Creatine Supplements Are Everywhere. Do I Need Them? (2026)

Creatine monohydrate is typically sold arsenic a flavorless, achromatic pulverization that you tin premix into h2o oregon a shake. According to Amati, the modular dose is 3 to 5 grams per day. Some athletes whitethorn “load” with higher doses, but studies amusement this offers nary semipermanent benefits and tin enactment unnecessary accent connected the kidneys.

Muscle Growth and Exercise Performance

Creatine is astir utile for activities that request short, aggravated effort: sprinting, weightlifting, and high-intensity interval training, to sanction a few. It’s acold little applicable for endurance sports similar marathons. Some grounds suggests creatine besides increases musculus glycogen storage, which could assistance with betterment and vigor replenishment betwixt sessions.

Creatine doesn’t straight physique muscle, but paired with absorption grooming and capable nutrition, it tin assistance sphere musculus spot and thin assemblage mass. It’s peculiarly important if you’re recovering from an injury, oregon arsenic you age, erstwhile sarcopenia (age-related musculus loss) becomes a risk, arsenic it activates specialized stem cells known arsenic outer cells. Zimmerman points retired that women, particularly successful perimenopause and menopause, whitethorn spot wellness benefits. “As women get older—starting successful our forties—we suffer assemblage wide 1 to 2 percent a year, and that tin impact bony wellness aboriginal connected successful life,” says Zimmermann. “Creatine [supplements] enactment keeping and gathering thin musculus mass.”

Zimmermann adds, “Women thin to person little musculus wide than men, conscionable naturally, truthful I deliberation women whitethorn really respond amended to supplementation, due to the fact that they’re astatine baseline.”

Creatine and Brain Health

While the effects of creatine supplementation connected diversion show are well-documented, its effects connected intelligence show are inactive emerging. Early findings are promising. Studies suggest it whitethorn trim intelligence fatigue, particularly during high-stress situations, specified arsenic slumber deprivation oregon exhaustive exercise. It whitethorn besides amended definite aspects of memory, peculiarly successful groups with little baseline creatine levels, specified arsenic vegetarians and older adults.

Some preliminary probe adjacent suggests it could assistance with symptoms of slump by supporting encephalon vigor and boosting the accumulation of feel-good neurotransmitters similar dopamine and serotonin. That’s peculiarly applicable for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause, says Zimmerman. “Estrogen shifts impact encephalon health, our mood, encephalon fog, and being capable to deliberation clearly.”

Is Creatine Safe?

For astir steadfast adults, creatine is simply a harmless and well-tolerated supplement for months oregon adjacent years of use. Short-term and semipermanent objective trials person recovered nary important wellness risks. The main broadside effects are minor: value summation from impermanent h2o retention successful the archetypal week of supplementation, bloating, and mild gastric discomfort, usually from oversize doses.

However, determination are a fewer considerations to support successful mind:

• People with kidney illness should debar creatine unless cleared by a wellness attraction professional.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against creatine usage successful radical nether 18 owed to constricted probe connected its semipermanent effects successful children and young adults.
• The Food and Drug Adminstration doesn’t modulate dietary supplements for statement accuracy oregon purity. Choose a reputable marque with third-party investigating to guarantee you’re getting a merchandise that is what it says it is. Also, skip the creatine gummies.

Our Favorite Creatine Supplements

Best Overall

Thorne offers a colorless, odorless, and, astir importantly, flavorless pulverization that dissolves into macromolecule shakes, smoothies, oregon conscionable water. While they bash connection flavors similar strawberry and pineapple-orange, I ever take an unflavored mentation erstwhile available, truthful that I'm not consuming unnecessary additives. Each tiny scoop delivers a coagulated 5 grams of creatine. Thorne besides sells stick-pack azygous servings for on-the-go convenience.

Thorne is 1 of the wellness brands I spot the astir due to the fact that its dietary supplements each acquisition 4 rounds of testing. First, they surface earthy materials for contaminants. During the manufacturing process, they cheque the supplement bottles and labels for defects. They trial the finished products for purity and potency, ensuring nary microbiological contamination has occurred. Lastly, they execute stableness investigating to corroborate its statement claims done the expiration date.

Best Value

This creatine pulverization is tasteless, odorless, and comes with a bully 5-gram scoop that allows you to easy measurement however overmuch you've enactment successful your drink. It's casual to store, gives you astir 100 5-gram servings, and comes successful a nondescript vessel that won't marque you consciousness similar you're immoderate fittingness influencer. I person enjoyed it successful coffee, tea, and conscionable plain water, though I'd urge sticking to lone 5 grams per drink; it tin get a spot chalky if you effort to bash much successful 8 oz of water. —Parker Hall

Best Flavors

Sticking to a regular regimen of immoderate benignant is hard for me, but this creatine is genuinely truthful delicious that I look guardant to drinking it each day. I tried the pinkish lemonade flavor, which is tart and sweet. There are different fruity flavors available, similar Peach and Strawberry Açai, arsenic good arsenic an unflavored version. Each serving contains 5 grams of creatine, positive a gram each of collagen and BCAAs. I don’t peculiarly attraction astir the collagen since the subject astir it is minimal, but BCAAs tin assistance physique musculus arsenic good arsenic easiness musculus soreness.

While Peach Perfect is marketed towards gathering your booty, creatine tin assistance physique musculus everywhere. I decidedly noticed a quality portion lifting weights during the week erstwhile I ran retired of this pulverization (before I acceptable up a subscription connected Amazon). The supplement dissolves rapidly and has a pleasant, non-gritty texture. I’ve adjacent mixed it successful my regular dose of greens. The supplement undergoes third-party investigating via Eurofins to cheque for pesticides, dense metals, and different contaminants. —Louryn Strampe

Power up with unlimited entree to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber contented that's excessively important to ignore. Subscribe Today.