Guest Post by Alina Petre, MSc, RD
When you think of creatine, you may think of a supplement meant to help you gain muscle and strength.
You may have even heard that vegans can especially benefit from taking it.
But what is creatine? Does it actually do what it claims to do? And above all, is it a supplement that’s safe or worth taking?
The following article will give you the low-down on creatine and help you figure out whether you should give it a try for yourself.
Creatine is a compound that’s naturally present in your body. A small percentage is stored in your brain, kidneys, and liver, but the largest amounts are stored in your muscles (1).
The amount of muscle creatine can vary from person to person and depends on various factors, including diet. The type of food that contains most creatine is meat, which shouldn’t come as a surprise since other animals also store creatine in their muscles.
This may be one reason why vegetarians, including vegans, tend to have lower levels of creatine than meat eaters (2, 3, 4).
That said, eating animals is not the only way to boost creatine levels — and definitely not a necessity. Our bodies can also produce creatine internally from the amino acids glycine and arginine, which many plant foods contain.
Creatine supplements containing zero animal derivatives are another way to boost creatine levels. Plus, supplements are a way more effective way to increase muscle creatine levels compared to eating meat.
That’s because a person would have to eat 2.8 pounds (1.3 kg) of raw meat each day (or twice that amount if cooked) to get the same amount of creatine found in 5 grams of supplement (5).
Other factors which can influence the amount of creatine stored in your muscles include the total amount of muscle mass you have, the type of training you do, and your hormone levels.
Summary: Creatine is a compound naturally found in the body and mainly stored in muscle. Vegetarians and vegans tend to have lower creatine levels than meat-eaters and supplements are the best way to increase levels.
How Does Creatine Work?
Creatine works by providing your muscle with a quick source of energy.
It does so by boosting production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that stores the energy that your cells need to function. The higher the amount of creatine present in your muscles, the quicker ATP can be produced and used by your muscles to contract (6).
Simply put, higher creatine levels in the muscles help your muscles recover more quickly between sets. This lower fatigue generally means that you can fit in more sets or reps during the same training session, both of which can equate to greater results (1, 7).
This is especially useful during repeated short burst of intense exercise, which require quick replenishing of your muscles’ energy stores. For instance, during weightlifting, sprinting, soccer, rugby or hockey.
In addition, creatine also acts in key cellular processes which can help increase muscle mass, strength, and recovery (8).
For instance, creatine supplementation may help reduce protein breakdown and increase anabolic hormone levels in your body, both of which can promote muscle strength and growth (9, 10).
Creatine supplementation also appears to boost muscle repair and muscle water retention, both of which may also lead to improved muscle recovery and growth (11, 12).
To find out more about how to boost your post-workout recovery, click here.
Summary: Creatine works by providing the muscle with a quick source of energy. Higher muscle stores are can help increase muscle mass and strength. It can also help improve exercise performance, especially during short bursts of high-intensity exercise.
Effects on Muscle Mass
Creatine is one of the most effective and well-researched supplements when it comes to growing muscle (13, 14).
Taking creatine for as little as a week can already produce significant effects. It’s important to note that most of the early rise in muscle mass generally comes from water retention in the muscle. However, over a longer period of time, muscle fiber growth also increases (11).
Several studies support this notion. For instance, in one study, participants given creatine increased their muscle mass by an additional 4.4 lbs (2 kg) following a 6-week training program than those given a placebo (15).
In another, older individuals given creatine in combination with a muscle training program experienced significantly greater gains in muscle mass than a placebo by the end of the 14-week study period (16).
In weightlifters, creatine intake during a 12-week training program increased muscle fiber growth 2 to 3 times more than training alone. The weightlifters taking creatine also gained 5 more pounds (2.3 kg) of muscle than those given the placebo (17).
Not many studies have been done on the effects of creatine on vegetarians and vegans. However, I did find one in which around half of the participants were vegetarian, of which 3 vegans.
The individuals in this study were given either a creatine supplement or a placebo and put through an intense 8-week weight training routine focused mainly on the upper body.
All participants which received creatine gained more muscles than those given the placebo, regardless of their diet. However, the vegetarians gained the most muscle — around one additional pound (around 0.5 kg) than the non-vegetarians (4).
Summary: When combined with weight training, creatine can help individuals gain more muscle mass. This effect may be especially strong in vegetarians and vegans.
Effects on Strength and Exercise Performance
Creatine can also help improve strength and exercise performance, especially during short bouts of high-intensity exercise.
According to a review of 22 studies, training with creatine may result in 8% more strength, a 14% better weight lifting performance and a 43% higher bench press one rep max compared to training alone (18).
What’s more, the effect of creatine on high-intensity exercise performance has been investigated in more than 300 studies.
Around 70% of them report significant improvements while 30% found either no effects or effects too small to be significant. None found negative effects. Of those which found a positive effect, improvements ranged from 5% to 15% (19).
Similar improvements have also been found for strength and power exercises. However, creatine offers generally fewer benefits for low-intensity or endurance-type exercise (7, 20, 21, 22, 23).
Again, few studies exist on creatine intake in vegetarians. However, those which do exist tend to find similar results to those above (2, 4).
Summary: Creatine, when taken in combination with training, may also help increase strength and high-intensity exercise performance. However, it has limited effects on low-intensity or endurance-type exercise.
Other Beneficial Effects of Creatine
In addition to its beneficial effects on exercise listed above, creatine may also have a wide range of positive health effects. The most researched include:
May lower blood sugar levels and prevent diabetes (26, 27, 28).
May improve brain function and memory, although not all studies agree (29, 30, 31, 32).
May reduce fatigue during sleep deprivation (33).
Summary: In addition to having positive effects on exercise, creatine may also provide the additional health benefits listed above.
Type and Dosage
Several forms of creatine can be found on the market. The most common, and best researched, is creatine monohydrate.
You may come across claims that other forms of creatine are superior to creatine monohydrate. However, no studies actually support this notion (34).
The amount you need for most effects depends on the type of loading protocol you choose.
Quick loading protocol: 0.1 gram of creatine monohydrate per pound (0.3 g/kg) per day — or around 5 grams taken four times per day — for 5-7 days, followed by 3 - 5 grams per day thereafter.
Longer loading protocol: 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day taken for 21-30 days followed by 3 - 5 grams per day thereafter.
By the end of either loading protocol, you’ll end up with around the same amount of creatine in your muscles. However, as the name implies, the quick loading protocol achieves this in 5 - 7 days rather than 3-4 weeks.
To maximize creatine absorption, try mixing your supplement with a source of carbs, for instance, juice. Absorption is also slightly improved after a workout when insulin levels tend to be higher (35).
Summary: Creatine monohydrate is the best-researched form of supplementation. Dosages depend on whether you choose to follow a quick-loading or longer loading protocol. By the end of either loading period, your muscles will contain similar total amounts of creatine.
Creatine Safety
In terms of safety, it’s worth mentioning that creatine is considered one of the safest supplements on the market. It’s also one of the most well-researched.
For instance, one study investigated 52 blood markers following creatine supplementation for close to two years. Researchers found no adverse effects (36).
Despite fears that creatine may harm the liver and kidneys, no scientific proof of negative effects could be found in healthy adults sticking to the recommended creatine doses (36, 37, 38).
That said, if you already suffer from liver or kidney issues, you might want to check with your healthcare practitioner before taking this supplement.
Moreover, despite many anecdotal claims of the contrary, creatine supplementation appears to have a positive influence on muscle cramps and dehydration (39).
In fact, some studies even show that creatine may reduce the risk of dehydration and muscle cramps during exercise in hot conditions (40, 41).
Several medium-term studies have also been performed and continuous creatine intake for up to four years shows no negative effects (36, 37).
That said, few studies have investigated safety effects passed four years. Thus, long-term safety cannot be guaranteed since long-term effects are not currently known. Longer-term studies are needed.
Summary: Creatine use is generally considered as safe in healthy adults following the recommended dosages. Continuous intakes for up to 4 years appear to have little negative effects. However, studies looking at longer-term effects are still needed.
The Bottom Line
Creatine is a safe and interesting supplement with various exercise and health benefits.
Creatine levels appear generally lower in vegans and vegetarians. Thus, active vegetarians and vegans seeking to grow muscle or increase strength and exercise performance may particularly benefit from giving it a try.
And if you’d like to check out some sport-dietitian vetted plant-based nutrition tips for active individuals, make sure to check out my little corner of the web at morethanjustveggies.com.