We Asked Experts To Share The Optimal Time To Take Creatine Supplements — Here's What They Said

Nov 06, 2024

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If you’re a dedicated exerciser, you probably like to keep an eye out for things that can help you work out more efficiently. With that, you may have heard about using the supplement creatine to try to help create stronger muscles and better workout sessions. So when exactly is the best time and method to take creatine for optimal results? Asked and answered here.

It’s always a good idea to check in with a healthcare provider before starting a new supplement, including creatine. If you got the greenlight, we tapped dietitians for their take on the best time to take creatine and what to know before trying it.

Meet the experts: Jessica Cording, RD, is a dietitian the author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, is a dietitian the co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab.

Creatine is a compound that comes from three amino acids, explains Jessica Cording, RD, a dietitian and author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. “Creatine essentially provides energy for our muscles,” she says.

“It's naturally produced in your body,” adds Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, a dietitian and co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab. “The average person’s liver, pancreas, and kidneys produce about a gram of creatine a day.” About 95 percent of the body's creatine is stored in the muscles in the form of phosphocreatine.

You can get creatine from foods you eat, including seafood and red meat, Cording says, but plenty of people also take creatine in supplement form (usually as a powder or capsule). This is especially popular among athletes and bodybuilders, but they aren't the only ones who can benefit.

Creatine supplementation has several health and therapeutic benefits throughout the lifespan and plays a critical role in cellular metabolism, according to a recent study in Nutrients. That said, the perks of creatine usually revolve around exercise performance and cognitive function, Cording says. Here are some of the biggest benefits:

Creatine may allow people to do a little more work in reps or sprints, which can ultimately lead to you becoming stronger, Matheny says. Taking creatine supplements may also can provide some muscle and performance benefits for older adults, according to a recent literature review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

Using a creatine supplement may also help you feel a little more energized on a regular basis. “If you’re using creatine, you’re filling up the energy system tank a little more,” Matheny says.

It may also help with tiredness: An early study found that creatine supplementation led to increased energy and reduced fatigue for those with sleep deprivation, and another study on college-age women determined that taking creatine helped reduce the onset of neuromuscular fatigue following a cycling test. More research is needed, but if you work out a lot and get super tired afterward, taking a creatine supp may help.

Taking creatine has been linked to better performance on cognitive tasks, especially in older adults, Cording says. Creatine plays an important role in brain health and function, according to older research on intelligence and working memory. Your brain also needs a significant amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to perform difficult tasks, and creatine supplements may help your brain produce more of it.

Some workout-enhancing supplements are designed to be used right before you exercise, and you may be wondering if creatine works the same way. The answer? Not really.

Research has consistently found that timing doesn’t seem to matter with creatine. Factors like the type of exercise you do and your age are more important in how well creatine works for you, one scientific review in the journal Nutrients found. Male and female athletes who took creatine and found that timing didn’t matter over an eight-week study period, in another study in Frontiers.

“You can take it whenever you want,” Matheny says. “You can have it in the beginning, middle, or end of the day—you just need to have gas in that tank.”

As for whether or not to take it with food…while people used to think creatine supplements were absorbed better with carbohydrates, one small study found that carbs are unnecessary. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you have it with food or not, Matheny says.

Creatine is thought to be a pretty safe supplement, Cording says, but there are a few things to keep in mind before trying it.

“We don’t have enough evidence to show how safe creatine is for things like kidney and liver disease,” Cording says. It’s also not recommended that you take creatine when you’re pregnant or breastfeeding.

“If you take too much, you can have an upset stomach or diarrhea,” Matheny adds.

Using creatine with caffeine could also decrease the supplement’s efficiency, Cording says—so if you're constantly chugging coffee, it may not be the best idea to combine the two.

Adding creatine to your supplement stack really comes down to whatever is easiest for you, Cording says. “If you’re someone who wants to have it before a workout, I find that creatine powders are convenient,” she says. “You can add them to a food or shake, or can include it with pre-workout.”

You can even have creatine in a post-workout meal or smoothie, she says. But if you don't necessarily care about timing the supplement with your workouts, Cording recommends adding creatine powder to oatmeal, yogurt, or chia pudding.

Interested in adding a creatine supplement to your life? Consider these options:

This powder is free of gluten and dairy. It’s also NSF certified, meaning it’s tested for the presence of banned substances before it goes up for sale. The powder is colorless and odorless, so you can mix it with just about anything.

Shop Now

Creatine Monohydrate

amazon.com

$42.00

Now’s creatine powder is free of artificial colors and flavors, and uses nano-particle nutrients to help fuel your day. It’s also unflavored, so you can blend it into just about anything. Now is third-party tested to make sure no harmful ingredients end up in your creatine powder.

Shop Now

Creatine Monohydrate Powder

amazon.com

$24.20

If you’re looking to save on cost, consider this option from BulkSupplements. It’s third-party tested for extra ingredients and is unflavored. It’s vegan-friendly and gluten-free.

Shop Now

Creatine Monohydrate Powder

amazon.com

$20.96

This powder features Creapure, the most widely studied type of creatine. It’s third-party tested for impurities, too. The powder is unflavored, making it a great addition to smoothies and shakes.

Shop Now

Creatine Monohydrate

amazon.com

$26.25

Klean Athlete Klean Creatine is NSF Certified for Sport, meaning it’s been tested for safety. The powder is GMO-free and doesn’t have any artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. Just mix it with water, pre-workout, or your go-to smoothie and enjoy.

Shop Now

Klean Creatine

amazon.com

$32.80

Creatine can be a helpful tool in allowing you to build strength and may help with brain health, energy, and more. If you’re interested in trying it, just check in with your doctor first to make sure you don’t have any health conditions or medications that would keep this from being helpful for you.

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