Creatine Supplements: Benefits, Safety and How to Use It
Creatine helps muscles regenerate energy during short, intense effort. Combined with training, it reliably increases strength and lean mass, and it's considered safe for healthy adults at 3–5 grams a day. Research on brain benefits is promising but still early.
Evidence at a glance
| Use | Grade | What the research shows |
|---|---|---|
| Strength and power in resistance training | A | Consistent gains across many trials and meta-analyses. |
| Lean muscle mass | A | Greater gains when combined with training. |
| Muscle and strength in older adults | B | Benefits seen when combined with resistance training. |
| Memory and cognition | C | Early trials suggest benefits, especially when sleep-deprived or in people who eat no meat. |
A: strong, consistent human evidence · B: moderate · C: limited or mixed · D: good evidence of no benefit.
Creatine is made naturally in your liver, kidneys and pancreas and stored mostly in muscle. Meat and fish supply about 1–2 grams a day. Supplementing tops up muscle stores so you can produce a little more power on hard efforts, which adds up over weeks of training.
Who benefits most
- People doing resistance training or sprint-type sports
- Vegetarians and vegans, who start with lower muscle stores
- Older adults combining it with strength training to limit age-related muscle loss
How to use it
Take 3–5 grams of creatine monohydrate every day. A loading phase is optional and only speeds up the first week. Our creatine dosing guide covers loading, timing and dosing by body weight, and the creatine calculator does the math for you.
Safety
In healthy people, long-term use at recommended doses hasn't been shown to harm the kidneys or liver. Expect 1–2 kg of water weight in muscle at first. Creatine can raise creatinine on blood tests without indicating kidney damage, so tell your doctor you take it. People with kidney disease should ask a doctor first.
Sources
This page is for education and is not a substitute for advice from your doctor. Read our medical disclaimer.