Creatine studies, tips and resources
Every tip and study on this site, each in one line you can pass on. Tap Copy and it goes in a message with its link.
Tips to pass on
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If you eat meat or fish, having them most days keeps your creatine about four fifths full. Food tops you up, and the last fifth takes a scoop.
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Take 3 to 5 g of plain creatine monohydrate a day, every day, rest days too.
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You don't need to load. 20 g a day for 6 days and 3 g a day for 28 days ended at the same 20% rise in muscle creatine.
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The first jump on the scale is water. Loading usually adds 1 to 3 kg in the first week, then it stops.
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Judge creatine by one test, not the scale: push-ups or a dead hang twice in week one, then again at week eight.
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One 5 g scoop holds 4.4 g of creatine, about what's in 2.4 lb of raw steak.
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Vegetarians and vegans gain the most. In one trial their muscle phosphocreatine rose 66% on creatine against 19% in meat eaters.
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Creatine nudges creatinine up on a blood test, by about 0.14 mg/dL on average. Tell your doctor, and ask about cystatin C.
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The hair loss worry comes from a 2009 study that never measured hair. A 2025 trial that did found no difference.
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Split big doses. One 10 g dose a day gave 56% of soccer players diarrhea, against 29% on two 5 g doses.
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Mix it and drink it. Dry powder keeps for years, but in a drink it slowly turns into creatinine, faster when warm or acidic.
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Buy plain monohydrate with a third-party test mark. HCl did no better in two head-to-head trials.
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Under 18? We don't give a dose. Food, a coached lifting program and sleep come first.
The studies
How your muscles fill
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1992. Muscle creatine rose on 5 g taken four to six times a day, by up to 50% in the people who started lowest.
Harris, Söderlund and Hultman, 17 people
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1996. 20 g a day for 6 days and 3 g a day for 28 days both raised muscle creatine about 20%, and it was back to the start 30 days after stopping.
Hultman and others, 31 men
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2017. On a normal diet muscle stores are about 60% to 80% full, and 3 to 5 g a day keeps them full once they are.
International Society of Sports Nutrition, position stand
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2003. Body water rose 1.37 L in the first week of loading and 2.04 L by day 28, with the split inside and outside cells unchanged.
Powers and others, 32 lifters
Food and diet
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1997. Raw chicken, beef and rabbit held about 30 mmol of creatine per kg, about 3.9 g, and ox liver almost none.
Harris and others, meats measured raw and boiled
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2011. A 154 lb man aged 20 to 39 loses about 2 g of creatine a day, and food replaces about half of it in people who eat meat.
Brosnan, da Silva and Brosnan, a review
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2021. People averaged 0.7 g of creatine a day from food, and 68.6% of adults got less than 1 g.
Korovljev and others, US surveys of 89,161 people
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2016. Adults only get creatine from animal foods or supplements, and people probably ate far more of it in the Paleolithic.
Brosnan and Brosnan, a review
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2006. Cooking beef to 71°C (160°F) lowered its creatine.
Purchas and others, beef from 31 heifers
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2003. After 8 weeks of lifting, vegetarians on creatine gained more muscle creatine, lean tissue and work than meat eaters on creatine.
Burke and others, 18 vegetarians and 24 meat eaters
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2018. Three months of a vegetarian diet cut thigh muscle creatine 15% on placebo, and 1 g a day was enough to raise it.
Blancquaert and others, 40 women who ate meat
Muscle and strength
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2003. With lifting, strength rose 20% on creatine against 12% on placebo, and reps at the same weight 26% against 12%.
Rawson and Volek, 22 studies
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2022. Lean mass rose about 1.1 kg more with creatine and lifting than lifting alone, and didn't move without exercise.
Delpino and others, 35 trials
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2017. People in their late 50s to 70 who lifted gained about 1.37 kg more lean tissue on creatine.
Chilibeck and others, 22 trials of older adults
The brain
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2024. Memory improved slightly on creatine, and overall thinking didn't change.
Xu and others, 16 trials, 492 people
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2024. One large dose, 0.35 g per kg, held up thinking speed and short-term memory through most of a night without sleep.
Gordji-Nejad and others, 15 young adults
Safety
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2026. Creatinine rose about 0.14 mg/dL, and kidney filtering measured directly with a tracer didn't drop.
de Souza Almeida and others, 26 trials, 1,036 people
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2009. DHT, a hormone, rose during loading. Nobody measured hair.
van der Merwe and others, 20 rugby players
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2025. 5 g a day for 12 weeks made no difference to hair, DHT or testosterone against a placebo.
Lak and others, 45 men who lift
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2008. One 10 g dose a day gave 56% of them diarrhea, against 29% on two 5 g doses and 35% on placebo.
Ostojic and Ahmetovic, 59 soccer players
Forms and buying
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2024. Over 8 weeks of lifting, creatine HCl did no better than monohydrate.
Eghbali and others, 40 young adults
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2025. On 5 g a day, HCl did no better than monohydrate for strength or body composition.
Londoño-Velásquez and others, 31 elite athletes
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2026. Independently checked 5 g gummies improved jump height and sprint turns.
Pereira and others, 32 volleyball players
Teens
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2016. For most young athletes, performance supplements add little beyond puberty, good food and training.
American Academy of Pediatrics, clinical report
Resources
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International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on creatine The researchers' own summary of dose, safety and who it helps, free online.
Kreider and others, JISSN, 2017
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Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements Why nobody approves a supplement before it's sold.
US Food and Drug Administration
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Cystatin C The kidney test that helps when you carry a lot of muscle.
National Kidney Foundation
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My 15-year-old wants to take creatine for sports performance A pediatric sports medicine doctor's answer for parents, updated October 2026.
American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org
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Sports Supplements (for Teens) Creatine and other supplements, written for teens.
Nemours TeensHealth
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New York General Business Law section 391-oo The law barring sales of muscle-building supplements to anyone under 18, since April 22, 2024.
New York State Senate
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California AB 2030 California's version, in force from January 1, 2027.
CalMatters Digital Democracy
