Does creatine boost athletic performance?
Most studies on creatine supplements, which typically contain a form of the compound called creatine monohydrate, have evaluated their effects on athletic performance and muscle growth, Dr. Antonio said.
For people who want to use creatine for improvements in these areas, experts typically recommend taking about three to five grams per day in the form of supplements.
Creatine has also been shown to help build muscle among people who do regular strength training. In a 2022 analysis and review of 35 clinical trials involving nearly 1,200 adults, researchers found that people who took creatine supplements while resistance training increased their lean body mass (or the weight of everything in their body except fat) by an average of more than two pounds. The trials involved different dosages of creatine over different lengths of time, from one week to four months.
But are these improvements large enough to be noticeable or meaningful to health or exercise performance? That’s the key question, Dr. Seres said.
A small increase in muscle mass may, however, be meaningful for people who have low muscle mass or low muscle strength, such as older adults or those with sarcopenia, a condition characterized by age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, Dr. Fielding said.
In a 2024 analysis of 16 clinical trials involving about 500 adults — some of whom were healthy and some of whom had conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or schizophrenia — researchers found that various doses of creatine supplements improved people’s memory and attention time, but not their overall brain function, including impulse control, planning and response time.
While more research is needed, Dr. Antonio said, if you want to try using creatine for cognitive benefits, the limited data we have suggests that at least 10 grams per day may be a good place to start.
New to the creatine discussion, so apologies if this has been mentioned already.
This convinced me that in the question of Creatine Monohydrate vs HCL, CM is the clear winner:
Oh noooooo! Great find!
Of course I gave away $100 worth of CM powder!
@sol, I do hate consuming the powder, so is your educated guess that I could still take the HCL to get similar results, but maybe I need 3 pills (750mg x3=2.5g) instead of the 1 pill they say is as effective? Stupid expensive at that point, but if it works, I’m willing to so I actually take it every day… thoughts?
No clue. If you read the article, you know all that I know, and probably more.
I’m getting my CM today, and I’ll get to find out if it tastes like cilantro to me or not. 
Being a researcher, I must say my mind is on a critical thinking mode too often… very tiring some days… I feel that there’s a “Creatinefication” for all things marketing, and in these moments placebo effect can become more significant. Chemistry is only part of the body (including brain / sleep) equation when you compute all the other forces like thoughts, trauma/fear, genetic, light, toxins load, etc. But you are aware and experiments can be fun. Forgive me for/if any demotivating words! Btw, you could also try to optimize your glycine/arginine/methionine intake (that seems to go down with ageing), or even mix creatine to guanidinoacetic acid (GAA), in this case, to facilitate the blood-brain barrier crossing: Creatine-Guanidinoacetic Acid Supplementation Improves Esports Performance in Young Men | Bentham Science Publishers
Relentless pursuit of truth!
Here is an article from a recent Medical Newsletter explaining why Creatine is vitally important for all of us:
Incase this is helpful to anyone else, I wanted to share that I found a source for 5g of creatine monohydrate in 4 capsules. (It’s the only brand I found that packs 5g into only 4 caps)
Sports research
@Tim you mentioned this to me ages ago, but at the time, I thought I was settled on taking HCL which was only 1 cap (too good to be true!), but I have since been told by a few sources to get monohydrate.
I prefer the powder.
wow, that’s really totally the answer to the issues I raised! So glad I am here!
Get on the Creatine Love Train!
I have been using a teaspoon of creatine in my morning coffee with taurine for over a year now. And, then ingest a mini- coffee with creatine before my evening workouts.
Feeling good and can push through my 1 hour and 15 minutes muscle resistance routine easily.
Muscle, Weight Loss, and Brain Power Benefits - Business Insider
Rhonda Patrick says we should dose 15-20 g of Creatine daily when under stress.
She claims 5 g is just for muscles and you have to go over that for your brain. Should we take 10-20 g of Creatine daily for optimal muscle and brain health?
Rhonda Patrick claims a lot.
Rereading your n=1 has inspired me to take a break from creatine and see if I notice any difference in fluid retention. Dapagliflozin has resolved my temporary fluid retention from the sodium in restaurant meals but I still have some peri orbital puffiness that I’d like gone. 
PS Sorry for any incorrect grammar!
Unfortunately, 5 grams daily is the max I can tolerate. For whatever reason, the side effects of creatine are seldom talked about, even though they are a fairly high percentage among users.
Of course it is dose dependent. The percentage of creatine users who report diarrhea varies depending on the dosage:
- In a study of athletes, diarrhea was reported by 39% of those taking creatine supplements, making it the most frequent gastrointestinal complaint.
- Specifically, when creatine was taken as two 5-gram doses per day, 28.6% reported diarrhea. When taken as a single 10-gram dose per day, the incidence rose to 55.6% .
- A broader review found that gastrointestinal issues (including diarrhea) were reported in about 5.5% of creatine users, which was not significantly higher than the placebo group (4.1%).
In summary, the incidence of diarrhea among creatine users ranges from about 5% to 39% overall, and can exceed 50% with higher single doses
It may or may not work as well, but if your alternative is no creatine, just here to share that, supposedly, HCI creatine does not cause as much bloating.
Thanks for the idea. I have been using monohydrate version.
FWIW, taurine impacts fluid retention. I have cited this before:
TAURINE DIURETIC AND RENAL-REVITALIZING EFFECTS IN NONAGENARIANS
https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03207.x
In general if I had to pick between supplementing taurine or creatine, I’d pick taurine every time. Of course there is no need to choose, you can take both. For now I’m sticking to just taurine and see no need for creatine for my situation at this point in time. I may one day start taking creatine if and when the need arises.
I also think taurine is synergistic with SGLT2i, as I’ve posted about elsewhere on this site. Taurine FTW.
Fantastic, I’ve been trying to remember to take taurine. I’ve not been as disciplined with taking it as I have been with creatine.