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For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified medical professional before taking any supplement, herb, vitamin, mineral, or bioactive, especially if you use medications or have a medical condition. Read the full disclaimer.
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Established useReviewed

Brain & Cognitive

Creatine

Compounds involved in energy metabolism, membrane structure, neurotransmitter pathways, or researched cognitive-performance contexts.

Page last reviewed: 2026-07-23 - next review due: 2027-01-23

Safety Flags

kidney disease, pregnancy/breastfeeding, complex medical conditions

Source Coverage

Included: US reference
Review gap: Canadian reference
Add or verify Health Canada context where an official Canadian reference exists.
Review gap: EU reference
Add or verify EFSA or EU health-claim context where an official EU reference exists.
Included: Clinical / safety source

Function

Supports rapid ATP recycling through the phosphocreatine system in muscle and brain tissue.

Natural Sources

Beef, pork, salmon, tuna, herring, cod.

Food vs Supplement Context

Natural sources describe where this item appears in foods, culinary ingredients, or traditional preparations. Concentrated supplements can differ by dose, extract type, preparation, standardization, and medication context, so they should be evaluated separately.

Testing & Monitoring Context

  • No routine lab test establishes a required daily need for most foods and bioactives; monitoring is usually based on the intended outcome, dose, medical history, and adverse effects.
  • Kidney context: kidney function markers and electrolyte status may matter before concentrated use.
  • Creatine context: body weight, training goals, kidney history, hydration pattern, and medication list are more useful than treating creatinine changes alone as proof of harm.

Suggested Guidelines When Purchasing

What to look for: Creatine monohydrate is the reference form with the strongest evidence base.

Use caution or avoid: Avoid casual use when these flags apply: kidney disease, pregnancy/breastfeeding, complex medical conditions.

  • Prefer ordinary food sources first when they provide the intended compound in a practical way.
  • For supplements, require clear labeling of active ingredient, dose per serving, serving size, and other ingredients.
  • Prefer products with third-party testing or transparent contaminant testing, especially for concentrated extracts, algae, mushrooms, minerals, and sports products.
  • Do not let marketing claims override the evidence, safety flags, source coverage, or dose context on this page.
  • Check grams of creatine monohydrate per serving; avoid proprietary performance blends that hide the actual creatine dose.

Intake Guidance

No official DRI

No official RDA, AI, or RDI has been established for this bioactive as a required daily intake.

Evidence Summary

Strength, power, and lean mass with training

Established use

Creatine monohydrate has one of the strongest evidence bases among sports supplements for high-intensity exercise capacity and lean-mass gains when paired with resistance training.

Dose context: Common studied maintenance intake is often 3-5 g/day after optional loading protocols; this is not an RDI.

Population: Healthy adults and athletes; clinical populations require separate review.

Studies/sources: ISSN Position Stand: Safety and Efficacy of Creatine Supplementation in Exercise, Sport, and Medicine (2026-07-23), Common Questions and Misconceptions About Creatine Supplementation (2026-07-23)

Safety context

Established use

Position-stand and review literature generally describes creatine monohydrate as well tolerated in studied doses for healthy people, while kidney disease and medication contexts still deserve clinician review.

Caution: Do not use the sports-supplement safety framing to advise people with kidney disease, pregnancy, complex medical conditions, or nephrotoxic medications.

Studies/sources: ISSN Position Stand: Safety and Efficacy of Creatine Supplementation in Exercise, Sport, and Medicine (2026-07-23), Common Questions and Misconceptions About Creatine Supplementation (2026-07-23)

Evidence Legend

Established use: Supported by official guidance, regulatory claim context, strong consensus, or repeated human evidence for a specific use.
Promising: Human studies or reviews suggest benefit for specific outcomes, but evidence is not broad enough to treat as settled general guidance.
Emerging: Early human, mechanistic, or mixed evidence; worth tracking, but not strong enough for confident user-facing claims.
Traditional use: Historically or traditionally used, but modern clinical evidence may be limited, mixed, or product-specific.
Category example: Included to describe a supplement or food category, not because a strong health claim is attached yet.

Sources

FoodData Central

U.S. Department of Agriculture - acquired 2026-07-23 - Food Database