5 Creatine Myths You Should Stop Believing
A sports medicine doctor sheds insight on the popular supplement and why you might want to add it to your routine.
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When you think of creatine, you might think of a gym full of tank top-wearing bodybuilders, chugging shakes and doing curls. And sure, the supplement — which can improve athletic performance and help you build strength — is popular among that crowd. But creatine’s potential benefits are more far-reaching than you might think.
Unfortunately, there are so many myths floating around about creatine that discourage many people from supplementing with it. To clear things up and offer some guidance on who might benefit from creatine, we asked a sports medicine doctor for her input on what creatine is, how it works in the body and if you should consider adding it to your routine.
What Is Creatine?
“Creatine is a compound that’s naturally occurring in everyone’s body,” says Dr. Morgan Busko, a sports medicine doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “It’s created by three organs: the liver, pancreas and kidneys, and it’s made up of three amino acids: L-methionine, glycine and L-arginine.” (You get amino acids from eating protein, and the body can produce some amino acids on its own.) The body can naturally produce between one and three grams of creatine per day, says Dr. Busko.
Creatine’s main role is to help the muscle cells produce energy by increasing phosphocreatine stores, which is essential in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a molecule that provides energy to all cells in the body, Dr. Busko explains. ATP is the primary source of energy for our muscles, and muscles that are more saturated with creatine can do a little bit more work before fatiguing, she says. This is why it’s so popular among athletes — supplementing with creatine means there’s more available to your muscles than your body can naturally produce, which can give your muscles enough energy to push a bit harder during a workout. But the extra energy that creatine can help produce is useful for more than just athletic performance.
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Myth: Creatine is only effective for people who want to build muscle mass.
Truth: Creatine has been proven beneficial in endurance athletes for reducing recovery time, among other benefits.
“Creatine was initially studied more heavily in power and sprint athletes, so this myth was widely believed,” Dr. Busko says. “But now, extensive research shows that it’s beneficial for endurance athletes, and even weekend warriors or someone who’s only exercising intermittently.”
More recent research shows that creatine can help muscles endure for longer training sessions, recover faster between training sessions and help people who exercise casually work a bit harder and get more out of each workout, Dr. Busko says. “Research also shows that creatine supplementation can benefit mood, improve cognitive function and improve nervous system health,” she says, adding that these days, she’s more likely to discuss it with her patients even if they’re not exercising every day or trying to get the extra edge with athletic performance.
Myth: Creatine can destroy kidney and liver function.
Truth: When taken in healthy doses in individuals without kidney or liver dysfunction, it will not impact these systems.
“Fortunately, creatine is one of the most studied supplements we have, and there’s extensive research behind supplementation and side effects” Dr. Busko says. When taken at normal doses — which is typically between five and 10 grams per day — it hasn’t been shown to do any destruction or damage to kidney or liver function. When someone takes large doses of creatine, the body doesn’t have a use for it, so the kidneys might break it down into creatinine in order to get rid of it. “So if you get bloodwork, you might see an elevation in creatinine, but that’s not dangerous, it just shows that someone is taking an excessive amount of creatine.” The confusion comes from the fact that elevated creatinine levels can also be a sign of other health problems, like a kidney infection or chronic kidney disease.
Dr. Busko does say that if someone has pre-existing kidney or liver disease, creatine supplementation isn’t generally recommended. If you fall into this category, it’s important to speak with your doctor before starting any supplement.
Myth: I can exercise less but take creatine and get stronger.
Truth: 95 to 98 percent of muscular benefits come from exercise and creatine will not change muscle mass or strength without the stimulus from exercise.
Although creatine can promote increased strength and muscle growth, supplementation alone isn’t enough to see these benefits. “Up to 98 percent of the muscular benefits that we get from taking creatine are coming from the exercise itself,” Dr. Busko says. “Creatine can help you do a few extra repetitions of an exercise, or exercise longer or more frequently, which helps you get stronger, but it can’t change your muscular capacity or build muscle mass without the exercise creating that stimulus.”
Myth: Creatine is an anabolic steroid.
Truth: Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that exists in everyone’s body.
“Creatine and anabolic steroids are vastly different,” Dr. Busko says. “Creatine gives your muscles extra energy by allowing for extra ATP production, whereas anabolic steroids are synthetically produced, and they’re a variant on the hormone testosterone.”
Basically, anabolic steroids increase the testosterone in your body and promote muscle growth. They’re not legal substances for competitive athletes because of the unfair advantage they give. Creatine, on the other hand, is created every day by your body, and supplementing with extra creatine is legal in all levels of sport.
Myth: Creatine causes weight gain.
Truth: Creatine can cause temporary water retention, which does result in a small amount of temporary weight gain, but it doesn’t lead to additional fat mass.
“This myth stems from the fact that creatine can cause temporary water retention — your muscles do retain extra water, especially in the first few weeks of supplementation,” Dr. Busko says. But studies show that creatine doesn’t lead to any increase in fat mass, so any weight gain you might see is just your muscles holding extra water.
This water retention typically goes away after four to six weeks of supplementation, and it’s mostly seen in people who are taking higher doses of more than 10 grams per day or taking high-loading doses as they start supplementing, Dr. Busko says.
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What Should You Look for in a Creatine Supplement?
The vast majority of creatine supplements are sold in a powdered form and contain creatine monohydrate, the most studied and most recommended type of creatine.
“Many years ago, the only form of powder you could get was granular and gritty which didn’t taste good to some people,” Dr. Busko says. “Now there are powders available that are micronized, which are more soluble and can easily dissolve in water, yogurt or anything really.” You can add these micronized powders to almost anything and won’t notice a difference in taste or texture, she says.
As previously mentioned, Dr. Busko recommends a dose of five grams per day for most people. If you’re considering taking creatine, start with this dose of a micronized powder mixed into a glass of water, a bowl of oatmeal or a smoothie.
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