Is Creatine worth the weight gain?

[Poser]

Monohydrate; 5 grams, probably 20-ish years now

My only issue is that when I get my blood work done annually is my creatine level is usually slightly out of range (elevated). Even though I’ve told them I take creatine daily as a supplement, they usually want to have more testing done. Now I skip creatine for the week prior and it falls into the normal range

You mean your creatinine levels are elevated. It’s a false positive on blood work though you can ask for a Cystatin C test to work around these elevated creatinine levels.
I had the same issue with my doctor, though, interestingly enough, once I started mega dosing creatine in the 10g daily range, my kidney numbers were in the normal range and my creatinine levels only slightly elevated compared to 5g daily of creatine.

 

[ColPenguin]

OP, change your mindset to burn/lose fat and have better long-term health outcomes, and not making the objective losing weight.

Creatine won't hamper the goal of losing visceral fat and will support recovery from athletic activity.

 

[mtwarden]

You mean your creatinine levels are elevated. It’s a false positive on blood work though you can ask for a Cystatin C test to work around these elevated creatinine levels.
I had the same issue with my doctor, though, interestingly enough, once I started mega dosing creatine in the 10g daily range, my kidney numbers were in the normal range and my creatinine levels only slightly elevated compared to 5g daily of creatine.

That’s interesting

 

[anonymous22]

You mean your creatinine levels are elevated. It’s a false positive on blood work though you can ask for a Cystatin C test to work around these elevated creatinine levels.
I had the same issue with my doctor, though, interestingly enough, once I started mega dosing creatine in the 10g daily range, my kidney numbers were in the normal range and my creatinine levels only slightly elevated compared to 5g daily of creatine.

Once your muscles reach full saturation during a high-dose phase, your body stops absorbing the excess and settles into a steady, higher rate of creatine breakdown, which allows your creatinine levels to stabilize.

 

[aks]

If there is one supplement you should take it's creatine.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Assuming your body responds to creatine, which some people's bodies do not, it can be worth it just for the cognitive benefits, though you likely do have to take more than 5g a day to get those benefits. Drink a glass of water with 10-20g of creatine in the morning and your mental clarity and focus will be dialed in. I do 10g most days, but if I have a task that requires extra focus or I didn't sleep well, I'll take 15-20g.

Weight gain wise, you're looking at maybe 3-5 lbs of water weight.

I’ve been taking 5g of creatine since college, back when they told you that you needed to cycle on and off and you were supposed to add to a sugary drink for better absorption.

I’ve never heard of taking more than 5g but I’ll give it a shot. Is monohydrate recommended for that purpose?

 

[dirtshooter]

Creatine can apparently help with sleeping as well.

 

[Poser]

I’ve been taking 5g of creatine since college, back when they told you that you needed to cycle on and off and you were supposed to add to a sugary drink for better absorption.

I’ve never heard of taking more than 5g but I’ll give it a shot. Is monohydrate recommended for that purpose?

It’s what I use. If you look into creatine “mega dosing” you’ll see that it’s quite popular for the cognitive benefits.

 

[teamwhitebelly]

I’ve been taking 5g of creatine since college, back when they told you that you needed to cycle on and off and you were supposed to add to a sugary drink for better absorption.

I’ve never heard of taking more than 5g but I’ll give it a shot. Is monohydrate recommended for that purpose?

take with salt. Rhonda Patrick says

 

[teamwhitebelly]

If you eat plenty of red meat you probably don't have a creatine deficiency in your diet. Seems to really help the guys eating lean chicken and such constantly.


This

need 2.5 lbs, of red meat daily to equal 5g of creatine

 

[BigSpikes]

Creatine is one of the most studied substances. Everyone that lifts regularly should be taking it imo.

 

[pattimusprime22]

The only one I've used is Legion Athletics creatine gummies. They don't use Creapure, but they are third party tested and are shown to have the amount of creatine that they claim. They are significantly more expensive per serving than just getting regular creatine powder though.

I would also be careful of other creatine gummies. I've seen videos where they check a lot of different supplement companies gummies and find they don't have the claimed amount in each if any at all.

Here's a recent video where they found that the top selling brand on Amazon for creatine gummies has NO creatine in them.

 

[IAmTheBaddest14]

need 2.5 lbs, of red meat daily to equal 5g of creatine

Getting creatine thru red meat sounds a lot easier in theory than in practice

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Getting creatine thru red meat sounds a lot easier in theory than in practice

You're practically a vegan if you don't eat 2.5lbs of red meat pork and fish per day.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

Follow up for you guys who take it…do you only take it on days you work out or 7 days a week?

Creatine takes about 2 weeks to build in the body and as much time to be disposed of. It's not a "bump" type product, it loads slowly in the muscles and releases the same. A dose every day (or close to it) or nothing.

 

[hoosierhunter11]

Follow up for you guys who take it…do you only take it on days you work out or 7 days a week?

I take 10g every day. Usually first thing in the morning but sometimes I forget and do it around dinner time. Since Jan 2024 I've gone from 290 to 228. My goal is to hit 215ish but I've been hovering around 230 since Jan 2026. The comprehensive health benefits and low cost of creatine far outweigh any concerns about holding water weight in my opinion. It's low hanging fruit

 

[Trimbandit]

OP, change your mindset to burn/lose fat and have better long-term health outcomes, and not making the objective losing weight.

This 100%

Is health your goal, or is weight loss your goal

Powder creatine from Costco is cheap. 2-3 mo supply for $15.
Take 5-10 grams per day.
Thank us later.

 

[Road_Hunter]

Creatine has helped with my sucky sleep. I just don't sleep well anymore. But now if I have a night where I only sleep two or three hours, I can still function fairly well. It may also be helping memory, but it's a guess. I can't really prove it.

This is the biggest benefit I've found. It was a game changer for my wife. 2 under 2 and 12 hour shifts makes for terrible sleep. Creatine makes mornings bearable.

If I was training at the edge of my physical ability, I might notice the strength and physique benefits more, but for me it's mostly about being able to function at better than 80% cognitively after poor sleep.

I take 10g a day.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Just a follow-up, I found the Nutricost Creatine on sale on Amazon for $39.99 for the 1 kg container. That's 200 5 gram servings. If you take 5 grams a day, it should last you about 6 months.

 

[P Carter]

Here's a thought/experiment on this topic. I'm a healthy 41 year old, 5 foot 10 around 170 lbs

I've been considering whether to add creatine, for all the reasons expressed in this thread. I am, however, reluctant to add complication, expense, and potential other impacts when a straightforward and simple solution will do. So i ran an experiment.

I took a Dexa scan in December, before beginning a strength block. I was going to take creatine, but realized then I wouldn't be able to determine whether the creatine, or just the strength work, created any change. So I decided to run one strength block without creatine and see what happened.

From December to mid-April, I did roughly 3 strength workouts a week and (more or less) maintained around 25 miles per week of running or hiking. Workouts were simple: 1 day of squat/OH press and 1 day of deadlift/bent over row. Every strength day, I did pullups and pushups and some bodyweight mobility. I increased protein intake, but nothing crazy. No supplements. I've done this routine for years, but really scaled back last summer and fall due to some injuries and endurance-based priorities.

I did a Dexa scan yesterday to see what happened. I gained around 5.5 lbs of weight, 171 lbs to 176 lbs. I gained 7 lbs of lean body mass and lost around 3 lbs of fat mass, decreased fat % from just over 16.5% to just under 15.5%. So decent results, with not that much effort, and no supplements.

Of course, this raises the question: would things have been even better with creatine? Maybe, for kicks, i'll try it next year and see what happens.

But if I'd taken creatine, I surely would've attributed some or all of the results to the creatine.

To be clear, I'm not saying that anyone should or should not take creatine. Just an anecdote that might add to the conversation. And if you're on the fence, maybe run an experiment to get a baseline and see if the supplement, or something else, is making the difference. Doesn't hurt anything.