Creatine has a long history as one of the most popular and well-studied supplements in the world of health and sports nutrition [1]. It is known for its ability to enhance muscle strength, power, mass, and recovery [1,2]. It has therefore, and perhaps unsurprisingly, become a staple for athletes, bodybuilders, and everyday gym-goers alike. Recently, though, research has shown the potential value of creatine for improving cognition as well as other dimensions of health in humans [3,4].
One question that continues to generate debate is whether creatine causes weight gain or can help contribute to weight loss. While the answer isn’t straightforward, this article will break down how creatine works, its effects on weight, and what you should consider if you’re thinking about adding it to your nutritional regimen.
What is creatine, and how does it work?
Creatine is a natural compound found mainly in your muscles (around 95%) [4], as well as in smaller amounts in the brain. Here, it represents a high-energy fuel for these tissues that have lofty energy requirements [5]. The muscles, in particular, demand lots of energy during high-intensity exercise.
Creatine is made predominantly in the liver, kidneys, and the pancreas [6], and consists of three non-essential amino acids: arginine, glycine, and methionine. It is found in the diet in red meat, fish, poultry, and dairy products.
When you supplement with creatine, you increase the muscle store of phosphocreatine, which helps regenerate a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the biological energy currency of cells. If more ATP is available, you can support exercise activities like sprinting and weightlifting more effectively.
Does creatine make you gain weight?
The short answer is that creatine can cause weight gain, but not for the reason you might suspect. It’s not about accumulating body fat. Instead, creatine can cause water retention, and with resistance training, it can lead to increases in muscle mass.
Research from the early 2000s has shown that when creatine was provided to young men and women with a loading phase of 25 grams per day for a week (loading phase) then 5 grams per day for 21 days (maintenance phase), muscle creatine, body mass, and total body water all increased [7]. Additional studies have shown similar effects on total body weight and total body water, with no differences in body fat percentage between creatine and placebo groups [8].
When you first start taking creatine, especially during the loading phase, the muscle draws in water, which can lead to weight gain within the first week [9]. It is thought that the increased concentrations of muscle creatine result in changes in intracellular osmotic pressure, causing water to move into the cell, leading to water retention and weight gain [2,7].
Over a longer time frame, creatine supplementation can support beneficial training adaptations. You can lift heavier weights and perform more repetitions with enhanced energy availability, which leads to more muscle growth [10,11].
Muscle tissue is denser and heavier than fat, so as your lean body mass increases, your weight on the scale is likely to go up as well, all else being equal. An increase in lean mass could be classed as a "healthy" type of weight gain [12,13] and not something to fear.
Creatine does not directly cause fat gain. Any fat gain would be due to consuming more calories than your body burns and not because of the creatine supplementation itself. Some studies suggest that creatine might help improve metabolic rate by increasing lean body mass, which can help with fat loss over time.
Can creatine help with weight loss?
Creatine is not a fat burner in and of itself, but it can help you lose weight in several ways.
When trying to lose weight, the goal is to preserve muscle mass while losing fat mass. However, when a calorie deficit is created (by consuming fewer calories than are burned), the breakdown of muscle tissue can take place. Creatine helps preserve muscle mass even when you’re in an energy deficit.
Creatine can also boost strength and endurance during workouts, allowing you to train harder and for a longer duration. More intense workouts lead to a higher calorie burn and enhance fat loss.
Creatine, body mass, and muscle mass
Research suggests that in people under 50 years of age, creatine can support increases in body mass and lean body mass without significant increases in fat mass, therefore reducing body fat percentage [14,15].
In older people, creatine can help maintain muscle mass while losing fat in combination with resistance training strategies [16,17]. It can also help improve bone health and decrease the risk of falls [16,18,19].
Conclusion
Creatine is a powerful and safe supplement for your fitness and body composition goals.
It can cause weight gain, but this is mainly due to increased water retention in the acute stage of supplementation and muscle mass accumulation, not fat mass.
On the other hand, creatine can aid in fat loss by helping preserve muscle and boosting workout performance during a calorie deficit.
Rather than focusing on the scales, it’s important to track other indicators of progress, such as gains in strength and performance, as well as changes in body composition. Creatine can be a very helpful way to support these objectives.
References
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