All About Creatine
How a gym-bro staple became a longevity non-negotiable
“Did you have your creatine today, Susan?” an woman I run into around town asked me casually.
Before I could answer, she continued, “I put one scoop in my coffee this morning, and I’ve got the other right here in my water bottle.”
I’m smiling as I write this, because she’s older than I am…not exactly who I’d expect to be starting a conversation about creatine. So how on earth did a supplement once reserved for gym bros and bodybuilding forums become a normal addition to her coffee and water?
Yet, here we are.
For decades, creatine research lived almost entirely in the world of sports performance: short bursts of power, repeat sprint ability, maximal strength. That is its “gym bro” origin story.
What’s changed in recent years is the scope of the questions researchers are asking.
Instead of stopping at “Does this help people lift more?” (we already know it does), they started asking a more interesting question: What happens when cells are under high energy demand anywhere in the body?
And like so many other molecules, once you shift the framing, a bigger picture comes into focus.
Viewed through the lens of a compound that supports cellular energy wherever demand is high, creatine suddenly makes a lot more sense. What researchers are exploring now is its role in brain energetics, mental fatigue, sleep stress, skin rejuvenation, and (YEAH!) aging.
We are currently living in a moment where creatine has transcended squats to support all the systems that work hard every day. What a world.
Let’s break down what that actually means and how it can make a difference in your world.
What Does Creatine Do?
At a cellular level, creatine’s role is very specific.
Some science first: cells use ATP (adenosine triphosphate) as their immediate energy source. When ATP is used, it becomes ADP. Creatine, stored as phosphocreatine, donates a phosphate group to regenerate ATP rapidly.
In plain English: Creatine helps your cells recharge faster when energy demand spikes.
This phosphocreatine system is especially important in tissues with high, fluctuating energy demands and limited tolerance for energy failure. Muscle surely jumps to mind, but as we are all now learning…the brain also fits snugly within these requirements.
Beyond the Powder, Where Creatine Comes From Naturally?
Your body gets creatine in two ways: from food and by making it itself.
Dietary creatine is found almost exclusively in animal protein, primarily red meat and fish. If you eat those regularly, you’re getting some creatine. If you don’t, you’re getting very little.
Even if you do eat meat, the amounts add up slowly. To get a typical 3–5 grams of creatine from food alone, you’d need to eat pounds of meat every day. Most people don’t. (Cross-referencing to my protein post here)
Our bodies also make creatine, mainly in the liver and kidneys, from amino acids. But there’s a caveat with that: the process to make it is metabolically expensive. It requires energy and something called methyl groups.
Sidebar: A note on methylation (and MTHFR variants)
Methyl groups are like tiny chemical “tokens” your body uses for all sorts of essential jobs: detoxification, neurotransmitter production, hormone metabolism, DNA repair…the list is long.
People with certain MTHFR genetic variants don’t recycle these methyl groups as efficiently as their non-variant friends do. That means their methylation system is already working a little harder to keep up.
When you make creatine internally, you spend a decent amount of methyl groups to do it. For some, especially those with MTHFR variants, supplementing creatine can free up methyl groups to go do other important work. That doesn’t mean everyone with an MTHFR variant needs creatine. But it does explain why some people feel noticeably better when they supplement.
Muscle: The OG Use Case
Creatine is one of the most consistently effective ergogenic aids ever studied (that is fancy talk for a performance enhancer). But don’t worry, it’s classified as a supplement, it’s WADA-approved, and even officially encouraged by the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Meta-analyses and research galore show creatine supplementation:
increases maximal strength
increases lean body mass
improves performance in repeated high-intensity efforts
enhances adaptations to resistance training
These effects are seen across all age groups; but even more profoundly in older populations, creatine combined with resistance training has shown increases in muscle mass, improvements in strength, and better functional outcomes.
This matters because muscle is metabolic, protective, and directly tied to fall risk and independence. I won’t spend too much time here, since any something search can knock you over the head with why creatine is good for muscles.
The Brain: Where Creatine Gets Smart
Here’s where creatine stopped being optional for me.
The brain consumes ~20% of resting energy expenditure while representing ~2% of body mass. And neurons are extremely sensitive to energy availability. I think we can all attest to that.
Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase brain phosphocreatine content by 5–15%, which may support brain bioenergetics and cognition, particularly in older adults.
Research now shows creatine supplementation can improve:
working memory
reasoning and processing speed
mental performance under stress
But wait, there’s more! Its effects are most pronounced when the brain is energy-challenged…like during sleep deprivation, hypoxia (low oxygen, like high-altitude), metabolic stress, or (sigh) aging.
Creatine for Sleep Deprivation + Brain Fog
One of the more compelling areas of research looks at creatine’s ability to blunt the cognitive effects of poor sleep or sleep loss.
A randomized trial found that creatine can:
partially restore cognitive performance after sleep deprivation
improve reaction time and reasoning
blunt the metabolic cost of prolonged wakefulness
In plain English: Creatine can help the brain cope better when sleep is compromised.
For me, this was one of those I’ll believe it when I see it papers. And on a recent overnight flight across multiple time zones, I had occasion to self-experiment. I dumped 20g of creatine in my coffee upon landing, and…BINGO. I was fine. Seriously.
Obviously this isn’t a “sleep replacement.” Nothing replaces sleep, but it does support brain energy when your neurons are stressed. For anyone navigating parenting, caregiving, perimenopause, or life in general, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Creatine and Skin: The Plot Twist Even I Didn’t See Coming
This was not on my original creatine bingo card.
When I first started digging into the research, I expected muscle and brain. What I didn’t expect was skin. But once I understood how creatine works, it actually made a lot of sense.
Skin is an energy-hungry tissue. The cells responsible for maintaining firmness, elasticity, and repair (particularly fibroblasts in the dermis) rely on ATP just like muscle and brain cells do. When energy availability drops, so does their ability to keep up with collagen production and repair.
Creatine plays a role because…all together now: it supports cellular energy.
Research suggests that creatine, particularly when applied topically, can:
increase cellular energy in skin cells
stimulate collagen synthesis
improve skin firmness and elasticity
reduce visible signs of aging like sagging and fine lines
In plain English: Creatine can keep our skin tight.
The interesting part is that this is not plumping temporarily (oh, we’ll get to that, keep reading). It’s supporting the machinery that allows skin cells to do their job.
Women, Aging, and Creatine
Emerging research suggests women, particularly in peri/menopause, might benefit a whole lot from creatine because hormonal changes influence muscle and metabolic energy. Also, creatine stores tend to be lower to start with in women…a double whammy.
In plain English: Creatine comes along for the cellular haywire ride as the responsible chaperone, keeping the muscles firing and brain fog at bay.
How Much to Take
Let’s get into the how-to portion.
For muscle support, most studies use 3–5 grams per day. That’s the classic, well-established, well-studied dose.
For brain and cognitive effects, research often uses higher doses, 10 grams or more per day to meaningfully increase brain creatine stores. Muscles are very greedy, so the higher dose is to overcompensate so there are leftover stores for the brain. Optimal brain dosing isn’t fully nailed down yet, but emerging data supports higher intakes.
Personally, I took 5 grams daily for years. After digging into the brain-health research, I bumped myself up to 10 grams per day, which I take in my morning coffee. That change lined up with improvements in mental clarity on high-demand days. And, as mentioned earlier, I now know 20 grams kills my jet lag quite nicely.
However, dosing is individual, and more isn’t automatically better.
Water Retention
Yes, creatine can cause bloating for some people…especially at the beginning. (This is the aforementioned plumping reference, for those who have been paying attention and made it this far. Hi, Ana Gambuto!)
Here’s what’s actually happening: creatine pulls water into muscle cells. That is, in fact, part of how it works so well.
I want to be clear: this is temporary intracellular hydration, not weight gain, not "getting fatter.”
For some people, that increase in fluid can feel…well, horrible. Like bust out the fat jeans horrible (ahem, my sister, who yelled at me from across the country).
Some ways to address this are:
starting with a smaller dose
staying well-hydrated (yes, more water)
and letting your body adjust over 1–2 weeks
Most people find themselves back in their skinny jeans as muscle creatine levels become saturated.
Some give up entirely (my sister), but keeping with her example…her baseline stores were probably much lower than mine; vegetarians (like her) tend to have 20-30% lower muscle creatine stores. So when she finally gave her body the goods, it sucked it up like there was no tomorrow. A bigger deficit leads to faster loading, which means more noticeable intracellular water retention. It’s just science. And it doesn’t last forever. (Maybe she should give it another go?)
Why Creatine Gummies Are Mostly a Marketing Trick
Some might think the gummy version will circumvent the bloat. And yes, creatine gummies do exist, but they’re not ideal if you want, well, actual creatine doses.
To hit the typical 3–5 g creatine dose, you’d need a lot of gummies, which means extra sugar, fillers, and calories. The efficacy claims typically trail behind what you can get from straight creatine monohydrate powder, which is the form most studied and recommended by experts.
My choice is to stick with the classic powdered form; it’s cheaper, pure, and proven. There are other forms of creatine out there, and the one I recommend to my friends who feel the bloat is this one (that is typically sold out, sorry) from LVLUP, a brand that looks more intimidating than it is.
Creatinine (Yes, there’s an extra “in” in there)
For some reason, there is a myth around creatine that has followed it like a dark shadow for decades, and it’s rooted in a misinterpretation of lab values.
Myth: Creatine is hard on your kidneys.
Here’s why this myth persists: creatine is broken down into creatinine (note the extra “in”), which is a waste product filtered by the kidneys. Because of this, creatine supplementation can raise blood serum creatinine levels .
Where this gets…sticky… is that the bloodmarker creatinine is used as a proxy for kidney function, but it’s actually influenced by a number of inputs, including muscle mass, protein intake, hydration status, and yes, creatine supplementation
Truth: In people with normal kidney function, decades of research show that creatine supplementation does not cause kidney damage.
If Your Labs Come Back and Your Doctor Raises an Eyebrow
If a lab flags creatinine and you’re otherwise healthy, a reasonable next step is simply to say:
“I supplement with creatine. I understand that can raise creatinine levels. Can we look at my eGFR and overall kidney function in context?”
That one sentence changes the conversation from alarm to interpretation.
For what it’s worth, this is exactly the conversation I had, except in my case, it ended with my doctor suggesting I increase my dose once we reviewed the bigger picture. So yes…another wonderful plot twist.
Who Should Be Thoughtful About Creatine
Having touted its safety profile and debunking the dark myth, I must take a step to the side and note that there are people who should be cautious or consult a clinician first:
anyone with existing kidney disease
significant renal impairment
or complex medical conditions involving kidney function
That’s not because creatine is inherently dangerous; it’s because interpretation of labs and dosing should be individualized and watched. There is just no need for wild card variables when it comes to kidney markers.
For everyone else, creatine has one of the best safety profiles of any supplement.
In Case You Skimmed…
Creatine isn’t just for bodybuilders; it’s gaining recognition for brain support under stress and aging.
It helps regenerate cellular energy (ATP) in muscle, brain, and even skin.
Creatine can partially buffer cognitive decline after poor sleep.
Bloating can happen but is usually mild and transient.
The powdered form of creatine monohydrate is effective, tried, true, and tested.
Typical muscle doses are 3–5 g; brain benefits are showing around 10+ g.
If you’re already taking creatine, great! You might consider whether a higher dose makes sense. If you’ve been curious, give it a whirl; it’s a pretty low-drama place to start with supplements. And if you tried it once and backed off, it may be worth another look after learning a bit more.
Just give it time. Creatine works best once your muscle stores are saturated, which can take a week or two. Water retention early on can happen; remember that’s part of how it works, not a reason to quit.
For me, creatine is a daily staple. Simple, well-studied, and supportive of the systems I (and most people) lean on most.
So maybe don’t judge it by next Monday. Give it a couple Mondays…and then tell me what you notice.
See you then,
Susan
Longevity in the Wild
This week, I was reminded of the power of preparation. In my weight-training gym, we welcomed back a woman who’d had a knee replacement just a month ago. A MONTH. When I told her how impressive it was that she was already back, she credited her smooth recovery to the six months prior to surgery she’d spent preparing her body, mostly in the very weight room in which we were standing. She summed it up perfectly: “If you’re thinking about knee surgery, don’t even consider it unless you’re able to fully prepare going into it.” It stuck with me. Because that logic applies to far more than surgery. The work you do before you need it is what carries you through when you do.