Printed from https://bottledhope.co/supplements/creatine/. Last reviewed 2026-09-26. Check the site for the latest version.
Creatine
A compound the body makes in the liver and kidneys and gets from meat and fish. People who lift weights often take it hoping to build muscle and strength.
Explained simply · Last reviewed
What it is
Creatine is a compound the body makes for itself and also gets from food. A 2026 review of creatine and cognition states that it is made in the kidneys and liver, and eaten in dairy products, meat, fish and molluscs. It says most of the body's creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, where it helps rapidly regenerate the energy that muscle contraction runs on. The same review says creatine is often taken as a supplement by people who do high-intensity activities such as resistance training, with the goal of building muscle mass and strength.
More about Creatine
A 2026 review of creatine and cognition states that it is made in the kidneys and liver, and eaten in dairy products, meat, fish and molluscs. It says most of the body's creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, where it helps rapidly regenerate the energy that muscle contraction runs on. The same review says creatine is often taken as a supplement by people who do high-intensity activities such as resistance training, with the goal of building muscle mass and strength.
A 2023 review of memory trials sets out why researchers have also looked at the brain. It describes memory as energetically demanding, and reports that creatine supplementation increases the brain's creatine content, though it notes that not all studies found this increase.
The sections below report what systematic reviews have found for two uses: strength alongside resistance training, and memory and cognition.
Also known as: creatine monohydrate, creatine monohydrate powder
At a glance
Safety: known risks and 1 group who should avoid it or take extra care. See Safety ↓Claims made about Creatine, and how strong the evidence is for each:
- Increases muscle strength when combined with resistance trainingEvidence rating: Moderate
- Improves memory and cognitionEvidence rating: Limited
Each rating follows our published rules and the sources cited for it. We don’t add our own medical judgment. How we rate
Safety
Read this before the ratings below.
Risks
- A 2020 meta-analysis of 29 studies monitoring adverse outcomes in 951 female participants reported no deaths and no serious adverse outcomes.
- The same analysis found no statistically significant difference between creatine and placebo in total adverse events, gastrointestinal events, or weight gain.
- That analysis also found no statistically significant difference in measures of kidney or liver function. Its authors note that adverse-event reporting in creatine trials has been inconsistent and call for more comprehensive surveillance in future studies.
Who should avoid it or take extra care
- The meta-analysis studied female participants, aged 16 to 67 in its creatine groups. Its 29 studies included trials of creatine as a treatment, among them a trial in women with depression, and in some studies participants were taking other medication. The umbrella review covers young healthy people and athletes. Neither source analyses its safety results by medical condition or by medication, so neither shows how creatine behaves alongside a particular condition or medicine. If either applies to you, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Safety sources: Source [1]Source [2]
What the evidence says
Each claim is rated on its own evidence. Ratings follow the scale on our methodology page.
Increases muscle strength when combined with resistance training Evidence rating: Moderate
People who lift weights take it hoping to get stronger from their training.
A 2024 review found larger strength gains in adults under 50 from creatine plus resistance training than from placebo plus training, but said results by sex need caution.
A 2024 meta-analysis pooled 23 randomized trials in adults under 50. Every trial compared creatine plus resistance training with placebo plus resistance training. The reviewers found that creatine combined with resistance training significantly increased both upper-body and lower-body strength compared with placebo.
The reviewers also looked at men and women separately. In their subgroup analysis, males gained significantly in both upper and lower body, while females showed no significant gains. But 21 of the 23 studies included males (460 participants), and only 3 included females (49 participants). The reviewers themselves put it as greater benefits being "likely" in males.
The reviewers say the results by sex should be interpreted with caution, because few of the studies included women.
A 2024 umbrella review assessed earlier systematic reviews. It separately concluded that creatine can provide a performance benefit in young healthy people and athletes when taken in controlled doses.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Improves memory and cognition Evidence rating: Limited
Some people take it hoping it will help their memory and thinking.
A 2023 review reported better memory scores with creatine, which a published letter disputes; a 2026 review in older adults describes its own evidence as limited.
A 2023 meta-analysis of randomized trials in healthy people reported that creatine improved measures of memory compared with placebo. In its subgroup analyses, the improvement was significant in older adults aged 66 to 76, and not in younger participants aged 11 to 31. A letter published in the same journal questions the validity of the meta-analysis's statistics. Its title says "double-counting" led to "false-positive findings", and its abstract says the problem "may have led to misleading conclusions".
A 2026 systematic review looked specifically at cognition in older adults. Of its six included studies, only two were supplementation trials. The other four estimated creatine intake from dietary recall. Its authors describe the evidence as limited and call for high-quality clinical trials.
The same journal has since published two editorials in response to that review, and the review's authors have replied. The title of one editorial describes concerns about the review's methodological rigour and interpretation. This page has not been able to read any of the three, so it cannot say what the editorials argue or how the authors answered them.
The meta-analysis's authors replied to the letter in the same journal; this page has not been able to read the letter's full text or the reply, so it cannot say how the authors answered. The 2023 memory finding is disputed in print; this page cannot say whether the 2026 review's conclusions are.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
How and when to take it
What the cited sources say about taking it. Ask your doctor or pharmacist what applies to you.
The strength evidence is for creatine alongside resistance training, not instead of it
The strength evidence comes from trials where creatine was combined with resistance training. The reviewers measured the effect of adding creatine to a training program, not of taking it on its own. Source [1]
Which form the evidence used
Supplements are sold in several forms. This is what the sources on this page say about them — which form the research used, and any comparison those sources themselves made. Where they made none, this page does not rank the forms.
Creatine monohydrate, What the sources supportDetails
The safety meta-analysis cited here studied oral creatine monohydrate specifically, so the safety findings on this page describe that form. Source [1]
Other forms, such as hydrochloride, ethyl ester, or buffered creatine, Details
No source cited here compared one form against another, so this page cannot say whether any form outperforms the rest. The strength review searched for creatine supplementation generally rather than restricting itself to monohydrate, and it did not report results by form. That is a gap in what has been reviewed, not a finding that other forms do not work. Source [1]
Sources
- Effects of Creatine Supplementation and Resistance Training on Muscle Strength Gains in Adults <50 Years of Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisNutrients, 2024 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Healthy Athletes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysesSports Health, 2024 · Systematic review · Primary source
- Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsNutrition Reviews, 2023 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- Creatine and Cognition in Aging: A Systematic Review of Evidence in Older AdultsNutrition Reviews, 2026 · Systematic review · Primary source
- Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Females Taking Oral Creatine Monohydrate: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisNutrients, 2020 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
Page history
Show all 8 changes to this page
- — Rewritten to the content style guideline; ratings and sources unchanged. The memory and cognition summary now describes the letter on the 2023 memory meta-analysis only from its title and abstract, which are all this page has read; it no longer says the letter argues the analysis double-counted participants.
- — Corrected the safety caution. It said the cited safety evidence covers healthy adults. Reading the safety meta-analysis in full showed that it studied female participants (aged 16 to 67 in its creatine groups), included trials of creatine as a treatment, including one in women with depression, and included participants taking other medication. The caution now describes who the two safety sources studied and keeps the advice to ask a doctor or pharmacist. No rating changed.
- — Reworded four passages so they say no more than the sources and ratings do. The page summary called the strength research "genuinely solid"; it now says the strength research is rated moderate, which is the claim's rating. The how-to-take heading said creatine "works alongside resistance training"; it now says the strength evidence is for creatine alongside resistance training, because every trial in the strength review combined creatine with resistance training. The introduction said the question for creatine is "not whether anything happens"; it now says the reviews ask not only whether anything happens, but how much, for whom and for which outcome. The safety caution said neither safety source reports its results separately by medical condition or medication; the safety meta-analysis does report adverse outcomes study by study, so the caution now says neither source analyses its safety results by condition or medication. All five sources were re-read in full. No rating or source changed.
- — Removed comparisons with other supplements that no cited source makes. The page summary called creatine "one of the few supplements" with moderate strength research and said the brain claims were "running well ahead of it"; it now says the strength research, for creatine taken alongside resistance training, is rated moderate, and the memory and cognition evidence is rated limited, with one of its reviews disputed in print. The second introductory paragraph called creatine unusual among supplements and described its research base as deep; no cited source compares creatine with other supplements or assesses its research base that way, so the paragraph was removed and replaced with a sentence saying which two uses the sections below report on. No rating or source changed.
- — Corrected how the memory and cognition summary describes the comments on the 2026 cognition review. It previously said two editorials questioned the review's methods and interpretation, and that both cognition sources were disputed. This page has not been able to read the editorials or the authors' reply, so that description rested on their titles, and titles alone do not show what an editorial argues. The summary now says only that two editorials and an authors' reply were published and that this page cannot say what they argue. No rating or source changed.
- — Added a "which form the evidence used" section, and corrected what it claims. The previous note said the cited safety and efficacy reviews both studied creatine monohydrate. Checking the strength review's full text showed that is not accurate: its search strategy was "creatine monohydrate supplementation OR creatine supplementation", so it was not restricted to monohydrate and it does not report results by form. Only the safety meta-analysis studies monohydrate specifically, which its title states. The section now says exactly that, and records that no cited source compared forms head to head.
- — First published. Muscle strength rated moderate, memory and cognition rated limited.
- — Sources verified. The strength meta-analysis discloses creatine-industry ties (advisory board roles at two creatine manufacturers, industry-sponsored research, product donations), so industry_funded is true and the page shows a disclosure. Both cognition sources are contested in print: a letter argues the 2023 memory meta-analysis double-counted participants and may be a false positive, and two editorials question the 2026 review. Both are now stated in the claim. The strength summary explains that the female subgroup rests on 49 participants across 3 studies. [Corrected 2026-09-24 and 2026-09-27; see those entries.]