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Creatine+ is an advanced creatine system designed for longevity, strength, and cognition. Creatine+ combines ultra-high quality creatine monohydrate with HMB to increase lean muscle and strength and reduce muscle damage associated with exercise, and pomegranate extract standardized to punicalagins—precursors to urolithin A to promote mitochondrial renewal and cellular energy production.
The short answer
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that helps your cells produce energy. While it's best known for supporting athletic performance and muscle growth, a growing body of research suggests that creatine may also play an important role in healthy aging by supporting muscle function, cognitive performance, and resilience during periods of physical and mental stress.
In fact, creatine monohydrate is one of the most extensively studied nutritional supplements available, with decades of research and more than 680 peer-reviewed clinical trials supporting its efficacy and safety.
Despite its reputation as a "gym supplement," creatine is not a stimulant, a hormone, or an anabolic steroid. It's a compound your body already makes—and one that may become increasingly important as we age.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring nitrogen-containing compound synthesized from three amino acids:
- • Glycine
- • Arginine
- • Methionine
Your body needs to replenish about 1 to 3 g of creatine per day to maintain normal (unsupplemented) creatine stores depending on muscle mass. Clinical populations and athletes may need more (up to 30 g/day). About half of the daily need for creatine is synthesized in the body (primarily in the liver and kidneys from arginine, glycine, and methionine). The remainder must be obtained from the diet and/or dietary supplements. The best sources of creatine in the diet are:
- • Red meat
- • Fish
- • Poultry (in smaller amounts)
Vegetarians may have lower than normal creatine levels. After creatine is produced or consumed, it enters the bloodstream and is transported to tissues with high energy demands.
Approximately:
- • 95% of the body's creatine is stored in skeletal muscle
- • The remaining 5% is found in energy-demanding tissues such as the brain, heart, and testes
Within cells, creatine exists primarily in two forms:
- • Free creatine
- • Phosphocreatine
Together, they function as a rapid-response energy system.
How does creatine work?
To understand creatine, it helps to understand how the body produces energy.
Every cell relies on a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is often referred to as the body's "energy currency" because it powers virtually every cellular process, including:
- • Muscle contraction
- • Nerve signaling
- • Protein synthesis
- • Active transport
- • Brain function
The challenge? Cells store only a limited amount of ATP. During high-demand situations, ATP can become depleted within seconds. This is where creatine becomes essential.
Phosphocreatine acts as a reserve of high-energy phosphate groups. When ATP levels fall, phosphocreatine rapidly donates a phosphate molecule to regenerate ATP. This process allows cells to maintain energy production when demands suddenly increase.
In practical terms, creatine helps you sustain performance during:
- • Resistance training
- • Sprinting
- • High-intensity exercise
- • Repeated efforts
- • Mentally demanding tasks
Why do people take creatine?
Creatine is perhaps best known for supporting:
Lean muscle and strength
Numerous studies have demonstrated that creatine supplementation can improve:
- • Maximal strength
- • Power output
- • Lean body mass
- • Resistance training adaptations
The International Society of Sports Nutrition states:
"Creatine monohydrate is the most effective nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training." [1]
Importantly, creatine doesn't build muscle on its own. Instead, it allows people to train harder and recover between efforts, resulting in greater adaptations over time.
Creatine and healthy aging
Muscle naturally declines with age. Beginning in midlife, adults gradually lose muscle mass and strength, which can affect:
- • Physical function
- • Balance
- • Independence
- • Metabolic health
- • Quality of life
Resistance training remains the foundation for preserving muscle throughout life. Research suggests, however, that creatine supplementation may help older adults maximize the benefits of exercise.
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that older adults supplementing with creatine during resistance training experienced greater improvements in lean tissue mass and upper- and lower-body strength compared with resistance training alone [2].
In other words, creatine may help people get more out of the exercise they're already doing.
Creatine and brain health
Although skeletal muscle contains most of the body's creatine, the brain is also highly dependent on efficient energy production. Despite accounting for only about 2% of body weight, the brain consumes approximately 20% of the body's resting energy expenditure.
Brain cells use ATP continuously to support:
- • Attention
- • Memory
- • Information processing
- • Neurotransmitter activity
- • Maintenance of cellular homeostasis
Because creatine helps regenerate ATP, researchers have become increasingly interested in whether supplementation can support cognitive function.
A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found evidence suggesting that creatine supplementation may support cognitive function in adults, particularly in the domains of memory and attention, with subgroup analyses suggesting that women may derive particular benefit [3]. Emerging evidence also suggests that short-term, high-dose creatine supplementation may alleviate fading of cognitive performance during times of mental stress like sleep deprivation [4].
While larger studies are needed to further validate these findings on cognitive benefits and to fine-tune dosing and intervention durations—especially for different populations—this growing body of studies suggest that creatine's benefits may extend beyond muscle.
Is creatine only for athletes?
Not anymore. The traditional image of creatine has centered around bodybuilders and elite athletes. But research over the past decade has expanded that view considerably.
Today, creatine is being studied in relation to:
- • Healthy aging
- • Women's health
- • Cognitive resilience
- • Recovery from exercise
- • Periods of inactivity
- • Maintenance of muscle function
The populations studied now include:
- • Older adults
- • Women
- • Recreational exercisers
- • Vegetarians and vegans
- • Individuals experiencing physiological transitions such as menopause
This evolution reflects a broader understanding of creatine's role in human biology. At its core, creatine is an energy-supporting compound—not simply a performance supplement.
Does creatine cause water retention?
One of the most persistent myths about creatine is that it causes bloating.
The reality is more nuanced.
While there is some evidence suggesting that creatine supplementation may increase water retention—attributed to increases in water content inside muscle cells (also known as intracellular hydration)—these results were primarily associated with protocols involving a high-dose loading phase, and usually observed in the first several days.
This differs from the subcutaneous water retention often associated with feeling "puffy," or gastrointestinal discomfort known as “bloat.”
Importantly, there are several other studies suggesting creatine supplementation does not alter total body water (intra or extracellular) relative to muscle mass over longer periods of time.
While following a loading protocol, which involves high-dose creatine for 5-7 days, can help to quickly saturate muscle creatine levels, starting at a lower “maintenance” dose of 3-5 g per day will also allow you reach saturation more gradually and minimize potential side effects like water retention or GI discomfort.
Is creatine safe?
Few supplements have undergone the level of scientific scrutiny that creatine has. Creatine monohydrate has been investigated in hundreds of clinical studies over several decades—over 680 studies!
The International Society of Sports Nutrition concluded that creatine supplementation is not only effective but also safe in healthy individuals when consumed at recommended doses [1].
Studies have not demonstrated adverse effects on kidney function in healthy populations using recommended dosages. That said, individuals with pre-existing kidney disease or other medical conditions should consult their healthcare provider before beginning supplementation.
How much creatine should you take?
For most healthy adults, the evidence supports a simple approach.
Option 1: Daily maintenance
- • 3–5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily
This dose effectively increases and maintains muscle creatine stores over time.
Option 2: Loading protocol
Some people choose to saturate muscle stores more rapidly using:
- • 20 grams daily
- • Divided into four 5-gram doses
- • For 5–7 days
This is followed by:
- • 3–5 grams daily
Loading is not necessary. Consistent daily supplementation eventually produces similar increases in muscle creatine stores. For most individuals, simplicity supports adherence.
Frequently asked questions
Is creatine a steroid?
No.
Creatine is not a steroid, hormone, or stimulant.
It is a naturally occurring compound involved in cellular energy production.
Do women benefit from creatine?
Yes.
Emerging research suggests women may benefit from creatine across the lifespan, particularly for supporting muscle function, cognition, and resilience during menopause.
Can vegetarians and vegans take creatine?
Yes.
Because dietary creatine is found primarily in animal products, vegetarians and vegans often have lower baseline muscle creatine stores and may experience robust responses to supplementation.
Do I need to cycle creatine?
No.
Current evidence does not support the need for cycling on and off creatine.
What form of creatine has the strongest evidence?
Creatine monohydrate remains the most extensively studied and clinically supported form of creatine available.
The bottom line
Creatine is far more than a supplement for athletes.
It is a naturally occurring compound that helps power the tissues we depend on most—from our muscles to our brains. By supporting the rapid regeneration of cellular energy, creatine helps us respond to the moments that demand more from our bodies and minds.
The science surrounding creatine has evolved dramatically over the past several decades. What began as a tool for enhancing athletic performance is increasingly being recognized as a nutritional strategy that may help support healthy aging, preserve strength, and promote resilience throughout life.
Creatine won't stop the aging process. But by helping sustain the energy systems that underlie movement, cognition, and vitality, it may help us age with greater strength and capability.
Sometimes the most powerful interventions aren't the newest ones. They're the ones we've taken the time to understand.
References
1. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18.
2. Chilibeck PD, Kaviani M, Candow DG, Zello GA. Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017;8:213–226.
3. Xu C, et al. The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2024;11:1424972.
4. Gordji-Nejad A, et al. Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation. Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):4937.
