Common Names
- Creatine monohydrate
- Creatine malate
- Creatine phosphate
- Creatine pyruvate
- (>15 other terms)
For Patients & Caregivers
Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. This will help them manage your care and keep you safe.
What is it?
Creatine is a chemical that your body makes to supply energy to your muscles. It’s also found in foods such as fish, poultry, meat, and dairy.
Creatine supplements come as tablets, powders, capsules, liquids, and energy bars.
What are the potential uses and benefits?
Creatine is used to:
- Increase muscle mass and strength
- Improve exercise performance
- Improve memory
- Reduce risk of heart disease
- Treat depression
Creatine also has other uses that haven’t been studied by doctors to see if they work.
It’s safe to eat foods with creatine. However, supplements can interact with some medications and affect how they work. For more information, read the “What else do I need to know?” section below.
What are the side effects?
Side effects of creatine supplements can include:
- Nausea (feeling like throwing up)
- Vomiting (throwing up))
- Diarrhea (loose and watery stools)
- Bloating (feeling of fullness in the abdomen)
- Headache
- Weight gain
What else do I need to know?
- The weight gain from creatine supplements is due to water retention. They do not increase body fat.
- Chronic intake of caffeine when taking creatine supplements may reduce the benefits of creatine.
For Healthcare Professionals
Scientific Name
Clinical Summary
Creatine is a non-essential nutrient that is produced by the human body from the amino acids glycine, arginine and methionine. It is mostly present in the skeletal muscles as well as in the heart and brain, and plays an important role in energy production (1).
Creatine has been extensively studied with supplementation shown to positively impact strength, muscle mass and acute exercise capacity (2). The consensus from the International Society of Sports Nutrition, The American College of Sports Nutrition and the American Dietetic Association is that creatine is an effective ergogenic nutrient for athletes as well as individuals starting a health and fitness program (3) (4) (5).
However, in older individuals, improvements in strength as well as maintenance and increase in muscle mass and bone density were shown when creatine supplementation was combined with resistance training (6) (7).
Emerging evidence also suggests that creatine may help improve arterial stiffness and atherosclerosis in older adults (1), memory (8) (9), and depression (10) (11) (12). But findings are mixed on its benefits in diabetic patients (13) (14).
In oncology settings, creatine supplementation did not improve cachexia (15) or muscle mass/function in colorectal cancer patients (16). It also failed to confer additional benefits when added to resistance exercise on muscle strength or physical function in prostate cancer patients undergoing ADT (17); nor impacted muscular performance in breast cancer survivors (18).
In murine models, creatine has been shown to suppress tumor growth (19), but it also promoted colorectal and breast cancer metastasis (20).
Food Sources
- Fish, poultry, meat, dairy
Purported Uses and Benefits
- Muscle mass and strength
- Exercise performance
- Memory
- Cardiovascular disease
- Depression
Mechanism of Action
The mechanisms via which creatine exerts its beneficial effects include increasing anaerobic energy capacity and decreasing protein breakdown, resulting in increased muscle mass and physical performance (2). Creatine may also help lower indicators of oxidative damage following resistance training. Additionally, it regulates the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by preventing electron transport chain stalling through its involvement in mitochondrial creatine kinase function (1).
The antidepressant effects of creatine are likely through regulating neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, adenosine, and n-methyl-D-aspartate [NMDA], all linked to depression. In addition, creatine may also influence neuroplasticity, akin to ketamine, that contributes to its antidepressant effects (21).
Adverse Reactions
Herb-Drug Interactions
- Caffeine: Chronic intake during creatine loading can interfere with the beneficial effects of creatine (25).