{"id":106866,"date":"2025-05-16T17:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T17:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/106866\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T17:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T17:47:18","slug":"athletes-and-fitness-influencers-use-creatine-but-what-is-it-and-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/106866\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletes and fitness influencers use creatine, but what is it? And does it work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creatine has long been popular among athletes. Olympians tout it<\/a>, fitness influencers experiment with it<\/a>, and Patrick Schwarzenegger\u2019s gym bro character in The White Lotus added it to his famous shake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s primarily considered a fitness<\/a> supplement, but doctors are increasingly curious about its potential longevity and mental health<\/a> benefits.<\/p>\n

But is creatine really useful, and are there any downsides? Here\u2019s what experts say.<\/p>\n

What is creatine?<\/p>\n

Creatine is a compound the body naturally makes in the liver, kidneys and pancreas. We can also get it from animal proteins like red meat, fish and chicken. It acts as a quick fuel source for muscles, helping regenerate adenosine triphosphate, or ATP \u2013 a molecule cells use for energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we keep it super simple, the body has three sorts of energy systems,\u201d says Dr Imtiaz Desai, a Sydney, Australia-based exercise physiologist.<\/p>\n

Creatine helps power short-duration, high-intensity activities like sprinting or lifting, and also those requiring moderately sustained energy, like tennis or hockey. But it doesn\u2019t do much for prolonged, slow-burn energy like the kind you need to run a marathon.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re doing resistance training, it helps muscles work harder for a little longer. \u201cIt should enable you to do a few more repetitions at the same weight,\u201d says Desai.<\/p>\n

Most people don\u2019t need creatine supplements for general health \u2013 the body makes enough, aside from in rare and serious cases<\/a> of genetic creatine deficiency disorder. Nonetheless, the fitness-minded often take it to optimize their workouts.<\/p>\n

Interactive<\/a><\/p>\n

Synthetic creatine comes in different formulations, but creatine monohydrate is the most studied, with the strongest evidence for efficacy. It\u2019s widely available, often sold as a flavorless, grainy white powder, and affordable: dosages vary based on personal goals, but a typical daily serving of five grams might cost about 50 cents (38p).<\/p>\n

Is creatine safe?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In healthy adults, creatine is considered safe even for long-term<\/a> use \u2013 it\u2019s one of the most researched<\/a> supplements available.<\/p>\n

While the UK regulates dietary supplements, in the US, the Food and Drug Administration does not vet the accuracy of supplement contents, so it\u2019s possible for products to be contaminated with other substances or contain less creatine than advertised. Products with the NSF seal<\/a> are more reliable, as they have been tested by a third-party certifier.<\/p>\n

Related: Do you feel proud when you succeed \u2013 or just relieved?<\/a><\/p>\n

Creatine is known to cause minor side-effects like bloating or stomach pain. These can be more pronounced in people taking higher doses, such as 25 or 30 grams a day, in a dubious practice known as \u201cloading<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no need for a loading phase,\u201d says Dr Avinish Reddy, a Los Angeles-based physician with a longevity-focused practice.<\/p>\n

Higher doses of creatine create more waste for the kidneys to filter, so people with kidney issues should check with a doctor before starting the supplement, says Reddy. Recently, creatine \u201cloading\u201d was linked to acute kidney injury<\/a> in a 17-year-old boy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s best to take creatine mixed into a liquid, like juice, water or a smoothie, as opposed to \u201cdry-scooping\u201d, an influencer stunt in which people eat straight creatine. This method risks powder inhalation and choking<\/a>, along with worse GI effects.<\/p>\n

Does creatine actually help build muscle?<\/p>\n

The short answer: not as much as the hype suggests.<\/p>\n

Desai led a 12-week study<\/a>, published this March, in which two groups of people began a weight-lifting regimen. One group used creatine, the other did not. There was no meaningful difference in results: people in both groups gained approximately two kilograms of lean body mass on average.<\/p>\n

In the short term, creatine draws water into muscles, which can cause a couple of pounds of temporary weight gain and make muscles look more full. \u201cThere\u2019s a short-term change in body-water content,\u201d says Desai, who posits that past studies<\/a> that found small benefits with creatine supplementation may have overestimated creatine\u2019s relationship with muscle growth by not accounting for this water retention.<\/p>\n

Desai says it\u2019s possible that longer studies might provide more information about creatine\u2019s muscle-building benefits over time. It is also possible that creatine may indirectly boost muscle growth by allowing people to train harder. \u201cIf you\u2019re able to do more repetitions, then over time, we would expect you to see an added benefit,\u201d Desai says.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect an overnight change. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to pack on pounds of muscle within a few weeks,\u201d he says, nor will adding creatine to an otherwise sedentary lifestyle yield results.<\/p>\n

Who benefits most from creatine?<\/p>\n

Creatine is often associated with athletes looking for an edge, but supplementation also can be helpful for older adults experiencing muscle loss. \u201cWomen experience a lot of muscle mass and strength loss after menopause,\u201d says Reddy, who often recommends a standard daily dose of three to five grams of creatine to patients. It can help with resistance training and post-workout recovery<\/a> by activating satellite cells, which repair muscle fibers after injury caused by use.<\/p>\n

Vegetarians and vegans who supplement with creatine may also see greater improvements in their workouts and energy levels, since their diets contain less natural creatine.<\/p>\n

However, researchers estimate that about 20%-30% of people are \u201cnon-responders<\/a>\u201d to creatine due to physiological factors like genetics.<\/p>\n

Can creatine support mental health?<\/p>\n

Researchers<\/a> are exploring whether creatine may help ease depression symptoms by supporting<\/a> brain energy, memory, attention and information processing speed, and promoting dopamine and serotonin<\/a> production.<\/p>\n

Dr David Puder, Florida-based psychiatrist and host of the Psychiatry & Psychotherapy podcast, sees creatine as a promising tool in treating depression. It is not necessarily a standalone solution, but can be part of a broader, physician-led approach to treating depression, along with therapy and optimizing diet, exercise and sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudies to date have shown that creatine seems to amplify the speed at which people recover [from depression] by a little bit,\u201d says Puder. \u201cNot a lot, but a measurable improvement,\u201d he says, particularly in clinical trials pairing creatine with medications such as Lexapro or cognitive behavioral therapy.<\/p>\n

It may be that creatine\u2019s exercise-boosting effects also support mental health. \u201cExercise improves the ability to come out of depression,\u201d says Puder, so better workouts \u201cmay allow for an independent improvement in depression beyond what the creatine is doing in the brain\u201d.<\/p>\n

While creatine may help alleviate the mental fatigue that comes with depression, Puder says that in people with bipolar disorder, there is some risk of it contributing to hypomania. If you are interested in starting creatine, you should talk to your doctor beforehand.<\/p>\n

Is creatine safe for young people?<\/p>\n

While creatine itself is generally safe for adults, most medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend against<\/a> creatine use for those under 18 due to unknown long-term effects. However, there are no age restrictions on who can buy creatine, and a 2024 review<\/a> found 26% of adolescent boys said they had taken creatine at some point.<\/p>\n

The University of Toronto researcher Dr Kyle Ganson also cautions that creatine use by teens can be part of a broader pattern.<\/p>\n

Ganson recently studied<\/a> a cohort of 912 teenagers and young adults. He found that those who used creatine, particularly young men and boys, were more likely to develop muscle dysmorphia \u2013 an obsessive drive for size and muscularity that can lead to psychological fallout.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not causal,\u201d says Ganson. \u201cJust because you take creatine, you\u2019re not going to develop a mental health condition.\u201d But it may be a sign that a young person is becoming overly focused on body image.<\/p>\n

Ganson urges parents to exercise \u201crespectful curiosity\u201d about their child\u2019s goals with the supplement, and to talk to a doctor or dietitian, especially if their child\u2019s focus on physical appearance seems to be disrupting other areas of their life.<\/p>\n

\u2022 This article was amended on 16 May 2025 to describe NSF as a certifier, rather than a regulator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Creatine has long been popular among athletes. Olympians tout it, fitness influencers experiment with it, and Patrick Schwarzenegger\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[48919,47896,48921,48920,1630,105,218,10707,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-106866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-creatine-supplementation","9":"tag-creatine-supplements","10":"tag-dr-avinish-reddy","11":"tag-dr-imtiaz-desai","12":"tag-fitness","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-muscles","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114518769241078933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}