The 5 Reasons Creatine Is The Only Supplement I Use.
Why Creatine Is The Supplement Most People Should Consider For Health.
Most people assume I take a lot of supplements.
I don’t.
I take one.
Creatine monohydrate. 3-5g every day with food.
Here’s why.
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance in foods like meat, fish, and poultry. It is essential for how the body generates energy in cells.
The more scientific way to say this is that it is a high-energy phosphate donor that regenerates ADP into ATP, the primary unit of energy in cells.
More ATP. More energy.
It is considered by most regulatory agencies as GRAS, General Regarded As Safe.
So yes.
It is safe.
It is far safer than most of the things people consume regularly.
Muscle Mass.
By age 80, most adults will have lost between 35 to 40% of their muscle mass1.
Lower levels of muscle mass are strongly linked to a shorter life and higher rates of major chronic diseases such as diabetes2.
It should be the goal of most adults to maintain as much muscle mass as possible throughout their lives.
Regular resistance training is key to this endeavour.
Multiple studies have shown that consuming 3-5g of creatine daily leads to about 1.4 kg more lean muscle mass in males and females compared to a placebo3.
1.4 kg of muscle mass is a lot!
If more muscle mass is a priority, creatine should be, too.
Strength
Muscle strength also declines precipitously throughout life, and lower levels of muscle strength may have an even greater impact on how long you live than muscle mass alone4.
The reason we aim for greater muscle mass is, in large part, down to the amount of force we can generate.
This force is the engine of healthspan.
If you want a higher quality of life, you need to be stronger for longer.
Supplementing with creatine has shown greater strength gains with resistance training compared to placebo5.
Performance.
Muscle power, which is the rate of change of the force you can generate, is also a key predictor of longevity.
Multiple studies have shown improvements in muscle power and performance with creatine supplementation compared to placebo6.
Creatine supplementation has been shown to be beneficial for increasing cycling speed, sprinting, upper body power, or lower body power metrics.
If performance is a priority, then…. you know.
Sleep.
If you get sleep right, you get everything else right.
I did not prioritise sleep for many years.
Today, it is priority number one.
And I say that as the father of a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old.
Even a single night of sleep deprivation can have metabolic and performance consequences.
Interestingly, creatine may offset some of these downstream impacts of acute sleep deprivation.
Supplementation with even a single dose of creatine in the setting of sleep deprivation can offset some of these alterations7.
Creatine supplementation led to fewer metabolic consequences of sleep deprivation and less impact on cognitive performance.
Evidence suggests that supplementing with creatine leads to greater total sleep duration on training days8.
Cognitive Performance & Dementia.
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that creatine improves various cognitive parameters, such as short-term memory and reasoning9.
There is also mechanistic data to support its role in preventing dementia, but for now, this is more speculative10.
But for a safe and effective supplement for many reasons discussed above it would be nice to get some cognitive benefits for free also.
Time will tell.
Who Should Avoid Creatine?
Like all substances, there is the potential for adverse events.
There are no exceptions to this rule.
You can die from consuming too much water.
In general, children and pregnant females should not take creatine.
Caution should be taken in those with severe kidney and liver issues, and it is wise to discuss all supplements with your doctor.
In general, creatine is safe, but in truth, any substance can theoretically cause any issue.
We all respond differently.
Lastly, how can you trust the quality of any supplement? I don’t have a good answer here, and the data on supplements and quality levels is poor.
My approach is to check if the product and brand have been independently tested by a separate group.
In general, I am not a fan of using supplements.
Most people would be far better off spending the money they spend on supplements on a personal trainer.
The average annual expenditure on supplements in Europe is between 700 and 1000 euros, so you can see how far that would go11.
But if you are going to spend your money on a supplement, creatine is what I would choose.
It is safe.
Inexpensive.
Effective for all the reasons listed above.
But remember, most of the benefits of creatine arise from its use alongside resistance training.
So, if you are not hitting your resistance training targets, I would start there first and leave the supplements for later.
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Strength and muscle mass loss with aging process. Age and strength loss. Muscles Ligaments Tendons J. 2014 Feb 24;3(4):346-50.
Srikanthan P, Karlamangla AS. Muscle mass index as a predictor of longevity in older adults. Am J Med. 2014 Jun;127(6):547-53.
Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. Open Access J. Sports Med. 8, 213–226. 10.2147/OAJSM.S123529
Thresholds of handgrip strength for all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality: a systematic review with dose-response meta-analysis, Ageing Research Reviews, 2022, 101778, ISSN 1568-1637,
The power of creatine plus resistance training for healthy aging: enhancing physical vitality and cognitive function. Front Physiol. 2024 Dec 3;15:1496544.
Creatine for Exercise and Sports Performance, with Recovery Considerations for Healthy Populations. Nutrients. 2021 Jun 2;13(6):1915.
Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation. Sci Rep 14, 4937 (2024).
Creatine Improves Total Sleep Duration Following Resistance Training Days versus Non-Resistance Training Days among Naturally Menstruating Females. Nutrients. 2024 Aug 20;16(16):2772.
Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Exp Gerontol. 2018 Jul 15;108:166-173.
Creatine as a Therapeutic Target in Alzheimer's Disease. Curr Dev Nutr. 2023 Sep 29;7(11):102011.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1147773/average-annual-spending-on-health-and-fitness-supplements-in-selected-european-countries/
I take creatine and as a postmenopausal woman I take vitamin D to support bone health.
I so appreciate this thorough review. I am curious what you think an optimal protein intake for older folks to avoid sarcopenia, either with or without resistance training. So many conflicting opinions out there!