915: The Surprisingly Cheap and Effective Supplement Many People Overlook (Creatine Solo Episode)

Katie: Hello and welcome to the Wellness Mama Podcast. I’m Katie from wellness mama.com, and this solo episode is all about creatine. And the reason I wanted to devote an entire episode to creatine is that I feel there are some misconceptions around it. Some myths worth disspelling, and some really fascinating data that make a compelling case for this being a beneficial supplement for almost everyone.

And that’s not something I say often, and it’s not something I say lightly. However, I’ve seen a difference when I started making this a regular part of my routine and I wanted to share my experience as well as share some of the really interesting data I found around it. I will say anecdotally, and I’ll go into this more later, but I noticed a difference in my ability to build muscle when I started taking creatine regularly.

But more surprising was I noticed a difference in my energy levels, and my cognition and my focus, especially at work. And I think this is the underrated side of creatine that a lot of people don’t consider or don’t know about. I think there’s a misconception that creatine is for power lifters or bodybuilders or strictly for its benefits in the gym.

And I wanna delve into the other benefits that research shows for brain health, for energy, even for longevity. And in fact, creatine is one of the most well-researched and data supported supplements available. It’s also worth noting that it is naturally occurring in food. So this is essentially like, something we’re likely getting in food or should be getting in food and might not be getting enough of even with food. I’ve had similar podcasts about, same with magnesium, it’s something we once were able to get from food and perhaps now would have trouble, would be, calorically prohibitive to eat enough to get it entirely from food anymore.

It’s also worth noting that creatine is relatively inexpensive. It’s actually on the much less expensive end of all supplements, and that a little bit can have a profound impact. So in this episode, my goals are to clear up any misinformation about creatine, explain how it works in the body, highlight the research backed data around creatine, specifically for women, for children, and for other areas of health beyond just muscle.

And then share my own experience with how much to take and when. So as context for this episode, it’s worth kind of defining and explaining a little bit of what creatine actually is. And if you’re not familiar with it, I’m guessing you’ve at least heard that term, but creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid derivative that’s found in muscle cells and also the brain, and that’s gonna become important later. Now, what makes it really fascinating is it helps regenerate ATP, which is adenosine tri phosphate, which is essentially the body’s main energy currency. So this is a big deal. Um, I’ll talk more about the kind of the electrical potential of the body and why ATP is so important. But this is the one of the reasons it’s beneficial for workouts and for adding muscle.

It’s also one of the reasons that it’s supportive of overall energy levels. And from what we understand, about 95% of the body’s creatine stores are stored in muscle, and the rest is found in the brain, the kidneys, and the liver, and those will become important later. Now, I’m gonna try to keep this, since it’s all about a single topic as a pretty short episode, but I do wanna dive into the research a little bit.

There are some really strong research backed benefits of creatine and very few risk and downsides when it’s taken appropriately. Of course, as with any topic I ever discuss on this podcast, this is not medical advice, and you always, I have recommend working with a qualified doctor or a practitioner who can help you dive deep about your own health.

I, of course, also recommend always being your own primary healthcare provider, doing your own research, being very aware and doing your own experimentation especially, and finding what works for you. Because data aside, the data does not matter unless it impacts you in a positive way. So I always like to give that caveat.

That said, creatine is incredibly well studied. There are thousands upon thousands of studies in PubMed related to creatine, and its many benefits throughout the body. The most well known of course, is the strength, muscle, and physical performance area of research and there’s a lot of data that backs up creatine’s potential benefit here. In things like that it increases muscle strength and power. There’s a meta-analysis that found an 8 to 14% greater strength gain compared to a placebo, which is statistically very, very significant, and with no other changes. So strictly the implementation of creatine supplementation led to in this study an 8 to, or this meta-analysis, an 8 to 14% greater strength gain.

As a woman in my thirties, I know that gaining muscle is not as easy as it used to be, and also not as easy as it seemingly is for men. So this is a pretty substantial, potential benefit from adding creatine. I feel like if I’m going to spend time in the gym, I would love to maximize the benefit of that work and so creatine is one of the things that I feel like is very helpful in that. Also notable to the physical performance side, is that creatine improves endurance and recovery. And as people who work out or any athlete knows, the workout is very much only part of the equation. It’s also about how well you can recover.

And you know, you often hear that muscle is actually built during the recovery period, we get the stimulus and the breakdown during the exercise phase, and it’s during the recovery that that has actually created new strength, new muscle. And this is why, of course, things like sleep are also very important.

I would add to the list, sunlight is very important, things that enhance recovery. But according to the studies, creatine also has a direct impact here as well as studies show it helps reduce muscle damage and inflammation after exercise and essentially speeds up the process of muscle recovery by supporting the body’s natural physiological recovery curve. It also reduces muscle loss, also known as sarcopenia during aging. So this helps maintain muscle mass and strength in older adults, and this was reported in 2021, I believe, also from a meta-analysis. But since we know that strength and muscle mass decline typically with each decade as we age, and that as Dr. Gabrielle Lyon explained so beautifully in her podcast with me; muscle is the organ of longevity. And across the board, the more we can build and maintain our lean muscle mass as we get older, the more that can be protective against many causes of mortality including, and especially things like fall risk and broken bones, especially hips, are very correlated to a shorter life expectancy. So this is, I feel like where most people, if they have a deep understanding of creatine, it often centrally focuses on the physical performance and recovery side. And I do feel like this side is very important. It’s one of the reasons I personally started taking creatine to begin with.

However, it is by no means the full story. And I feel that by reducing creatine to strictly a physical performance supplement, we actually miss some of the other benefits that for women especially, can be even more profound. And the first one of those I wanna highlight is the brain health and cognitive benefits.

I would say based on the studies I read, this is the second most studied area of creatine benefit to the body. And there is some strong data here as well, including that creatine when taken regularly and in the correct doses can enhance memory, intelligence and cognitive function, especially in sleep deprived individuals.

Hello, parents. And I saw this effect as well. In fact, if I have a night where I’m up with kids who are sick or I have to get up early for a flight and I know I didn’t get enough sleep, I’ll often take a bigger dose of creatine for the energy benefits even outside of, and I feel like in some cases, more effectively than things like caffeine.

It also has neuroprotective effects, and I feel like this is really worth highlighting as well. Because one study in 2006 showed that it may help in neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, even when those things are already physiologically in process. So even once those things have started to happen in the body, it can have a neuroprotective effect.

There’s also research looking at, it might have a protective and preventative capacity as well. I think there’s more research to be done there, but from the brain perspective, the strong data points to, you know, a supplement that we once kind of associated with being muscularly protective is also potentially protective of the brain as well. And in probably a similar mechanism, creatine, there are studies showing that it can boost mental clarity and reduce brain fog, which I know those are things that I’ve personally struggled with as a mom especially. One study found a 20% improvement in cognitive function with creatine supplementation. This one looked at vegetarians, and I would say that, for anyone listening who is a vegetarian or a vegan, creatine supplementation may be especially important because of both the protective muscle mass effects and the protective brain effects of creatine.

Another area that I have not heard talked about nearly as much is the hormonal and mood supportive aspects of creatine and especially for women. So one thing I found interesting when combing through this data is that a lot of sources indicate that creatine might actually be more effective for women.

And since a lot of interventions and studies show that men often are faster responders. Two different variables that we can tweak. I found it interesting that women seem to actually respond better to creatine supplementation more quickly, more effectively, and even at a smaller dose than men do. So this makes it a little bit unique, but specifically the studies I found showed that creatine may help with PMS and with mood disorders because creatine supports serotonin and dopamine levels, which we’re hearing a lot about.

At least I haven’t seen a lot about on social media. We know that there is a gut brain connection. We know that these things require certain precursors to be effectively created and used in the body. And it seems that creatine is one of the many pieces that comes into play here. Um, also related to hormonal balance and mood is a little bit of overlap into the cognitive realm, which is that creatine is shown to help reduce mental fatigue and improve focus, making it beneficial for parents. Also for entrepreneurs, this is another reason I use it often and for students. So studies in children are of course, harder, but I find it important to note creatine is found in food, especially meats. Um, we know based on data that a lot of kids maybe are not hitting their protein requirements. For whatever reason, kids may not be eating enough of a wide variety of meats to get enough creatine. So while studies are hard to do in minors, there is some data indicating that creatine supplementation may be both safe and helpful for children at various ages as well.

And I’d love to also talk about specific benefits for women and dispel some myths around this. Like I said, I found a good amount of data indicating that women actually respond more quickly to the benefits of creatine supplementation. However, women typically take creatine in smaller, like smaller amounts and less often than men do. And I have a feeling some of this is related to some of the misconceptions around creatine.

One being that creatine will make you bulky. And I have said this before, I used to have the same misconception of being, hesitant to lift weights or to take any supplements related to muscle because I didn’t want to get bulky. And now having spent the last several years strength training regularly attempting to build muscle, I can look back and almost laugh at myself that the idea that I would accidentally become too bulky because as a woman, building muscle is a long game. It is definitely not an overnight accidental thing, and I have worked really hard at this and by no means am bulky. If anything, I’ve gotten less bulky the more muscle I build, which makes sense when we understand the benefits of lean muscle mass within the body.

But creatine in its role of supporting lean muscle and recovery does not lead to getting bulky and if anything is supportive in the opposite direction. I think some of this myth persist because bodybuilders are often proponents of creatine and take creatine, and they are more bulky. But I will note that especially after lifting for several years, they are doing very intentional movements and training schedules to get that particular type of muscle.

Many of them are also doing other supportive things, including steroids to be able to build muscle. And even the ones that aren’t, are eating extremely intentionally and a lot of food to get that muscle mass on. And they are intentionally trying to build visible muscle mass, sometimes even over strength as the target.

So, I think another reason that there’s this misconception is that creatine, if we are not cellularly hydrated, seemingly actually helps with cellular hydration and hydrating the muscles as well. So in the very short term, if someone has not been getting enough creatine and starts getting enough creatine, it can potentially lead to a few pounds of weight gain seemingly overnight, which it’s important to note this is often water weight.

It is not physiologically possible to gain, or at least not without a whole lot of discomfort, to gain pounds of fat in a very short period of time. Calorically, that doesn’t happen and you would have to eat an absolutely insane amount of calories. So if you’re eating relatively the same thing and you add creatine and you gain two or three pounds, it is not likely that you have gained fat.

It is likely that you are holding onto more hydration, which has both short-term and long-term benefits and will equalize over time. But all things being equal, we actually want to be, of course, hydrated. We want our muscles to be hydrated, and this is also one of the reasons that creatine in this hydration aspect can help make the muscles look more full and toned.

There’s also specific to women I feel like some benefits that creatine may help with bone health, especially bone density. There’s even some studies looking a little bit at osteoporosis risk, but this does typically impact women more than men. And so this is something I know many women are aware of, especially as we age.

And so I feel like anything that can support both muscle, bone and brain is at least worth taking a critical look at. One area that I don’t hear talked about almost at all that I found notable when looking at this research was the potential fertility benefits related to creatine. And even if you are not trying to conceive, and I’m certainly not, fertility is an important marker of health. And we, you know, often hear things like our hormones declining as we age.

I’ve had guests that have challenged that idea that we do not need to lose our hormones a decade before menopause, and that there are a lot of ways we can support the body. But ideally we actually want to maintain fertility as a biomarker of health. And so I think creatine’s role here is also very fascinating.

There’s early research suggesting that creatine plays a role in egg quality and embryonic development, which makes sense to me in light of the data around brain health and muscle health and all of the development that goes into early fetal development. However, anything that is supportive of fertility in general is also supportive of health.

And so anytime I see that link, I get curious and go into it because fertility can often be one of the first things that may struggle if we’re having health challenges or our body is feeling overly taxed and burdened because our body then biologically might consider that not the ideal time to have a child.

So even if we are not in the phase of life of wanting to have more children, fertility is still an important benchmark of what’s going on with our health. And this is one of the reasons I still, even though it’s not really relevant data from a fertility perspective for me or for trying to conceive or not to conceive right now, um, I still track my cycle carefully and get labs occasionally to kind of keep an eye on hormone levels because fertility is so indicative of health.

Now another area that’s not nearly as talked about as much. I feel like again, we hear creatine talked about the most in the physical strength world and more commonly for men than women. I just talked about some of the women’s specific benefits, but an area I really don’t hear talked about much at all is the potential of benefit for kids and teenagers.

And again, I’m not recommending anything. This is not medical advice. I strictly think it’s worth looking at the limited data that is available and working with our children’s practitioners and to see if this could be a valuable thing for our kids. That said, I will also say that with my kids because I’m their mom, I’ve made the suggestion with my kids and almost none of them actually take creatine because, seemingly it’s not cool because their mom recommended it. However, the reason I encouraged it in my kids is the data that points to some of these similar effects possibly being even more profound in developing bodies, especially things like cognitive support for developing brains.

Since creatine is helpful for both brain energy and for metabolism, and kids at various phases of development are experiencing a massive burst in those areas. There’s evidence that creatine, even if it’s not from supplementation, but being aware of getting enough from diet can be highly supportive for their skeletal muscle, for their metabolism, which some of those, the foundation built at certain phases of childhood is a lifelong benefit as well as for brain energy, and we know a lot of kids struggle also with focus and mood.

There’s limited data also looking at it in relation to kids with ADHD and there’s some evidence that found that creatine is supportive of dopamine regulation in adults and seemingly also in teenagers and children. And since this is another area that is affecting children in greater numbers. I think it’s a fascinating thing to look at and to consider, like I said, at least from getting enough dietary creatine to support a growing body and a growing brain.

There is data looking at creatine for active kids and young athletes. This is where most of the kid and under 18 data was concentrated. And a 2014 study found that creatine is well tolerated and can enhance performance and recovery in teenage athletes. Since essentially all of my kids are athletes in some realm it’s something I have encouraged for them and it’s always in a canister at my house. I take it every morning. Like I said, a lot of my kids. You know, like what is the things about cobbler’s kids in their shoes? But a lot of my kids choose not to take creatine. They’re each their own infinite autonomous being, and I don’t attempt to force it.

However, the reason I make sure it’s available and suggest it to them is that I do think it can be potentially extremely beneficial with very little potential for downside. Now, another area that I personally have been researching a lot lately is the connection of creatine to longevity. And I think this is probably specific to a couple particular things.

One being its support of mitochondrial function. If you’ve listened to this podcast much, you’ve probably heard other guests talk about the importance of mitochondrial function of ATP production in the body. And how having this, supporting this, helps reduce oxidative stress and cellular aging. So this actually points to the potential for creatine being an anti-aging supplement.

This is also, it may not have aired by the time you’re listening to this podcast, but I’ve recently recorded a light masterclass that was absolutely fascinating, that talks about a similar benefit when we get our light exposure right. Especially from natural sunlight and its supportive role in mitochondrial function and how this ripples into every area of health. I think creatine is another puzzle piece that can be really beneficial in this ATP production and supporting mitochondrial function, which we know is related to a lot of age-related decline and something I’m much more aware of every decade that passes. Creatine from a longevity perspective, I touched on this a little bit in the muscle point, but I wanted to go back to this, may help prevent muscle loss with aging. Which again, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon makes a very strong case for being extremely correlated with longevity, muscle being the organ of longevity. And we know that all things being equal we want to maintain lean muscle mass as much as possible as we get older. For all of its many protective effects, as well as for its metabolic effects. With over now 90% of Americans having some marker of metabolic dysfunction. Anything we can do that helps support lean muscle mass gives us a little bit more resilience and buffer here.

In that essentially the more muscle we have, the more energy we are effectively using at rest, without even adding in our activity levels. And the more muscle we have as we get older, the more protective this is for not even just our muscle, but for our risk of age related issues, for our brain, for our bones, and kind of across the board.

Now, I think a reason that a lot of people might be resistant to considering creatine is related to some of the safety concerns that they might’ve heard floating around the internet. Again, I’m not a doctor, but I wanted to address my understanding of some of these and some of the hurdles I personally like got to dive into the research around and overcome before I started taking creatine regularly.

And of course there’s the question of is creatine safe? And I will say there are hundreds if not thousands of studies that I came across confirming its safety as well as there was a study in 2017 and a meta-analysis by Krider that looked at its safety across the board and considered it one of the safest supplements available.

Now, one area where it’s often considered not safe is in the area of kidney health and the potential, the question around does it damage the kidneys. From the research I personally read, it seemed the overwhelming answer to this question is no. Look, of all the research I looked at, there was no negative effect on the kidneys in healthy individuals.

Obviously, there are going to be exceptions to every study, and this is why we do our own personal experimentation. If someone has an underlying kidney issue, hopefully that person is working with a specialist and getting a much more nuanced understanding of their own health. Then any large scale study can, and of course that is important.

I am by no means saying that creatine is beneficial and has no negative effect for every single person who might take it. However, the data that I read shows across the board there were no negative effects on the kidney in healthy individuals with normal creatine supplementation in healthy doses.

Much below that, I feel like the risk of bloating and kind of that water weight thing is also worth addressing in the kind of safety or downside category. Like I said, some people do experience mild water retention initially, and this is actually a good thing because from what the research says, this is intracellular or muscle hydration, not fat gain.

And I’ve talked before about metabolism and my own weight loss, and I think there’s, it’s important to dive in and understand the nuance and the difference between weight and fat and lean muscle mass. There’s a lot that goes into this, but, for instance, two people with same height, same kind of build, could be at the same weight and one might have a lot more muscle and be leaner, and one might have a lot more fat and not be as lean, and those people might weigh the same.

So I would say weight alone, I feel like is an incomplete metric or an incomplete variable, and it’s worth understanding the deeper nuance below this. I’ll note that I have a DEXA machine in the building where I work, and many of the high level athletes that we run a DEXA on according to strictly weight and height, and to BMI charts would be in the overweight or obese category. Even though we can see with a lot of clarity that their body fat percentage is very low, even as low as on a DEXA, which shows much higher than other metrics of measuring this, is in the 11 to 15% range, which is very, very lean on a DEXA and in the athlete range.

On a BMI chart these same people might be overweight or obese. And I think it is worth having a more detailed and nuanced conversation beyond just weight and into delving into muscle mass versus body fat, especially visceral body fat, which we know carries more risk. And wanting to keep visceral fat low, but not viewing weight alone as a metric.

Because even within my own journey over the last few years, my size has not changed. My weight has actually gone up, and the DEXA reveals it’s from an increase in muscle and hydration, which are both good things. So I just say this to avoid a throwing the baby out with the bath water type situation, where in the name of being a low weight, we avoid things that can be beneficial for muscle growth and for hydration.

And I say this because I did this for a long time when I was much more focused on the number on the scale. And even in my initial weight loss, I was more concerned with being small and light than understanding this nuance of muscle. And so it’s something I’ve had to actively work to let go of and not view the number on the scale as a bad thing as long as all metrics are going in the right direction with muscle mass with hydration and with fat, especially visceral fat going down, which I have seen across the board.

And now, like I said, at even a higher weight than I used to be. I have lower body fat, lower visceral fat, stronger bones and more muscle, and understanding more about how those things come into play, that is a trade off that I’m very happy about, but it would’ve scared me a few years ago.

I think there’s a lot wrapped up in here, especially for women. I also would love to do some myth busting specific to common kind of myths and misconceptions around creatine because despite this tremendous amount of research that I have talked about a little bit already, there are many myths still around creatine.

And I wanna break them down. So the first myth I would say that I hear the most often or see on social media is that creatine will make you bloated or puffy or bulky. And again, just to reiterate, creatine does not cause bloating in most people. Some may experience this temporary water retention inside muscle cells, which is actually a good thing.

That might be a sign that you are building muscle. This is intracellular hydration, not subcutaneous bloating, not stomach bloating. Some people do experience stomach discomfort when they start taking creatine, especially if it’s not dosed correctly. And seemingly from the data if we reduce the dose slightly and work up more slowly, that is entirely resolved.

But the truth around this myth is that if anything, creatine helps your muscles look fuller and more defined, not puffy or swollen. And no evidence that I saw shows that it is increasing body fat, which seemingly is actually the thing most people are concerned about when it comes to bloating or weight gain.

The second myth, I touched on it briefly, but is that creatine is bad for the kidneys or the liver. And I really dove into the research on this one because as someone who in the past I actually experienced rhabdo, I don’t mess around with kidney health, and this was an area I really wanted to understand before I personally introduce creatine. And the truth around this is that this myth seems to stem from a misinterpretation of creatinine levels, which is a normal byproduct of creatine metabolism. And this gets a little bit sciencey, but the data that I found showed that multiple long-term studies showed “no negative effects on kidney or liver function in healthy individuals, even at high doses.”

I suspect the reason for this misconception is that if someone already has an underlying kidney or liver issue, then their creatine metabolism may already be inhibited. Their creatinine levels might already be elevated, and it’s kind of a correlative versus causal thing that we associate with a cause.

Again, there are always exceptions. This is not medical advice and we all need to work with qualified practitioners as well as being our own primary healthcare provider, but in a person with already advanced kidney disease, it would absolutely be worth not supplementing creatine until consulting with your doctor and navigating that very carefully under medical direction.

Now a lesser known misconception that I have seen and I wanted to dispel is that creatine is a steroid or it’s kind of an unfair advantage, or it’s in the banned category or it’s a non-physiological substance that we are taking to alter our body or our brain in some way. And I feel like this one is worth dispelling, that creatine is certainly not a steroid.

That is an entirely separate category that can be the topic of another podcast, and those do carry risks that creatine does not carry. Creatine is an amino acid derivative found naturally in red meat and fish. This is something we do encounter in our diets. If we eat meat and fish, we are already getting, we’re taking creatine through our food source.

Unlike steroids, which affect hormone levels, creatine simply helps your body produce more ATP, which fuels energy, which helps you feel more energetic to workout, which helps build muscle, which helps you hydrate better, which helps build muscle, which helps you recover more effectively, which helps build muscle.

So yes, it is supportive of muscle growth, but in a much different way than a steroid would be. It’s also important to note, I work with several high level elite athletes and they all across the board take creatine regularly. It is not a banned substance. It is not on the WADA or USADA band list. It is not prohibited for competitive athletes.

Steroids absolutely are. So it is an entirely different category. Athletes who are tested for these things take creatine and it is considered perfectly acceptable for them to take and not in any way a banned performance enhancer. I feel like since this is also something naturally present in food the question is simply about the dose, because likely all of us are getting at least small amounts of creatine. It’s about, do we tweak our dose to be more effective or to get a result we want. I touched on this myth in the beginning, but I feel like the most pervasive is perhaps that creatine is only for bodybuilders or athletes.

And I think we do ourselves a disservice when we dismiss it entirely if we are not a competitive athlete. Because while I think I’ve made a case for creatine being very supportive for strength and performance, it is also, and even potentially more so, incredibly beneficial for brain health and cognitive function, for mood and mental clarity, for preventing muscle loss in aging, which is a very important consideration outside of any athletic endeavor. For hormonal balance and even some studies showing PMS support and for children and teens in terms of cognitive and athletic development.

So I would say that the data I have read through shows that creatine is certainly not just for gym goers. It is across the board considered a powerful, safe supplement for overall health and longevity, and I hope that more people consider doing their own research on this topic versus dismissing this because bodybuilders have used it historically.

Now there’s also a seemingly a myth around a loading phase or cycling of creatine. I see a lot of different protocols floating around for this. I’ll share my own experience with this and also what the data shows. So, because I was more hesitant at first, and especially until I understood creatine more, I was hesitant to take it at all at first, and then certainly in big doses. So I did not do a loading phase. I introduced it slowly and worked up. But what the data says is that you don’t need to cycle creatine and that the loading phase is optional. However, there are some sources that point to getting the benefits more quickly by doing a loading phase.

Of course the one potential temporary downside there is that you might have intestinal discomfort if you do big doses without having supplemented creatine before as your body adjusts. So for me, I avoided that entirely by starting with actually very small doses. But when I looked into the data around dosing in particular, what I found was that taking three to five grams of creatine is enough to saturate the muscles within a few weeks. So while a loading phase may shorten that time period and saturate the muscles within a few days, you might have some intestinal discomfort while that’s happening. So people who want faster results, there was data pointing toward loading, for instance, 20 grams a day for five to seven days.

But also the data showed this is not necessary and that a smaller dose over a longer period of time will accomplish the same effect, it’ll just take longer. So that really would be kind of an issue of personal preference and or working with your healthcare provider to see what’s gonna be most beneficial for you personally.

I typically take these days five to 10 grams of creatine a day, most days. There are days when I don’t take it. I’ve talked before about not taking pretty much any supplements on the weekend or when I’m traveling. Largely for convenience and also just because I do like to cycle things. However, there’s not evidence that shows that creatine needs to be cycled.

And if anything, the data points toward it being safe to consume every single day. I will also note that I eat, and I’ve talked about this before, certainly I eat big amounts of protein or physiologically appropriate amounts of protein within the ranges that. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and others have talked about, especially making sure I get protein in the morning. So I’m also getting creatine from my food and it’s still something I supplement with to make sure that I have that buffer as well.

Now, there’s another myth related to creatine causing dehydration or cramps. And I feel like this one is important to address because when I looked at the research a lot of the research pointed actually toward the opposite. So some early research looked like it said creatine might cause dehydration or cramps, and potentially in a scenario where a person is not consuming enough basic hydration, water and electrolytes, there may be a small risk of that.

However, the studies actually found the opposite. Which is that creatine actually helps with hydration, as I talked about, the intracellular hydration especially, and reduces cramping when taken in physiologically appropriate doses. Because creatine draws water into the muscles, which helps improve hydration and endurance, especially in hot conditions.

And I’ve talked about the importance of hydration, especially with minerals and electrolytes, and especially if you have any of these variables. You live in a hot climate. You sauna often, you exercise often or you’re doing anything that leads to sweating often. And how data shows that a person who does one or more of those things might lose more minerals in a five year period than a sedentary person might in an entire lifetime.

So I think this is a multifaceted and very personalized aspect of health that we all get to do our own experimentation around of what are our optimal electrolyte mineral, vitamin nutrient levels. And I would add creatine to that list. And then again, just to reiterate the myth that women should not take creatine because it makes them bulky. The truth is, what the data says, women naturally have lower creatine stores than men. So supplementation for women can actually be more beneficial for energy, strength, and recovery, and women might see the benefits more quickly. I already talked about how it does not lead to fat gain or bulkiness in any of the mechanisms that we understand, and if anything leads to more muscle tone and definition through the intracellular hydration. So just to dispel that myth once and for all, creatine, especially alone, does not bulk you up. If anything, it helps maintain lean muscle mass while supporting brain function and supporting longevity and overall health and vitality.

So that brings to the question of creatine dosing. And again, this is going to be very individualized. I hope that it’s an area people will consider doing their own research on, and I will share my own experimentation with dosage as simply an example. So the standard dosage I saw the most in the data was in the three to five gram per day range for maintenance. Sometimes with a loading phase, sometimes without.

I take it often in the five grams per day range. Sometimes I go higher, especially if I have not gotten as much sleep as I would’ve liked. But I now feel like I’ve dialed in enough to listen to my body in this. For performance and brain health, the data pointed to more like a 10 gram daily dose.

So I mentioned I most days take somewhere between five and 10 grams based on how I’m feeling. When it comes to a loading phase this is where I feel like a lot of the dosage questions are. It’s not necessary, but if this is something you wanted to increase quickly, the data points toward a 20 gram a day for about a week if you want to saturate your muscles more quickly to expedite the benefits.

However, the data also clearly showed that the same effect can be accomplished in a little bit slower of a way by simply taking that normal three to five gram dose that most of the data seems to center on, for a longer period of time. When it comes to dosage timing, I’ve done some experimentation around this.

The data seems to indicate that any time is fine, but there might be things we can do to increase effectiveness and absorption. So that would be things like taking with food, which makes sense because it is naturally found in food. So when taken with food, our body’s already primed for the process of utilizing it, or in the morning for the energy benefits.

So I often take it first thing in the morning with breakfast, either dissolved in warm water, I sometimes just dry scoop it into my mouth and drink water, which is not probably the most, effective, ideal way to consume it. I have even in a pinch, mixed it into coffee with some collagen and adaptogenic mushrooms, and I do that often as well.

There’s also some data that shows that it might be especially helpful post-workout. It might give you a slight edge due to increased muscle uptake after physical activity. These are areas where I feel like individual experimentation is really helpful and it did not seem like there was a clear, absolute black and white best time or dose answer based on the literature.

I also want to talk about types of creatine and how to take it. So creatine monohydrate is the gold standard. This is the one referenced in the overwhelming amount of studies. It’s the most research backed, and thankfully it’s also the cheapest option. So I’ve seen some marketing around other forms of creatine with claims that they’re more bioavailable or better.

From my understanding, creatine is already extremely bioavailable in creatine monohydrate form. Some show estimates of as much as over 99% bioavailable, so it’s hard to get much more bioavailable than that. And likely that fraction of a percent more bioavailable that an alternate form might be, is likely not worth the increase in price that it might be.

I personally take creatine monohydrate in a bulk powdered form. It’s incredibly inexpensive. It lasts for a long time. It’s very stable. And again, that’s the most research backed one most often referenced in studies. There are other forms you might have seen if you’ve researched this, ones like creatine HCL, buffered creatine, or ethyl ester.

Again, from what I’ve seen, these are more expensive. And they’re marketed in particular ways, but in the research I read, there was no clear benefit of these over simply creatine monohydrate. Again, it’s hard to get much better than 99% bioavailable, and that fraction of percent may not be worth the increased price tag of these other forms.

I’ll also note personally that creatine monohydrate to me has very little or no taste, so it’s entirely pleasant and easy to mix into water or tea or coffee. Warm water seemingly is a little bit more helpful. It can just be a little chalky in cold water, or if you dry scoop it. But the creatine monohydrate form is relatively tasteless.

It’s easy to take. The other forms seemingly have different taste profiles depending on the form. And so I personally don’t see a benefit to trying the fancy forms versus just sticking with the inexpensive creatine monohydrate. You can also mix it into smoothies, juice, coffee, if you don’t like the taste or the texture, and I’ve done that as well.

So all that to say, we covered a lot about creatine. Didn’t end up being as short of an episode as I anticipated. To summarize and give some actionable takeaways based on my own experience. Creatine is one of the most researched and safest supplements, and its potential benefits are far and beyond just muscle growth, and hopefully that myth is dispelled.

It is supportive of brain function, of energy, mood, and for all the reasons I talked about. It’s supportive of long-term health. Women and children can benefit greatly from. Creatine supplementation, especially for cognitive and hormonal support, and may benefit more rapidly and in a greater amount than men might.

Based on the overwhelming data there are no major side effects, and that in normal healthy adults and children, it does not cause kidney damage or bloating outside of that short term potential increase in water weight from intracellular hydration, which again, I consider a good thing. Based on dosing from the studies what I saw most commonly was a three to five gram dose per day with up to 10 grams for additional brain and recovery benefits. And that five to 10 gram range is the range I tend to stick with. The best form of creatine based on the research available is creatine monohydrate, no need for fancy versions or patented versions.

And it is seemingly most beneficial when taken daily, whether morning or post-workout or with meals. I wouldn’t recommend personally taking it at night in case it does give you a lot more energy. But it is one that since our muscles need to store creatine and they do have a saturation point with creatine, it seems most effective when taken regularly.

So to summarize and in closing, I personally take five to 10 grams of creatine most mornings, and I’ve seen benefits personally through my energy, my focus, my recovery, and in my ability to build and maintain muscle. My encouragement to you would be that if you have not tried it, at least consider doing research around it.

Of course, do not take my word for anything, question everything, even, and especially me. But if it feels like it may be beneficial for you, it has been for me, it might be worth doing research and experimentation around, as it seemingly is a very safe and effective way to optimize several big factors related to health and longevity.

I hope that this has been helpful. I would love to hear if you are already taking creatine, if it’s something that you are considering, if you understood any, like if you felt any of those myths and they’ve been reasons you have avoided creatine, and if that’s changed at al after hearing some of the data from this episode, I would love to hear from you.

I do read every single review. If you wanna leave a comment on Instagram on this episode, I would love to hear your feedback and what’s worked for you personally. And if you found this episode helpful, I would be really grateful and honored if you would share it with a friend or leave a rating or review on wherever you listen to podcast because this helps other people find this podcast as well.

And I would be very grateful if you consider sharing and reviewing. As always, I’m also incredibly grateful for your time, your energy, and your attention, and that you shared those with me today by listening to this episode. I’m always so happy that you’re here. I hope that you learned something helpful to you and to your health, and I would love for you to tell me about it and give me feedback via email message or blog comment so that I can know what is most relevant to you, what you’re working on, and how I can be most supportive. Thank you so much for listening, and I hope you will join me again on the next episode of The Wellness Mama Podcast.