Creatine Rethought
Creatine is the most researched supplement in sports nutrition. Decades of trials. Thousands of athletes. A reputation built in the gym.
But its most compelling story has nothing to do with muscle. It's about the organ that burns a fifth of your energy while weighing almost nothing. Your brain.
A small organ with a huge appetite
Your brain is a sliver of your body weight — yet it draws a fifth of your daily energy. Every thought, memory and connection runs on ATP, the cell's energy currency.
What creatine actually does
Creatine isn't exotic. It's a natural compound found in every cell, and your body already makes some itself. Stored as phosphocreatine, it acts as a rapid energy reserve — regenerating ATP exactly where and when your cells need it most.
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The buffer, visualised
When your brain works hard, ATP demand surges. Phosphocreatine steps in to keep usable energy steady — smoothing the peaks instead of letting them crash.
Conceptual illustration of the phosphocreatine energy buffer — not clinical trial data.
What the research suggests
Emerging studies point to creatine supporting:
*A promising picture, not a finished one — more high-quality clinical trials are needed before firm recommendations can be made.
The dose question
Most guidance settles on 3–5 grams a day — enough to saturate muscle. But when the goal is the brain, some experts argue for more.
Dr Darren Candow, a leading creatine researcher, stands firm on around 10 grams daily, split into two 5-gram doses to avoid any stomach upset. His reasoning: modern life keeps us in a near-constant state of low-grade stress, and a fuller creatine reserve may help the brain meet that demand.
For acute stressors — long-haul flights, crossing time zones, a broken night's sleep — he suggests a short-term jump to around 20 grams as a one-off, to draw on creatine's restorative, protective effect on the brain. A 14-gram dose didn't achieve the same result in testing, so roughly 20 grams appears to be the useful threshold for these occasional interventions.
Two practical notes. On quality, monohydrate remains number one — look for Creapure® named on the label, a recognised mark of purity. And on taking time off: your body holds creatine for roughly four weeks. Stop for a month and levels drift back to baseline — but away for a week? Leave it at home; your stores will keep.
Higher-dose regimes are an emerging, goal-specific approach rather than a universal rule — build up gradually, split your doses, and check with a clinician first, especially at the upper end.
Is it safe?
For most healthy adults, creatine monohydrate holds one of the strongest safety records of any supplement. A typical starting dose is 3–5 grams daily, with some brain-focused regimes using more (see above). A few sensible checks:
- Choose creatine monohydrate — ideally Creapure®-verified — from a reputable, tested source
- Stay well hydrated throughout the day
- Speak to a clinician first if you have kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take regular medication
- Add it alongside — never instead of — good sleep, nutrition and movement
Your questions, answered
You don't have to load. Around 20g a day for 5–7 days saturates your stores faster, but a steady 3–5g daily reaches the same point in about three to four weeks. Both routes end in the same place — loading is simply quicker.
Creatine monohydrate. It's the most studied, most affordable and best-evidenced form. Fancier versions — HCl, buffered, ethyl ester — haven't been shown to outperform it, so you're paying more for no proven advantage. For purity, look for Creapure® on the label.
You may see a small early rise on the scales — usually 1–2kg — but this is water drawn into muscle cells, not fat, and not bulk. Creatine helps you train, not inflate. Many people notice no visible change at all.
In healthy adults at normal doses, long-term studies have found no evidence of kidney harm. Creatine can nudge up blood creatinine — the marker most kidney tests rely on — which can make your eGFR read lower without your kidneys actually changing. If a result looks off, a cystatin C–based test measures kidney function independently of creatine and usually settles the question. Always tell your clinician you take creatine before routine bloods, and speak to them first if you have existing kidney disease.
Yes. Creatine is safe and beneficial for women, and interest in its role across female physiology and cognition is growing. The same 3–5g daily dose applies.
Often, yes. Dietary creatine comes mainly from meat and fish, so plant-based eaters tend to start with lower stores — and may show a more noticeable response, particularly on cognitive measures, once supplemented.
Consistency beats timing. Because creatine works by keeping your stores topped up, the best time is whenever you'll remember it every day. Anchoring it to a daily habit, like breakfast, is the most reliable approach.
The muscle evidence is well established; the brain evidence is newer but promising. Creatine supports the brain's phosphocreatine reserve, with early studies pointing to benefits under sleep deprivation, mental fatigue and healthy ageing. More high-quality trials are still needed before firm claims can be made.
The functional medicine view
Creatine is not just for athletes. It's a key player in mitochondrial function, cellular resilience and brain bioenergetics.
At Levitas, we don't chase trends — we look at the physiology. Where the evidence supports it, we help you optimise it safely, as part of a wider plan built around you.
