This post reviews the many health benefits of creatine for women. Creatine isn't just for building muscle, and can help improve health in many different ways including improving energy, improving mood, helping to balance hormones and more.

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Table of Contents
- What is creatine?
- Why women may need to take creatine:
- Health benefits of creatine for women:
- Risks of creatine:
- Will taking creatine make me gain weight?
- How much creatine should I take?
- How to take creatine:
- What is the best type of creatine to take?
- Bottom line: should you take creatine?
- Frequently asked questions:
- Other health information you will want to read:
- Our expertise:
What is creatine?
Creatine is a compound found in certain types of animals and is critical for maintaining energy balance within the body. Creatine is mainly found in muscles and the brain, and most people get creatine from eating seafood and red meat, but you can also get creatine as a supplement.
Creatine is commonly used supplement, especially in the fitness community, but taking creatine has been shown to be helpful for many reasons, not just for improving athletic performance.
Why women may need to take creatine:
Females have been shown to consume lower amounts of dietary creatine compared to males, women have 70–80% lower endogenous creatine stores compared to men, and lower levels of brain creatine compared to men.
As well, the physiologic changes that women experience related to their menstrual cycles, during pregnancy, and during menopause, all lead to unique physical changes that creatine has been shown to be beneficial for. As such, in this post we will review the many potential health benefits of taking creatine for women.
Health benefits of creatine for women:
1. Helps muscles produce more energy
Creatine helps increase muscles’ phosphocreatine stores and phosphocreatine aids in the formation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the key molecule that your cells use to make energy. When you exercise, ATP is broken down to produce energy and the rate of ATP re-synthesis limits your ability to continually exercise at maximum intensity, as you use up ATP faster than you can reproduce it.
Creatine supplementation increases your phosphocreatine stores, allowing you to produce more ATP to fuel your muscles during high-intensity exercise which is why creatine supplementation is most effective for high-intensity, short duration exercise or repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise with short rest periods such as jumping, sprinting, and resistance training.
2. Increases muscle strength and exercise performance
Creatine is helpful for increasing strength, power, and exercise performance in women.
In female athletes, the addition of creatine supplementation to weight training compared to weight training alone leads to increased strength and power and even in women who previously didn't exercise, taking creatine helps increase muscle strength when combined with resistance training compared to resistance training alone.
3. Increases muscle growth
Taking creatine can help increase muscle stimulation during exercise which can in turn lead to increased muscle mass, strength, and growth. This change is seen in both men and women who take creatine.
4. May help neurological conditions
One factor that is common to in many different neurological diseases is a reduction of phosphocreatine in the brain, and since creatine can increase phosphocreatine levels, it is felt that creatine may help treat or slow the progression of certain neurological conditions.
When we look at animal studies, creatine supplementation has been shown to be helpful in treating a number of neurological conditions including:
- Huntingtons disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Certain types of strokes
- Epilepsy
- Brain or spinal cord injuries
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
However, it should be noted that human studies of creatine supplementation in these various neurological conditions are lacking, and so far these benefits have only been observed in animal studies. Hopefully in the near future human studies will be done so that we can learn more.
5. May help lower blood sugar levels
Studies have shown that creatine supplements may lower blood sugar levels by increasing the function of glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT-4), a transporter that brings blood sugar (glucose) into muscles.
A human study did show that creatine supplementation can improve glucose tolerance but so far there have not been studies showing improvements in fasting blood glucose or insulin resistance and more human studies are needed to determine whether or not creatine is helpful for those with diabetes.
6. Helps improve brain function
Creatine is important for brain function and health. Your brain needs a significant amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) when performing difficult tasks and creatine helps increase the levels of ATP and its regulator, adenosine diphosphate in the brain.
In human studies creatine supplementation has been shown to be helpful for improving brain function and has shown benefits for both working memory and intelligence.
As well, in older adults creatine supplementation has shown to help improve memory and cognitive ability, after only 2 weeks of supplementation.
7. Reduces fatigue
Creatine supplements may also reduce tiredness and fatigue. Creatine supplementation has been shown to decrease fatigue in those with traumatic brain injuries, during sleep deprivation and in athletes during exercise.
8. Improves mood
Females have been shown to have lower levels of creatine in the brain, especially in the frontal lobe which helps control mood, cognition, memory, and emotion. As a result, creatine supplementation may be even more effective for females when it comes to improving cognitive function and mood regulation.
In studies, when combined with regular antidepressant use, creatine supplementation has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms in females with major depression. Another small study also showed that creatine can be helpful in those with resistant depression (although not bipolar disorder).
Additionally, dietary creatine intake is inversely proportional with depression occurrence. In other words, those who eat lower amounts of creatine have higher rates of depression.
9. Helps with hormone related changes
Creatine supplementation may be especially important for women due to the hormone changes that happen related to the menstrual cycle. Animal studies have shown that the expression of arginine-glycine aminotransferase (AGAT), the rate limiting step of creatine synthesis, is influenced by estrogen and testosterone levels. As well, estrogen and progesterone have been shown to impact creatine kinase (CK) activities and the expression of the enzymes needed for the synthesis of creatine in the body.
Serum CK levels are significantly higher during menstruation compared to non-menstruating years, and CK levels decrease with age and pregnancy, with the lowest levels of CK being found during early pregnancy (20 weeks or less).
The highest levels of estrogen occur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (which begins just after ovulation and goes through the end of the cycle - see the diagram below for more details). Protein breakdown has been shown to be higher during the luteal phase, while carbohydrate storage has been shown to be reduced during this phase. Given the increased protein turnover and use in the luteal phase, it is felt that creatine supplementation may be especially helpful for women in this phase of the menstrual cycle.
10. Improves reproductive health
Creatine is critical for reproductive health in females. The ovaries and other reproductive organs such as the placenta have high levels of total creatine, creatine-specific enzymes, and creatine transporters, which shows just how important creatine is for these organs.
As well, women who eat more creatine have better reproductive health. It was found that women who eat 13 mg or more of creatine per kilogram of body weight per day had lower risks of irregular menstrual cycles, fetal abnormalities, pelvic infections, need for hysterectomy or oophorectomy, and need to receive hormone replacement therapy.
It has also been shown that menstrual irregularities are more common in women who do not include creatine-containing foods in their diet (such as those who are vegetarian or vegan).
11. Helpful for pregnancy
The increased metabolic demands from growth and development during pregnancy have been associated with lower creatine levels and a reduction in creatine stores during pregnancy have been linked with low birth weight and pre-term birth.
Many animal studies have shown that creatine supplementation during pregnancy is helpful, but so far, human studies are lacking. However, it is generally felt that creatine is safe to take during pregnancy and could be a low cost way of helping to reduce pregnancy and postpartum complications.
12. Can be helpful for post menopausal women
During menopause women experience an age-related loss in muscle mass, bone mass and strength and creatine supplementation has been shown to help counteract some of these changes. Specially, creatine has been shown to decrease the menopausal related decline in muscle, bone, and strength by reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and serum markers of bone resorption, while also resulting in an increase in bone formation (through increased osteoblast activity).
Risks of creatine:
Creatine is a very well studied supplement and has been shown to be a safe and low risk supplement for most people when taken in the recommended doses.
Some side effects that have been reported when taking creatine include:
- Stomach upset and diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Muscle cramps
- Water retention - this is usually only seen with high doses when people first start taking creatine.
There are rare case reports of people experiencing rhabdomyolysis and renal failure when taking very high doses of creatine, so be sure to follow the directions and not take more than the recommended dose.
Also note that if you have kidney disease or kidney failure, liver disease, or high blood pressure it is recommended that you avoid taking creatine.
Will taking creatine make me gain weight?
Interestingly, while men can experience weight gain when taking creatine, studies have shown that in women, taking creatine doesn't usually cause weight gain so this shouldn't be something you need to worry about.
How much creatine should I take?
Supplementing with creatine can be done using 2 main strategies: a loading phase or a daily dose (both of which ultimately result in the same levels of intramuscular creatine levels).
If you want to do a loading phase you would take 5 grams, 4 times a day for 5 days and then move to the maintenance dose of 5 grams daily. If you use this method it takes about 5 days to increase your intramuscular stores of creatine.
Alternatively, you can just take 5 grams daily without the loading doses. This is the method I personally used when I started taking creatine. Just note that using this method it will take about 3-4 weeks to increase the intramuscular creatine stores, compared to the 5 days with the loading phase method.
Which method you choose will depend on your own personal goals and how quickly you are looking to see results.
How to take creatine:
Skeletal muscle creatine uptake can be affected by insulin availability, and consuming creatine with carbohydrate (approximately 50 grams) and protein (about 50 grams) or glucose, may increase the muscle creatine concentrations compared to taking creatine alone.
However, in women, the additional calories from carbohydrates and protein may not be needed. Specifically, for women who tend to burn fewer calories than men, if additional calories are not needed to meet nutritional needs or goals, the benefit of trying to enhance creatine absorption by consuming more food may not be needed as creatine already has a high bioavailability.
As well, due to the physiologic changes that women experience related to their menstrual cycle, the lower carbohydrate oxidation that is seen in the follicular phase may suggest that adding extra food when taking creatine is not needed.
On workout days it is best to take creatine shortly before or after your workout. On days when you don't exercise, the timing of when you take creatine is not important, and one strategy is to simply take creatine with a meal or add it to a protein shake. I usually just have it with my other supplements with my breakfast.
What is the best type of creatine to take?
You can get creatine in a few different ways including creatine powders or capsules, and naturally in foods such as meat or fish. It has been shown that creatine is best absorbed when it is taken as a liquid rather than the other forms. As such, the best way to take creatine to ensure optimal absorption is to dissolve creatine monohydrate powder in a liquid and drink it.
There are many brands of creatine powder the market. I personally use Kion creatine monohydrate powder (shop for Kion creatine and use code DRERIN to get 10-20% off) but you can easily find creatine powder at drug stores and health food stores.
Bottom line: should you take creatine?
Whether or not you should take creatine is a personal decision. It is a very well researched supplement that is considered safe for most people to take, and does have many potential benefits associated with taking it.
Like any supplement, be sure to discuss it with your doctor or other healthcare practitioner before starting creatine. And if you have underlying kidney disease, liver disease or high blood pressure it is recommended that you avoid taking creatine.
Frequently asked questions:
In most cases yes, creatine has been shown to be safe for teens and adolescents to take. However, I always recommend asking your own doctor or health care provider before staring any new supplements, especially when it comes to children and teens.
Other health information you will want to read:
Our expertise:
Dr. Erin Carter, MD, FRCPC, is a physician with board certifications in internal medicine and rheumatology. She is passionate about preventative health including nutrition, environmental health and low toxicity living.
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