Should You Take Creatine As a Supplement?
Creatine is a rare phenomenon in the world of sports supplements: it actually works, and it’s also inexpensive and safe. (Protein and caffeine are about the only other common supplements that can say the same.) If you’re trying to build muscle or lift the heaviest weights, you might want to develop a daily creatine habit—but there are some caveats, of course.
What does creatine do?
Creatine provides muscles with quick energy for short, intense bursts of strength. You may have heard of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which stores energy in our cells. (One of the main reasons we eat is to produce ATP.) When our muscles use ATP, it breaks down into ADP and free phosphate. Creatine can hold onto the extra phosphate and immediately attach it to ADP so it can be converted back into ATP.
Thus, creatine provides a very short-term boost of energy that we can use mid-sprint or weight-lifting session. This means that the more creatine you have in your muscles, the better you’ll perform movements that require short-term, intense muscle use. Creatine primarily helps with weightlifting, but in some cases, it can also be beneficial for runners .
If you can lift a little more weight and do a few more reps, you might ultimately get a little stronger. Creatine likely has other effects that promote muscle growth. Ultimately, it can provide a small, but not zero, increase in strength and muscle size for most people. For more detailed information on creatine, check out this data review from Examine.com .
Creatine use may also benefit mental health.
There is also evidence that creatine may be beneficial for brain health. Research is still in its early stages. One pilot study of creatine in patients with Alzheimer’s disease found improvements in working memory and executive function . Another study found that it improved cognitive function in people suffering from sleep deprivation . Creatine also appears to help alleviate symptoms of depression .
Many of these studies used creatine doses higher than those typically used for muscle building: 10, 20, or even 40 grams per day compared to the typical five-gram dose. The results also remain inconclusive across many parameters, such as those related to neurodegenerative diseases—some studies show benefits, while others do not.
Who is creatine intended for?
No one needs to take creatine as a supplement. You can train perfectly well without it, and you won’t miss out on the huge muscle gains. For many of us, it simply provides a small boost. If your primary sport is cardio, creatine won’t help. If you do strength training or are trying to build muscle (for example, bodybuilding), it may help.
How much this helps depends on how much creatine you already have. Our bodies produce enough creatine naturally, and we also get it from food, especially if we eat meat. Vegetarians and vegans tend to have lower creatine levels to begin with, so they’ll benefit more from this supplement.
And some of us don’t respond to creatine. “Some people have almost completely replenished muscle creatine levels, so they don’t benefit from creatine supplementation,” writes sports nutrition researcher and bodybuilder Eric Trexler on the website Stronger by Science . “In fact, being creatine resistant is great news. You’re genetically predestined to a lifetime supply of free creatine!”
Disadvantages of using creatine
As far as supplements go, creatine is quite safe. It has no alarming side effects, and the most common drawback people report is possible gastrointestinal upset, especially at high doses and/or on an empty stomach. Also, keep in mind that no FDA agency verifies that the ingredients are true to their claims.
In terms of cost, creatine is also one of the most affordable supplements, especially when purchased in powdered form as creatine monohydrate. For example, it’s easy to find a package with over 100 servings for under $25 . If you prefer creatine in capsule form, it tends to be slightly more expensive.
One of the most common concerns raised online is the suggestion that creatine can cause hair loss in men. This idea is based on a 2009 study that found that athletes taking creatine had high levels of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in their blood. DHT is associated with male-pattern baldness, and when the study was first published, it was unclear whether creatine could accelerate hair loss in men already predisposed to it.
Thus, the concerns were merely theoretical, and to date, no study has shown a real link between creatine intake and hair loss. A 12-week randomized controlled trial conducted in 2025 found no effect on hair loss or hair follicle health .
How to take creatine
Unlike most medications, whose effects wear off within a few hours, creatine accumulates in muscles over a relatively long period of time. If you start taking the recommended dose of three to five grams per day (larger individuals should take a higher dose, and vice versa), it will take about a month for your muscles to be fully saturated with creatine. Alternatively, you can speed up this process by using a “loading dose” of, say, 20 grams per day. Some people experience gastrointestinal issues with such a high dose, so if the supplement isn’t suitable for you, you can skip the loading phase.
After this, take your usual dose once daily. The exact time of day doesn’t seem to matter, but if you’re already using a pre-workout drink, mixing creatine with it is often convenient. If you decide to stop taking creatine, it will likely take several weeks for your creatine levels to return to normal.
Extra creatine in your system will also cause your muscles to retain more water, leading to a few pounds of extra weight. Physiologically, this is normal and can even promote muscle growth. But if you’re concerned about weight classes in your sport, or if it’s psychologically difficult to watch your weight on the scale climb, this may seem like a disadvantage. (Athletes in weight-class sports sometimes stop taking creatine a few weeks before competitions in an attempt to shed those few pounds of excess water.) On the other hand, a few pounds of extra weight when you first start taking creatine is a sign that it’s working.
Until now, creatine has been studied more often in untrained individuals than in experienced athletes. It’s also been studied more often in men than in women, although we have no reason to believe its effects differ by gender (sorry, bloggers selling creatine “for women”). We still don’t know exactly how many people don’t respond to creatine, and research into its risks and benefits is ongoing. But if you’re interested in trying one of the rare supplements that actually does what it promises—usually—consider giving creatine a try.