Research
Creatine Research
Plain-language summaries of the published creatine research. Every summary links to its primary sources, and we never present popularity as evidence.
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Creatine and Cognition
Explore research on creatine and cognition, including the populations studied, measured outcomes, study limitations, and uncertainty about benefits.
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Creatine and Hair Loss
The claim that creatine causes hair loss traces to one small trial reporting a rise in DHT, but it never measured hair; the only RCT to assess hair follicle health directly found no effect. The evidence is limited and not conclusive.
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Creatine and Kidney Function
Evidence review of creatine and kidney function: pooled human studies in healthy adults show no demonstrated harm to renal markers such as serum creatinine and urea, with important limits for people who have pre-existing kidney disease.
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Creatine and Muscle Growth
Meta-analyses report about 1.1 kg of added lean mass with creatine plus resistance training. Results vary and do not establish a minimum effective dose.
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Creatine and Water Retention
A randomized creatine study measured total and extracellular body water. See why its findings do not establish exclusively intracellular retention or a universal weight gain.
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Creatine for Older Adults
Evidence review of creatine for older adults: meta-analyses report that creatine plus resistance training increases lean tissue mass and strength more than training alone, while noting limited trials and study-to-study variability.
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Creatine for Women
An evidence-based look at creatine for women: what reviews and trials report on lean mass, strength, and dosing across the female lifespan, and why female-specific evidence remains smaller than the research base in men.
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Do You Need to Load Creatine?
Evidence-based overview of whether a creatine loading phase is necessary. A controlled study found both about 20 g/day for 6 days and a steady 3 g/day raised muscle creatine roughly 20%, with loading reaching the measured increase faster.
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Creatine Monohydrate vs Other Forms
An evidence overview of how creatine monohydrate compares with newer creatine forms such as hydrochloride, buffered creatine, and ethyl ester. Reviews report little to no evidence that alternative forms are more effective or safer than monohydrate.
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Creatine and High-Intensity Exercise
Creatine helps regenerate ATP through the phosphocreatine system and, in healthy people, has been studied for improvements in high-intensity exercise performance.