About creatine supplements
How much creatine should you take?
The common advice you'll hear on creatine dosage is to take 5 grams of creatine per day. That dosage will work, MacDonald says, but there is a more efficient way to ensure your muscles are saturated with creatine.
"The fastest way to saturate the muscle with creatine is to consume 20g or ~0.3 grams per kg of body weight a day of creatine monohydrate for seven days," MacDonald says. So if you weigh 60kg (132 pounds), you'd take 18 grams of creatine per day for a week. MacDonald recommends splitting this across 4 doses a day to reduce the chances of GI distress.
After seven days, you can go down to a maintenance dose that is one-tenth of this (0.03 grams/kg of body weight per day). So using the 60kg person example, that'd be 1.8 grams a day. There's no harm in taking the standard dose of 5 grams a day, MacDonald says, but you don't need that much to maintain your levels.
Are there any side effects of taking creatine?
As mentioned above, higher doses of creatine (more than 5 grams at a time) may cause digestive discomfort. Also, don't be surprised if you see the scale jump right after you start taking creatine. It can cause water weight gain due to your muscles holding more water than usual. But in terms of your health, studies have shown that you can safely take up to 30g per day for at least 5 years.
Is there anyone who shouldn't take creatine?
Experts emphasize that overall, creatine is a safe supplement to take. "The only caution worth mentioning is in those who have pre-existing issues with their kidneys," MacDonald says. If you have any kidney problems, it's smart to check in with your doctor before starting creatine. Also, those on medication should always check with their doctor before use, Vichill adds.
How long should you take creatine supplements?
You can take creatine indefinitely. "In fact, long-term supplementation has been shown to have lasting improvements on performance, and a positive effect on lean body mass over time," Asche says.
Do you need to cycle creatine doses?
You may see recommendations about cycling creatine, for example, supplementing for 12 weeks and then taking 4 weeks off. The rationale behind this was that since we produce less of our own creatine when supplementing, it'd be smart to give your body a break to "recover" and start producing more creatine again. But this advice is outdated and unnecessary, MacDonald says. "While we produce less creatine in our bodies when we supplement, it goes straight back up whenever we stop taking creatine."
What types of fitness goals does supplementing with creatine make sense for?
Supplementing with creatine makes the most sense for people who want to improve their athletic performance, maintain muscle mass (including after injury), or gain muscle mass. If you're trying to cut significant weight, for example, there may be no point in supplementing with creatine, says Abby Vichill, MS, RDN, LD, founder of FWDfuel Sports Nutrition.
It's also worth noting that creatine needs to be combined with proper training and nutrition for best results. Simply taking creatine without eating a diet to support lean muscle gain, or without training in the right capacity, will not cause your performance or results to magically shoot through the roof, Vichill says.
Are there any other benefits to taking creatine?
Aside from creatine's athletic performance and muscle gain benefits, there have been a host of discoveries relating to health and the use of creatine, according to MacDonald. Creatine is also found in the brain, and research in young children with traumatic brain injury has shown creatine may help reduce the post-traumatic amnesia, the time needed in an intensive care unit, and the time needed for recovery of communication and locomotion, MacDonald says. "This has led to current research on creatine use in sports that lead to regular concussions such as rugby and boxing." Similarly, some research shows there may be some promise in the use of creatine to benefit other brain concerns such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.