Creatine is loved by all kinds of athletes, from bodybuilders to Premier League footballers. Even Hollywood stars, the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, are known to include it in their ‘required-on-camera’ regime.
Thanks to the muscle-boosting benefits it is said to provide, creatine is one of the most widely used supplements on the market.
But why? What is creatine? How does it work and what makes it one of the few supplements that really seems to make a difference, when many others offer you something that you’re not getting from your diet?
What is more interesting, is this supplement, which has been heavily linked to physical improvement, suddenly said to have benefits for your brain as well?
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What does creatine do?
Creatine is nothing new; It has been used by athletes for decades. Footballer Ian Wright once described it as a ‘wonder drug’ and British sprint and hurdles stars Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell are also fans of the supplement.
The benefits come down to basic exercise physiology.
Creatine is found naturally in your muscles and brain. It increases your phosphocreatine stores, which help make adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP provides the energy your muscles need to touch. Creatine is produced in your body (you make about 1-2g a day) and is consumed in your diet, but not to a significant degree.
“Phosphocreatine stores in the muscles are limited to sustain a maximum effort of 5-10 seconds. [very short, intense bursts of activity]”said Dr. Marc Fell, nutritionist and scientific officer for the pro cycling team Ineos Grenadiers. Therefore, increasing the amount of creatine through supplementation, allows your body to start the workout with full stores of phosphocreatine and keep them topped-up during training.
“Creatine is usually found in red meat and shellfish, but only in small amounts. That’s why creatine supplements are so popular – it’s a better way to increase stores in the muscles in a quick period of time.
A review conducted in 2003 revealed that 500 studies have been conducted on creatine. 70 percent of them reported statistically significant results, while the remaining studies reported “insignificant gains in performance.” But what are these ‘gains’ exactly?
“Since creatine is involved in the fastest energy system, it is especially beneficial for athletes who sprint and train with weights. It helps them increase muscle mass and strength,” said Fell.
Just how much of the increase? A study from 1999 showed a 32-percent increase in weight lifted compared to a placebo group over a 12-week training period. Meanwhile, research carried out in 2017 showed an increase in muscle mass of 7.2 percent over a period of eight weeks.
Sounds great, right? But not everyone can expect to get the same results. “For endurance athletes [who perform less intense efforts over longer periods]The benefits of creatine are less, but there are still rewards for them if they include repeated short, high-intensity efforts in their training,” says Fell.
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How can it help your brain?
But what if setting a new personal best at the gym or track isn’t your goal? Does creatine have any uses for ‘ordinary’ people? It’s just that, because accumulating evidence shows that creatine supplements also have benefits for your brain. And in the same way as how it benefits your body – by allowing you to tap more energy when the demand is high.
That’s important because the brain is a fuel-burning machine, burning 20 percent of your resting energy, even though it accounts for about two percent of your body mass.
“Research in this area is at an early stage so it is difficult to draw conclusions. However, high doses of daily creatine supplements can improve cognitive functions, such as memory, processing speed, executive and execution of sports skills,” said Fell.
“Additionally, preliminary data also suggest that creatine has some ability to improve recovery after concussion in young adults.”
Julia Fabienne Sandkühler is a PhD student at the University of Bonn, Germany, and authored a 2023 study investigating the effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive performance. While measuring small improvements in cognition in general, he points out that there are larger benefits for specific demographics.
“For people with cerebral creatine deficiency syndrome, the effect of creatine supplementation has significant cognitive benefits and is supported. Conditions that cause brain creatine deficiency cause deep intellectual disabilities, which can be reversed by creatine supplementation,” he said.
“There is also evidence that brain creatine levels can decrease with age. This happens with muscle creatine levels, although it is not clear whether this is an effect of aging or the result of other reasons, such as dietary choices or reduced physical activity.
Should you take creatine?
There are hundreds of studies showing that creatine can boost your strength and power, and a growing evidence base that it can benefit your brain, but how much should you be taking? “There are different options [if you’re looking for physical improvements] and it will depend on how quickly you want to increase your creatine stores,” says Fell.
“One option is to start with a ‘loading’ dose of 20g of creatine per day (divided into 4 x 5g doses) for five days, followed by a daily maintenance dose of 3-5g. Or simply take an extended maintenance dose of 5g per day. The key is to be consistent with it’s every day.”
That number rises to around 10g per day for potential cognitive benefits due to difficulty crossing the blood-brain barrier. If you decide to try it, use creatine monohydrate, because it is the most proven, and take it with water.
When used correctly, creatine has its benefits, then. So, what’s the catch?
“[It] has some side effects,” Fell said. “The most common is weight gain, which occurs because creatine causes water retention in the muscles that can reach as much as 1-2kg (2-4lbs), depending on the dosage. This varies and not everyone will experience it, plus this often levels out quickly .
Water retention isn’t the only adverse effect associated with creatine, though; so widely used means that it has been associated with other hosts. However, after caffeine, creatine may be the most researched supplement on the planet, and a 2021 review looked at common beliefs about the potential side effects of creatine supplements.
For example: creatine causes kidney damage. According to the review: “When taken in the recommended dosage, it does not.” Creatine causes hair loss; “The current body of evidence does not show that creatine supplementation causes hair loss or baldness.” Creatine causes cramping? “No.” Does it increase fat mass? “No.” And so on, but all with the caveat, “when taken in the recommended dosage.”
Creatine has several advantages, especially if you want to speed up your sprinting or improve your ability to lift weights. And when it comes to your brain, evidence has been built that it can help you think more clearly and remember things faster, even if you are under a lot of mental stress or you are old.
However, it all comes with a caveat “if taken in the recommended dose”, because it does not get around the fact that creatine is a supplement – a substance that, if you are healthy and eat a balanced diet, you are probably getting. enough already.
Remember to ask your doctor for advice before adding any supplements to your diet or embarking on a new exercise program.
About our experts
Dr. Marc Fell is a nutritionist and scientific officer for the Ineos Grenadiers pro cycling team.
Julia Fabienne Sandcooler is a PhD student in experimental psychology at the University of Bonn, Germany. His work has been published by medRxiv, BMC Medicineand Scientific data.
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