As a personal trainer, creatine is a supplement that’s been on my radar for years. It’s used to increase muscle mass and improve performance by giving you increased boosts of energy. It’s primarily been aimed at men in the past, but more recently, the marketing appears to be shifting towards women, with many of the proposed benefits going beyond performance and leaning more towards brain function, mood management, muscle longevity, and even as a menopause aid.
I first heard of creatine about 10 years ago. Back then, it was a supplement taken by sports professionals, bodybuilders, personal trainers, and hardcore fitness enthusiasts. It was rare to meet a woman outside of the fitness industry who was taking it.
Even so, I took creatine in 2015 for about two years; it supported my goals of increasing power and strength during heavy weightlifting sessions, which helped towards gaining a more toned and muscular physique. I did see results, but as my goals and interests changed, creatine took a back seat.
Until recently, when I heard that creatine may also be beneficial for women’s health. As a health writer, personal trainer, and nutrition coach, I was interested to see if there was any truth to the new claims. So, I decided to get some expert opinions on the matter and try it for myself.
What is creatine?
“Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in muscles and the brain,” says sports nutritionist and founder of Awesome Supplements, Ben Coomber. “It plays a key role in producing energy, particularly for short bursts of high-intensity activity like sprinting, jumping, or lifting weights.”
The body needs between two and five grams of creatine a day (depending on your size). Between one and two grams can be synthesized by the liver, kidneys, and pancreas, but the rest needs to come from food. “We get some creatine from foods like red meat and fish, however, most people don’t fully saturate their creatine stores from diet alone, which is why supplementation is useful—particularly for vegans and vegetarians,” says Coomber.
While creatine is derived from amino acids, it is not used to make protein, but instead, it is used to make something called phosphocreatine, which is needed to ensure we have enough energy available in our cells. “When you take creatine, your muscles store more of it in the form of phosphocreatine, which acts as an energy reserve,” says Coomber. “This helps your body regenerate ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the body’s energy currency and the main fuel for high-intensity exercise. The more ATP you can produce, the better your performance in short, powerful movements.”
What are the performance benefits of creatine?
Traditionally, the main reasons for supplementing with creatine have been sports related as it “can enhance strength improvements, muscle mass growth, and also sprint performance,” says sports dietician Elle Kelly, R.D. In fact, the “International Society of Sports Nutrition has concluded that creatine supplementation is the most effective nutritional supplement for increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and muscle mass.”
But more recently, studies have shown that “creatine supplementation can benefit any runner, including long distance running,” says Kelly, who also works as a sports nutritionist for supplement brand Myprotein. “Creatine has been shown to support exercise recovery, as it can reduce muscle damage, which can help runners who have a high running load. Creatine can also promote greater glycogen replenishment than just carbohydrates alone, and the more full glycogen stores are, the longer an individual can run for before hitting the wall”.
And beyond fitness?
Creatine also supports ATP production in the brain. “In fact, the brain is the highest consumer of ATP in the body, consuming approximately 25 percent of the total energy available,” says Kelly. This means that creatine supplementation may help with mood regulation, reducing anxiety, combatting depression, and improving cognitive function, with studies finding that it can also improve short-term memory, intelligence, and reasoning, and could potentially be beneficial for aging and stressed individuals.
“A meta-analysis published last year in Frontiers in Nutrition found that creatine supplementation had a significant positive impact on memory function,” says Kelly, while another study found “that a single dose of creatine supplementation improved processing speed in those who were sleep deprived.”
Coomber says that creatine supplementation could also support “focus and quicker reaction times—particularly in stressful or mentally demanding situations.” Before adding that “it could help protect against mental fatigue and also protect brain cells from damage—making it an interesting supplement for long-term brain health and potentially reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.”
That said, if you do have any mental health concerns, it’s always best to talk to a medical professional first.
Why is creatine being marketed towards women?
Let’s stay with the brain for a minute. “Women have naturally lower levels of creatine in the frontal lobe, and increasing concentrations through supplementation has been shown to reduce the likelihood of depression, which is common around hormonal changes like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause,” says Kelly. “It may also help with brain fog and mood more generally—common experiences for women throughout menopause.”
There’s also a direct link between creatine and sex hormones, specifically oestrogen, which helps in the production and storage of creatine in the muscles. “As women age, and therefore as oestrogen declines during peri- and post-menopause, creatine synthesis can slow down leading to lower levels of creatine in the brain and in the muscles,” explains Kelly. “Supplementing with creatine can help keep muscle and brain creatine levels stable as the body produces less of it.”
As women age, creatine’s role in the body becomes more essential. “Muscle mass naturally declines as women age, especially during and after menopause,” explains Coomber. “Creatine helps preserve muscle, maintain strength, and may even support bone density. For postmenopausal women, this is important because muscle loss is linked to reduced metabolism, increased risk of falls, and overall loss of independence.”
My honest review of taking creatine
I’ve seen how creatine can support increased muscle mass in the past, but a big change in physique could take around six months and would require more frequent gym sessions than I do these days, plus heavier lifting. So, over my two-month trial, I was mainly interested in seeing improvements to my running speed, my recovery between sessions, and also energy levels in the weight training I still do. But, most of all, I wanted to see if I felt any non-exercise related benefits, especially as I enter peri-menopause.
There are different types of creatine available, with each having slightly different ingredients, and claiming to have slightly different benefits. I was advised to chose a pure creatine product known as creatine monohydrate, as it has the best safety record, it has the most scientific backing in terms of performance, it’s easily available, and its actually pretty cheap.
I used creatine as a powder, as it doesn’t have the additional ingredients that come with choosing a tablet form. I opted for two different brands: Awesome Supplements, $43 for 300g; and Myprotein, $16 for 250g. Myprotein also offers creatine in the form of tablets and gummies.
Both brands advise taking a 5g scoop of creatine a day. This can be added to water; I also added mine to protein shakes and to porridge. Unlike some other supplements, there isn’t really a “best time” to take creatine, though studies have shown it could be helpful to take it straight after training to aid muscle recovery. What’s most important is consistency; the idea is to build up your creatine stores in the body over time and then maintain that higher level, rather than taking it as an instant fix.
Three weeks into the trial, despite the fact blood tests indicated an increase in my creatine levels, I was feeling no real difference. The experts suggested introducing a “loading phase”—this is where you take up to 10g a day for a week or two to give your creatine levels a boost, and then go back to 5g a day to maintain. Although this is usually done when you start taking creatine, I decided to do this for week four of the trial to speed things along.
It was in my fifth week that I started noticing changes in performance. I was able to run for longer during the sprint sections of my treadmill runs. This was due to a small delay in the feeling that comes with a build up of lactic acid in the legs. A week later, I started being able to push up to a faster speed for the sprints, too. At first, I did wonder if I was just pushing myself harder as a one-off because I knew I was taking the creatine, but I’ve managed to maintain the faster speed.
I also noticed I could push a little harder during weights sessions. I was able to go up in weights during HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and also push out extra reps at the end of strength training workouts because I felt less fatigued. I was surprised that it had only taken a few weeks to see this improvement, however, I did find a study that backs up how even short-term creatine intake can reduce muscle fatigue and improve performance.
I didn’t see a huge difference in my longer runs in terms of performance, but I did notice a positive change in my recovery between workouts: Muscle soreness seemed to last for shorter periods, which helped recovery runs feel more comfortable.
One unexpected result has been a reduction in joint pain. As a long-time distance runner, I do experience knee pain in the mornings and when ascending and descending stairs, but this has significantly reduced. This could be linked to the improved muscle recovery between runs and other workouts.
It was around week six that I noticed a significant difference in elements of brain function. My on/off symptoms of peri-menopause have largely manifested as sleep deprivation, brain fog, and lack of focus and concentration. I’ve noticed that my ability to focus on work, despite a lack of sleep, has hugely improved. Brain fog has made it difficult to articulate my thoughts, at times even making me forget words I’ve used for years. I’ve definitely felt more clarity in the last few weeks. I’ve managed to focus better, instead of being distracted for hours on social media; in fact my screen time on my phone has reduced by 65% in the last week.
Myprotein Creatine Monohydrate Powder
Amazon
Awesome Supplements Strength Creatine For Gym & Sport 300g
My Supplement Shop
Are there any side effects of taking creatine?
Creatine usage is considered safe with no real side effects, though it has been linked to cramping, bloating, dehydration, and water retention (studies do seem to have debunked all these effects, however). I had no side effects this time around, but I did suffer from bloating when using it 10 years ago. This could be down to higher dosages being recommend in those days compared with now.
Despite the above reassurances, people with impaired kidney function or those taking medications should check with their doctor before taking creatine, and experts do advise not taking creatine with caffeine or other drinks that can dehydrate.
I think I’ll continue taking creatine in a smaller dose, around 3g a day, to primarily reap the cognitive benefits. I don’t think that I do enough heavy weights sessions to warrant the 5g a day. But, I do think creatine supplementation will be beneficial to support the strength training that I do as I enter menopause.
Outside of fitness enthusiasts, I think it could be beneficial for vegetarians and vegans, particularly those who do a lot of high-intensity sports, and in smaller doses, for women entering menopause. (But consult with your doctor first if you’re taking medication!)
A version of this story was previously published in Glamour UK.
The post I Took a Creatine Supplement for Two Months—These Were the Surprising Benefits appeared first on Glamour.
