc memory
+ Women have lower baseline values so may experience greater benefits than men
- Consult a doctor if you have impaired kidney function
- May unnaturally raise creatine levels which may mislead doctors to thinking a decline in kidney function (in other words, if your kidneys are being tested, make sure to let them know you’re on it).
- Likely safe for pregnant women but generally recommended against it
Evidence for it?
Systematic review+ meta analysis Creatine enhances muscle performance by boosting phosphocreatine stores, leading to 5–15% improvements in power, endurance, and muscle growth, especially in high-intensity, anaerobic activities. It also increases water retention in muscles, which may support recovery and size. Systematic review and meta analysis Creatine supplementation may enhance certain aspects of cognition, such as memory, attention, and processing speed—especially in individuals with diseases, females, and those aged 18–60. However, effects on overall or executive function are unclear, and more research is needed to confirm benefits and determine optimal dosing.
RCT This study examined the effects of creatine monohydrate (CrM) on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) in 20 healthy men (ages 21–36). Participants were randomly assigned to either a creatine (CRE) or placebo group and ingested their respective supplements for 28 days. After performing eccentric elbow flexor exercises, the CRE group showed significantly better recovery compared to the placebo group. Improvements were observed in range of motion and muscle fatigue at various time points post-exercise. The results suggest that CrM accelerates recovery from EIMD, making it a beneficial supplement for recovering from muscle damage.
Evidence against it?
Systematic review +meta analysis Creatine monohydrate does not improve endurance performance in trained athletes. Some benefits may occur in untrained individuals, but it is generally ineffective for endurance sports. Double blind study This study investigated the impact of 6 weeks of creatine supplementation (10 g/day or 20 g/day) on cognitive performance and prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation in healthy young adults. Despite measuring cognitive tasks and PFC oxygenation via fNIRS, no significant improvements were found in either cognitive function or PFC activation. The results suggest that creatine supplementation may not enhance cognition in individuals with already high baseline brain creatine levels.
Best bioavailable form?
Powder
Advice on taking it?
3-5 grams per day is the standard maintenance dose mix with liquid