Myth or fact

Creatine is a kind of steroid

Short answerNo

By GyroscopeUpdated November 14, 20269 sources

No. Creatine is a small molecule your liver and kidneys make every day, and meat and fish carry it. A 5 g scoop holds the creatine in about 2.4 lb (1.1 kg) of raw steak. Steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone, a completely different molecule that works a different way. In a 12-week trial, men on creatine had the same testosterone as men on placebo.

Why people believe it

Creatine and steroids both help people build muscle when they lift, and both come up in the same locker-room conversations. Creatine is a white powder sold in big tubs next to products with aggressive labels. Its name sounds chemical. And in some places, like New York, it’s one of the ingredients that can get a product classed as a muscle-building supplement, which can’t be sold to anyone under 18.

All of that makes creatine look a lot more like a drug than it is.

It’s in your dinner

A 5 g scoop of creatine is the amount in about 2.4 lb (1.1 kg) of raw steak, far more than one person eats at a meal. Cooking leaves a bit less. Nobody calls a steak a performance drug, and the creatine in it is the same molecule as the one in the tub.

What creatine is

The French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul first pulled creatine out of muscle in 1832. Your liver and kidneys make it from two amino acids, arginine and glycine. About 95% of it ends up in your muscles, where it stores a ready charge for the energy molecule ATP. Every day your body breaks down 1 to 2% of it and replaces 1 to 3 g, about half from food if you eat meat. A pound of raw beef or salmon carries about 1 to 2 g.

What steroids are

Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone. They get into muscle cells, attach to the cell’s androgen receptor and switch on genes that build muscle protein. In the US they’re controlled drugs, Schedule III, and illegal to have or use without a prescription.

A 2021 review lays out the difference. Creatine has a completely different chemical structure, it works through phosphocreatine and the energy it stores, and it’s sold legally as a dietary supplement. What the two share is the outcome, more muscle with training, by completely different routes. Creatine gets there by letting you do a bit more work in each hard set.

Does creatine raise testosterone?

Not in the trials that measured it. In the 2009 rugby study that started the hair loss scare, testosterone didn’t change during three weeks of creatine. In a 2025 trial, 45 men who lifted took 5 g a day or a placebo for 12 weeks, and 38 finished. Testosterone, free testosterone and DHT came out the same in both groups.

The best case for the steroid worry

Creatine does seem to nudge some hormones. In the 2009 study, DHT, a hormone made from testosterone, rose 56% during loading, though it stayed within normal limits. A 2024 trial of 40 young adults reported higher growth hormone and IGF-1, and a better testosterone-to-cortisol ratio, in its creatine groups during 8 weeks of lifting.

Those are changes in the body’s own hormones during training, in small trials, and the 2025 trial that measured DHT for 12 weeks found no difference. A nudge in growth hormone during a lifting program isn’t the same as taking synthetic testosterone. Steroids add a synthetic hormone from outside the body. Creatine adds more of a nutrient your body already makes and eats.

Is it allowed?

Creatine is a dietary supplement in the US, legal to buy and use for adults. A 2021 review notes there are no legal consequences for having or taking it, unlike anabolic steroids. New York bans selling muscle-building supplements to anyone under 18, and creatine is one of the ingredients a court can weigh in deciding whether a product counts.