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Creatine Monohydrate

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(Redirected from Creatine)

Alternative Names

  • Creatine
  • Creatine supplement
  • Creatine powder
  • Micronized creatine
  • Creatine monohydrate powder

Background

  • This page refers to the supplement Creatine Monohydrate, often simply termed Creatine

History

  • Creatine was first discovered in 1832 by French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul[1]
  • Emerged as a popular supplement in the 1990s after research demonstrated its ability to enhance high-intensity performanc

Introduction

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine Synthesis and Degradation[2]

General

  • Naturally occurring compound and one of the most extensively studied dietary supplements[3]
  • Primarily used to enhance muscle performance, strength, and recovery
  • It increases intramuscular creatine and phosphocreatine stores by approximately 15-40%
  • Which facilitates rapid ATP resynthesis during high-intensity exercise

Mechanism of Action

  • Converted to phosphocreatine in skeletal muscle via creatine kinase
  • Acts as a rapid phosphate donor to regenerate ATP during high-intensity activity
  • Supports short-duration, explosive energy production (anaerobic system)
  • Increases intramuscular water content, contributing to cell volumization
  • Enhances capacity for repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise

Controversies / Considerations

  • May cause mild water retention, leading to weight gain
  • Concerns about kidney function, though evidence shows safety in healthy individuals
  • Variability in response (non-responders vs responders)
  • Confusion between creatine and creatinine in lab values
  • Limited benefit for endurance-based activities

Athletic Performance Benefits

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine Monohydrate

Strength & Power[4][5]

  • Increases maximal strength and force production
  • Improves power output during explosive movements (e.g., sprinting, jumping)
  • Enhances performance in resistance training

High-Intensity Exercise Performance[6][7]

  • Improves repeated sprint ability
  • Enhances short-duration, high-intensity exercise capacity
  • Increases total work performed during interval training

Recovery & Training Volume[8][4]

  • Enhances recovery between repeated bouts of exercise
  • Increases training volume and workload capacity
  • Reduces fatigue during high-intensity training sessions

Muscle Mass & Adaptation[9][10]

  • Increases lean body mass with resistance training
  • Promotes muscle hypertrophy over time
  • Enhances satellite cell activity and muscle adaptation

Neuromuscular & Fatigue Resistance[11][12]

  • Improves neuromuscular efficiency
  • Delays onset of fatigue during repeated high-intensity efforts
  • Supports ATP resynthesis for sustained performance

Neurological / Concussion-Related Benefits[13][14][15]

  • May support brain energy metabolism by increasing phosphocreatine availability in neural tissue
  • Potentially reduces neuronal damage following traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • May improve cognitive function and reduce symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury
  • Proposed to stabilize cellular energy and reduce secondary injury cascades

Other Health Benefits

  • Muscular dystrophies[16]
    • Cochrane meta-analysis showing improved muscular strength)
  • Hereditary creatine synthesis disorders
  • Treatment-resistant depression in women
  • Sarcopenia in older adults
  • Neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, Huntington's)
  • Thermoregulation
  • Neuroprotection following concussion or spinal cord injury

Dosing

  • There is no standard dose of creatine, but 0.07 g/kg of body weight has been suggested in the literature[17]
  • Typical dosing regimen involves a loading phase of 20 g/day (or 0.3 g/kg/day) for 5-7 days
    • Followed by a maintenance dose of 3-5 g/day, though loading is not strictly required[18]
  • A daily intake of 3 g is considered unlikely to pose safety concerns in healthy adults[19]
    • Pregnant and breastfeeding women are typically excluded from this recommendation

Safety Profile

  • Well-established
  • Short-term and long-term supplementation (up to 30 g/day for 5 years) is safe and well-tolerated in healthy individuals across age groups from infants to elderly[20]

Adverse Effects

Creatine benefits

Common Side Effects

  • Weight gain (primarily from fluid retention)
  • Occasionally gastrointestinal disturbances, nausea, or diarrhea[19]
  • Osmotic effects
    • Some side effects of creatine are due to its osmotic effect, which decreases urinary volume and causes urinary retention.
    • This can lead to increased risk for muscle cramps, heat-related illness, and dehydration.[21]

Serious Side Effects

  • Concerns about kidney damage, liver dysfunction, dehydration, and muscle cramping are not supported by controlled studies[22]
  • A more serious side effect is an increased risk for compartment syndrome due to its osmotic effects
  • There has been a case report of acute hepatotoxicity in a patient who took creatine above the recommended dose[17]

Pharmacokinetics

  • Early 99% of orally ingested creatine monohydrate is either taken up by muscle or excreted in urine[23]
  • No degradation during normal digestion

Interactions

  • Relatively few clinically significant drug interactions
  • Caffeine[24][25]
    • Conflicting evidence on whether they oppose each other's effects
    • Current evidence suggests that acute caffeine ingestion after creatine loading does not interfere with creatine's benefits
    • May provide additive performance enhancement for high-intensity sprint activities
    • Chronic concurrent supplementation may blunt creatine's ergogenic effects, though findings are inconsistent
  • Nephrotoxic medications, NSAIDS[26]
    • Creatine should be used cautiously or avoided in patients taking nephrotoxic medications
    • Should be used cautiously in individuals with pre-existing kidney disease

WADA Considerations

  • Not banned by WADA

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Bird, Stephen P. "Creatine supplementation and exercise performance: a brief review." Journal of sports science & medicine 2.4 (2003): 123.
  2. ↑ Bonilla, Diego A., and Yurany Moreno. "Molecular and metabolic insights of creatine supplementation on resistance training." Revista Colombiana de Química 44.1 (2015): 11-18.
  3. ↑ Jäger, Ralf, et al. "Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine." Amino acids 40.5 (2011): 1369-1383.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kreider, Richard B., et al. “International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Safety and Efficacy of Creatine Supplementation in Exercise, Sport, and Medicine.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 14, no. 1, 2017, p. 18.
  5. ↑ Branch, John D. “Effect of Creatine Supplementation on Body Composition and Performance: A Meta-Analysis.” International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, vol. 13, no. 2, 2003, pp. 198–226.
  6. ↑ Bogdanis, Gregory C., et al. “Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Muscle Metabolism during Repeated Sprints.” Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 80, no. 3, 1996, pp. 876–884.
  7. ↑ Casey, A., et al. “Creatine Ingestion and Muscle Metabolism during Exercise.” Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 81, no. 1, 1996, pp. 232–237.
  8. ↑ Volek, Jeff S., et al. “Performance and Muscle Fiber Adaptations to Creatine Supplementation and Heavy Resistance Training.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 31, no. 8, 1999, pp. 1147–1156.
  9. ↑ Chilibeck, Philip D., et al. “Effect of Creatine Supplementation during Resistance Training on Lean Tissue Mass and Muscular Strength in Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 49, no. 9, 2017, pp. 1781–1790.
  10. ↑ Olsen, S., et al. “Creatine Supplementation Augments the Increase in Satellite Cell and Myonuclei Number in Human Skeletal Muscle Induced by Strength Training.” The Journal of Physiology, vol. 573, no. 2, 2006, pp. 525–534.
  11. ↑ Balsom, Peter D., et al. “Creatine Supplementation and Dynamic High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise.” Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, vol. 149, no. 4, 1993, pp. 521–523.
  12. ↑ Greenhaff, Paul L., et al. “Influence of Oral Creatine Supplementation on Muscle Torque during Repeated Bouts of Maximal Voluntary Exercise in Man.” American Journal of Physiology, vol. 266, no. 5 Pt 1, 1994, pp. E725–E730.
  13. ↑ Sullivan, Patrick G., et al. “The Bioenergetic Effects of Creatine Supplementation Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats.” Journal of Neurotrauma, vol. 17, no. 1, 2000, pp. 65–75.
  14. ↑ Scheff, Stephen W., and David A. Dhillon. “Creatine Enhances Recovery of Cortical Injury after Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats.” Journal of Neurotrauma, vol. 21, no. 5, 2004, pp. 645–654.
  15. ↑ Sakellaris, George, et al. “Prevention of Traumatic Head Injury Complications in Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial of Creatine Administration.” Journal of Trauma, vol. 61, no. 2, 2006, pp. 322–329.
  16. ↑ Balestrino, Maurizio, and Enrico Adriano. "Beyond sports: Efficacy and safety of creatine supplementation in pathological or paraphysiological conditions of brain and muscle." Medicinal research reviews 39.6 (2019): 2427-2459.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Butts, Jessica, Bret Jacobs, and Matthew Silvis. "Creatine use in sports." Sports health 10.1 (2018): 31-34.
  18. ↑ Kreider, Richard B., et al. "International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine." Journal of the international society of sports nutrition 14.1 (2017): 18.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Andres, Susanne, et al. "Creatine and creatine forms intended for sports nutrition." Molecular nutrition & food research 61.6 (2017): 1600772.
  20. ↑ Kreider, Richard B., et al. "International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine." Journal of the international society of sports nutrition 14.1 (2017): 18.
  21. ↑ Kim, Jooyoung, et al. "Role of creatine supplementation in exercise-induced muscle damage: A mini review." Journal of exercise rehabilitation 11.5 (2015): 244.
  22. ↑ Poortmans, Jacques R., and Marc Francaux. "Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction?." Sports Medicine 30.3 (2000): 155-170.
  23. ↑ Jäger, Ralf, et al. "Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine." Amino acids 40.5 (2011): 1369-1383.
  24. ↑ Elosegui, Sara, et al. "Interaction between caffeine and creatine when used as concurrent ergogenic supplements: a systematic review." International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism 32.4 (2022): 285-295.
  25. ↑ Marinho, Alisson H., et al. "Effects of creatine and caffeine ingestion in combination on exercise performance: A systematic review." Critical reviews in food science and nutrition 63.20 (2023): 4785-4798.
  26. ↑ Kim, Hyo Jeong, et al. "Studies on the safety of creatine supplementation." Amino acids 40.5 (2011): 1409-1418.
Created by:
Khashayar ( Khash ) Farzam on 12 July 2019 02:56:13
Last edited:
5 April 2026 21:47:53
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