The Uplifted Insider

"Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out." -Robert Collier

Is Creatine A Valuable Supplement?

I bet you’re sick of it. Scroll anywhere online or turn on any TV program and you are likely to be bombarded with products of every kind, promising to be the answer to all of your problems. The fitness supplement industry is especially notorious for this. Fat burners that will have you skinny yesterday, pre-workouts that will turn you into the hulk or various products that promise to have you looking and feeling ten years younger in thirty days. There are many fairy-tales in a bottle, so I get people’s skepticism and frustration with the fitness industry because it has been a space where shady business people can become rich. Most supplements just rely on good marketing and most are not worth your money.

But there are a few diamonds in the rough. There are supplements that actually deliver on what they promise to do and are backed up by a significant amount of scientific research. Creatine is one of those supplements.

Creatine is one of the two supplements that I have recommended to my clients throughout the entirety of my personal training career. I believe that most people who are serious about their fitness should strongly consider taking it, along with the other supplement, a quality protein powder. If you've ever wondered what creatine actually is, whether it's safe, how to take it, or if it's worth adding to your routine, then keep reading. Today's newsletter is going to answer all of those questions and more because creatine has some benefits that most people don’t know about.

So What Is Creatine?

First things first, creatine is definitely not a steroid. I only state this because I have had so many people ask me if it was a steroid over the past fifteen years. It is also not some synthetic chemical concoction that is cooked up in a lab. It's actually a naturally occurring compound that your body makes on its own. Your liver, kidneys and pancreas produce it from three amino acids. The amino acids are arginine, glycine, and methionine. So your body produces creatine and you can naturally obtain it from consuming red meat and seafood. About 95% of your body's creatine is stored in your skeletal muscles, with the remaining 5% distributed to your heart, brain and other tissues.

As I previously stated, you can get creatine by producing it and through normal food consumption, however you are most likely going to still fall short of optimal amounts. Through diet and natural production alone, most people only maintain what you'd call "baseline" creatine levels. Supplementing with creatine will help you fully saturate your muscles and that's where the magic happens.

So how does Creatine actually work? Well, when you perform intense, short-burst activities like heavy lifting or sprinting, your body relies on a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for energy. Think of ATP as your body's battery for short bursts of intense outputs. The problem is, that battery drains very quickly, within a matter of seconds during high intensity effort.

This is where creatine steps in. Your muscles convert stored creatine into phosphocreatine. When muscle energy is depleted, the enzyme creatine kinase quickly transfers this phosphate to ADP, forming ATP. Creatine rapidly regenerates ATP, essentially allowing you to recharge your battery faster. More ATP means more fuel for your muscles when your body needs to perform.

The 3 Main Benefits Of Creatine

1) Athletic Performance and Strength

This is what most people associate creatine with, and for good reason. This association and claims of effectiveness are backed by an overwhelming amount of research. Creatine will improve your maximal power output, strength, and work capacity during high-intensity, repetitive efforts. Whether you're doing heavy sets of squats, sprinting, or playing a sport that requires explosive bursts of effort, creatine can give you an edge. Studies show that people who supplement with creatine will gain more lean muscle with long-term usage than those who don’t use it.

Creatine also helps your muscles recover faster between sets and some claim that it also helps in between training sessions, by reducing muscle damage and inflammation following intense training. This means you can handle more volume, come back sooner, and make faster progress over time. More precisely, the process of training and recovering is expedited when you use creatine.

2) Brain Health

Enhanced brain health is a benefit of creatine that you may not know too much about but it’s the subject of a lot of very interesting emerging research. Let’s start off by realizing that your brain, while being only about 2% of your total body mass, consumes roughly 20% of your body's energy. Furthermore, just like your muscles do, your brain relies heavily on ATP to function. And just like in your muscles, creatine can help your brain regenerate ATP more efficiently.

A systematic review of over 1,000 participants across twenty-four randomized controlled trials found significant positive effects from creatine supplementation on memory performance in adults, both short-term and long-term memory performance. Research also indicates that creatine can improve information processing speed and attention time, and may even act as a buffer against mental fatigue during demanding cognitive tasks.

These improvements seem to be most pronounced in certain groups such as, older adults and vegetarians or vegans. With older adults, especially those over sixty, creatine has been shown to help counteract both age related cognitive decline and the age related decline of natural creatine levels within the body. While vegetarians and vegans show dramatic cognitive gains after supplementation due to the fact that creatine is primarily found in meat, so plant-based consumers often have lower baseline levels of creatine in their body.

This leads me to the next mental benefit of creatine, improved cognition under stress. Research consistently shows that creatine's cognitive benefits are most pronounced during times of sleep deprivation, mental fatigue or hypoxia (low oxygen). For example, a 2024 study found that a single high dose of creatine could significantly improve mental processing speed and memory in people who were sleep-deprived. So for people that may not be getting an adequate amount of sleep, this is a pretty valuable finding.

There is also preliminary data suggesting creatine may help reduce the severity of symptoms following a concussion or traumatic brain injury by helping neurons manage their altered energy needs during recovery. In animal models, creatine has shown a strong ability to reduce the severity of concussions and traumatic brain injuries. In humans, early data suggests it may reduce post-injury symptoms like headaches and dizziness, and even help protect the brain if creatine is taken before the injury occurs.

While the following claim needs to be further studied, new research is also looking at creatine's potential role in reducing depression risk and even slowing the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. As far as its possible role as depression reducer, creatine can help stabilize brain energy levels that are often disrupted in depressive states. So there are some pretty valuable potential new benefits of creatine that will have to be more extensively researched over the next few years.

Important Note: Some researchers suggest that you may need higher doses to experience the aforementioned brain benefits due to the blood-brain barrier, which limits how easily creatine enters the brain. The standard dose used for muscle maintenance is five grams, while experts suggest doses of 10-20 grams daily in order to reap the brain benefits of creatine supplementation.

3) Aging and Muscle Preservation

One of the most challenging issues that we have to deal with as we get older is sarcopenia. This is the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength that begins around our thirties and accelerates significantly after age sixty. This isn't just an aesthetic issue. Loss of muscle mass is directly tied to increased risk of falls, metabolic disease, and a reduced quality of life. Creatine, when paired with consistent resistance training, has been shown to help counter this age-related muscle loss. For older adults who want to stay strong, independent and functional for as long as possible, creatine is an incredibly valuable tool.

Is Creatine Safe?

This most common question I get regarding the “healthiness” of creatine, is whether or not it is safe for your kidneys. Now first, let me just say that I am not a doctor and you should consult a doctor first to see if creatine is right for you. Especially if you have pre-existing kidney disease, liver disease, or diabetes. With all that being said, extensive studies lasting up to five years have shown that creatine is generally safe for healthy individuals when taken at recommended doses. Yes, creatine can slightly raise blood creatinine levels, which is a marker that doctors use to check kidney function. However, this is simply a byproduct of the supplement itself and does not indicate kidney damage in people with healthy kidneys. The Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Health and many others all agree that creatine is safe for most healthy adults.

One side effect worth mentioning is you may experience an initial weight gain of roughly one to two pounds. Before you panic, this is not fat. This is water being drawn into your muscle cells, which is actually part of what makes creatine work. Your muscles will look and feel slightly fuller, which for most people is a welcome effect.

Other possible side effects like nausea, diarrhea, or stomach cramping are typically a result of taking too large a dose at once. The simple fix is to spread your daily intake into smaller doses throughout the day.

Which Type of Creatine Should You Buy?

Ok, so you have decided to go out and buy some creatine to try. Now what? Well, whether you buy it in a store or online, you may find a few different types of creatine. Let me break down the different forms for you, so that we can cut through any confusion.

Creatine Monohydrate is the standard creatine powder that has been around for decades. It has been used in over 1,000 clinical studies and has a near 100% intestinal absorption rate. Creatine Monohydrate is the form of creatine that pretty much all of the previously mentioned research in this newsletter is based upon. On top of the fact that creatine monohydrate is the “old reliable” type of creatine, it is also the most affordable. Pure creatine monohydrate is one of the cheapest effective supplements on the market.

Micronized Creatine Monohydrate is simply regular monohydrate ground into a finer powder. It dissolves faster, has less of a gritty texture, and offers the same benefits. This is a good choice if you don't love the texture of standard monohydrate. The gritty, hard to dissolve nature of creatine is one of its only drawbacks, but is an annoying issue that regular creatine users know too well.

Creatine HCl is significantly more soluble in water than monohydrate, which makes it easier on the stomach for people who experience bloating or cramping. If monohydrate gives you digestive trouble, HCl is a reasonable alternative. However, despite claims that you can take a smaller dose and get the same results, research does not support any meaningful advantage over monohydrate at matched doses.

Liposomal Creatine Monohydrate is an advanced supplement utilizing phospholipid liposomes to encapsulate creatine, enhancing bioavailability and absorption compared to traditional creatine. The liposomal delivery system protects creatine during digestion, ensuring more reaches the muscles. Liposomal technology often minimizes the stomach discomfort associated with traditional creatine. This type of creatine is fairly new to the mainstream market and has been made popular by reputable brands such as, Rho Nutrition, Cymbiotika and Codeage. The potential superiority of this creatine demands more study, but it is definitely a great option.

Avoid Creatine Ethyl Ester and Liquid Creatine (Not the same as Liposomal). Despite bold marketing claims about superior bioavailability, multiple controlled trials have shown that Creatine Ethyl Ester actually degrades into a waste product in your gut before it can reach your muscles. As for liquid creatine, it degrades over time since creatine is unstable in liquid form. Both are far less effective than monohydrate. Don’t bother with these.

Creatine gummies have emerged on the market recently as it seems like companies are trying to put every supplement into fun-to-eat gummies. However, it has recently come to light that many different supplement companies are scamming customers by producing gummies that actually contain little to no creatine. For a closer look into this incredibly shady scandal…Click Here! While there are some reputable companies that sell creatine gummies, like Legion Athletics, I would just stick to the powder or liposomal monohydrate or powder HCl.

Conclusion: My recommendation is to start off by buying creatine monohydrate, preferably from a reputable brand that uses third-party testing to verify purity and label accuracy. Some brands that I would recommend are, Transparent Labs, Rho Nutrition (liposomal), Orgain, BodyTech, BPN, Legion Athletics, Thorne, Optimum Nutrition, Naked, Bulk Supplements, Nutricost and 1st Phorm.

Do You Need To Load Creatine?

The "loading phase" involves taking 20 grams per day, typically four scoops (if each scoop is one serving), for five to seven days in order to rapidly saturate your muscles. This will get you to full muscle saturation faster. However, you DO NOT NEED to do this. Taking a standard maintenance dose of five grams per day will get you to the same place in about three to four weeks. Harvard Health has also noted that loading simply puts more stress on your kidneys, without providing any additional long-term benefit. I personally skip the loading phase and just take a consistent daily dose because this is something that I will be taking indefinitely anyways. Now, I do consistently take a higher dosage, 10-20 grams per day, because of the brain health benefits, not because I am trying to load my muscles with more creatine.

Are There Any Timing Parameters With Creatine?

Honestly, creatine timing is far less important than consistency. The most important thing is that you take it every day. That said, some research suggests that taking it with a carbohydrate or protein-based meal may slightly improve uptake by the muscles, but it really doesn’t matter. I like to drink my creatine sometime in the morning, so that I don’t forget about it as the day gets busy. Consistency is king!

Is There Any Negative Interaction With Caffeine?

There is some research suggesting that a very high caffeine intake may interfere with creatine's effectiveness. More research is needed here to be conclusive, but it's worth being aware of. In any case, you may just want to avoid excessively high caffeine intake.

My Final Thoughts

Creatine is not a baselessly hyped supplement nor is it a shortcut to easy results. It also is definitely not a steroid. Creatine is one of the most researched, most proven, most affordable and safest supplements on the market. When used consistently alongside a solid training program and good nutrition, it can meaningfully improve your strength, your recovery, your muscle mass, and as newer research has discovered, your brain health. If you're only going to add a few supplements to your routine, a quality protein powder, caffeine (in moderation) and creatine are a great trifecta.

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Strategically using supplements like creatine won’t do the work for you, but when you’re putting in the work, it makes that effort go a little further.