Should You Take Creatine Supplements?

New York Times

4 days ago

Creatine has long been a popular supplement among athletes and body builders, who say it supplies them with quick bursts of energy needed for high-intensity workouts and helps them build muscle.
But on social media, claims about creatine go beyond the weight room, with some users saying it can improve memory, help with recovery after concussions or other head traumas, or even control blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes.
Is any of this true? We turned to three nutrition and supplement experts to help us sort it out.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a compound that our liver, kidneys and pancreas make on their own, but we also get it from certain animal products like red meat and fish.
After it has been absorbed into the bloodstream and transferred to the muscles, it is converted into another compound called creatine phosphate, which our muscles use to generate energy, especially during high intensity activities like sprinting and weight lifting, said Roger Fielding, a senior scientist at the Jean Mayer U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.
Because we typically make enough creatine to survive, federal health officials don't make recommendations for how much we should consume, and it is not considered an essential nutrient, said Jose Antonio, a professor of exercise science at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Most of our bodies require about two grams of creatine per day to perform their basic functions.
If you eat meat, you probably get a good chunk of this — about one to two grams per day — from your diet. But your organs also pick up the slack. They synthesize about one to two grams on their own, Dr. Antonio said, except in people with certain rare genetic disorders that affect their ability to produce creatine or move it around the body.
Does creatine boost athletic performance?
Most studies on creatine supplements, which typically contain a form of the compound called creatine monohydrate, have evaluated their effects on athletic performance and muscle growth, Dr. Antonio said.
For people who want to use creatine for improvements in these areas, experts typically recommend taking about three to five milligrams per day in the form of supplements.
In healthy people, creatine supplements have largely been shown to be safe, said Dr. David S. Seres, a professor of medicine at the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.
Clinical trials and other studies have found that athletes who take creatine supplements can generate 5 to 15 percent more strength or force during short, repeated bursts of activity compared with people who don't take creatine supplements.
'This performance-enhancing effect is pretty well-documented,' Dr. Fielding said.
Creatine has also been shown to help build muscle among people who do regular strength training. In a 2022 analysis and review of 35 clinical trials involving nearly 1,200 adults, researchers found that people who took creatine supplements while resistance training increased their lean body mass (or the weight of everything in their body except fat) by an average of more than two pounds. The trials involved different dosages of creatine over different lengths of time, from one week to four months.
But are these improvements large enough to be noticeable or meaningful to health or exercise performance? That's the key question, Dr. Seres said.
For competitive athletes, a little extra muscle or slightly better performance during, say, a sprint, could be the difference between winning and losing, Dr. Fielding said. But for recreational athletes, those differences may not matter as much.
A small increase in muscle mass may, however, be meaningful for people who have low muscle mass or low muscle strength, such as older adults or those with sarcopenia, a condition characterized by age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, Dr. Fielding said.
Vegetarians and vegans may also benefit from supplementing with creatine more than meat eaters, he added, because they don't eat the animal protein sources that are naturally rich in the compound. While their bodies may make enough to survive, they may not get the amount associated with additional muscle and performance benefits, he said, but more research is needed to confirm this.
Does creatine help with memory, diabetes or other aspects of health?
Scientists have begun to evaluate the potential ways supplementing with creatine may benefit people outside the sports realm, but the research so far is limited and the results are mixed, Dr. Fielding said.
In a 2024 analysis of 16 clinical trials involving about 500 adults — some of whom were healthy and some of whom had conditions such as Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia — researchers found that various doses of creatine supplements improved people's memory and attention time, but not their overall brain function, including impulse control, planning and response time.
While more research is needed, Dr. Antonio said, if you want to try using creatine for cognitive benefits, the limited data we have suggests that at least 10 milligrams per day may be a good place to start.
Some studies have also hinted that creatine may help control blood sugar among people with Type 2 diabetes. And researchers are evaluating whether those with traumatic brain injuries (like concussions), neuromuscular conditions (like muscular dystrophy) or heart failure may benefit from supplementing with creatine — but more research is needed in all of these areas.
Dr. Fielding said that people with kidney disease should consult a doctor before taking creatine supplements because the nutrient is processed by the kidneys and could strain them further.
In fact, he said, if you have any serious medical condition, it might be worth a quick check-in with a doctor. It's always better to be safe when taking anything new, whether it's a supplement or something else, he said.