The most-studied performance supplement. The strongest current evidence is for power or sprint performance and added benefit when paired with resistance training, with probably-helpful evidence for broader exercise performance, strength, cognition, and fatigue. Safe at typical doses with mild digestive side effects.
What the research says
Each row is a different health effect. A means the support looks strongest, B likely helpful, C mixed or modest, and — not enough human evidence yet.
Papers are individual studies. Research reviews summarize evidence from multiple studies, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
A · Strong evidence of benefit
A
Power & sprints
Improves peak power and repeated-sprint performance.
39 papers · 14 research reviews
A
Paired with resistance training
Creatine amplifies resistance training gains beyond training alone.
38 papers · 13 research reviews
B · Likely helpful
B
Muscle strength
Clear increases in bench press and squat strength. Most consistent evidence.
47 papers · 21 research reviews
B
Exercise performance
Improves a broad range of performance metrics in trained adults.
48 papers · 21 research reviews
B
Mood & depression
7 of 8 papers positive. Growing evidence for creatine as an add-on for depression, especially in women with treatment-resistant symptoms.
10 papers
B
Cognition & memory
Modest effects reported, strongest in older adults and vegetarians.
24 papers
B
Fatigue
Some benefit in clinical fatigue populations; effect size moderate.
31 papers
B
Cognition when sleep-deprived
Interesting area but the few papers available report mixed findings. Not enough consistently positive data to grade higher.
18 papers
C · Mixed or limited evidence
C
Muscle mass
Consistent increases in lean body mass, especially combined with training.
50 papers · 21 research reviews
C
Recovery from exercise
Reduces markers of muscle damage after intense training.
36 papers · 11 research reviews
C
Muscle loss in older adults
Preserves muscle mass and function, particularly with resistance training.
40 papers · 14 research reviews
C
Female athletes
Benefits on strength and power appear similar to male athletes.
27 papers
C
Vegetarian / vegan response
Vegetarians have lower baseline creatine stores and show larger responses to supplementation.
6 papers
C
Bone health (postmenopausal)
Reviews disagree. Some show small BMD benefits when combined with resistance training; others show no effect.
13 papers
C
Diabetes / glucose
Some benefit in insulin sensitivity reported; evidence base still small.
8 papers
C
Parkinson's disease
5 papers, 3 reporting no effect. Large trials did not show slowed progression.
5 papers
— · Not enough human evidence yet
—
Muscular dystrophy
5 papers, zero clearly positive. Does not appear to improve functional outcomes in this specific population.
5 papers
—
Huntington's disease
2 papers
Safety
Safety is graded separately from benefits. Even with a favorable safety label, these notes still matter if you take medication, are pregnant, or have a medical condition.
✓ SafeNo clear harm signal in the human evidence reviewed.
✓
Kidney function
No negative effect on kidney markers in healthy adults. The common warning about creatine and kidney damage is not supported by the data.
32 papers · 5 research reviews
Quick facts
Dose, form and timing based on trials in the database.
Typical dose
3–5 g/day, taken consistently
Best taken
With or without meals; timing relative to training does not meaningfully affect outcomes
Form
Creatine monohydrate is the most-studied and cheapest form. Other forms (HCl, ethyl ester, buffered) lack evidence of superior performance
Common side effects
Mild stomach discomfort and water-weight gain (1–2 kg in first week). Both typically resolve within weeks
Drug interactions
None significant in the trials reviewed
Loading phase
Optional. 20 g/day for 5–7 days reaches saturation faster than steady 3–5 g/day, but ends up in the same place
Quality-verified products
Products that pass third-party quality testing.
Product quality data coming soon
Product recommendations are being built from USP Verified, NSF Certified, and Labdoor test data. Products will only appear here after the supplement itself clears the evidence bar above — and only if the product passes third-party purity testing.
How we graded Creatine
Grades come from 183 unique research papers indexed from PubMed — including 44 meta-analyses, 30 systematic reviews, and 109 randomized trials. Twenty-six of 183 papers were rated low-confidence due to combination products (creatine paired with whey, beta-alanine, or HMB) where creatine's contribution could not be isolated. Each supplement is graded by health effect using a certainty × effect matrix applied across PubMed evidence per health effect. Cochrane reviews and high-quality systematic reviews carry the most weight. From abstract-only data, "high certainty" is rare — most A grades come from moderate certainty plus consistent meaningful-positive evidence. See Methodology for full detail.