Can Taking Creatine Help Women Stay Healthy as They Age?

What is creatine?

Creatine is something that our body both produces and acquires through our diets. On its own, the body makes about half the creatine it needs and gets the other half from food. It’s stored in our muscles. Creatine is found in animal products, namely beef, fish and pork. There are some studies that show women who have low creatine stores tend to be vegetarian or vegan. So those who eat a mostly plant-based diet may not be getting all the creatine the body needs.

What role does creatine play in our bodies?

Creatine is part of a substance that our body uses called creatine phosphate. Its purpose is to generate energy. Back in high school biology, you learned about adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. ATP is the energy that our cells use, and creatine is an essential part of that. So if you don’t have enough creatine, you’re likely making less ATP. Which means your cells aren’t generating as much energy. 

Creatine is stored in your muscles. If you have less muscle mass, you're going to have less creatine, and your body will produce less ATP. Less ATP could lead to feeling fatigued. So that’s a potential mechanism behind some of the benefits of taking creatine as a supplement.

There is evidence to support taking creatine can help preserve and build muscle. But you can’t just take a creatine supplement and sit on the couch. 

There’s a lot of talk on social media about creatine supplementation being beneficial for women as they age. Why is creatine supportive in perimenopause and menopause?

That’s an interesting part of the evidence, and it has to do with estrogen. As women age, estrogen declines. Creatine declines as well. This decline in estrogen is associated with muscle loss. If you have muscle loss, you’ll also have less creatine and bone mass as well. It’s likely that insufficient estrogen levels decrease the amount of creatine women have available as they age. 

Does supplementing with creatine build muscle?

There is evidence to support taking creatine can help preserve and build muscle. But you can’t just take a creatine supplement and sit on the couch. You won’t magically build muscle unless you’re using it in conjunction with weight training and other strength-building exercises. For women who are perimenopausal and in menopause, it may preserve the muscle mass you lose as part of the aging process.

Why is preserving muscle important to aging?

From a metabolic perspective, it's easier to maintain your weight. You acquire more energy from muscle mass. Your muscle strength is also important in preventing falls and being able to stay active. People with muscle mass tend to be less likely to develop chronic conditions such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. It’s also linked to mortality. Lower muscle mass is associated with higher all-cause mortality risk later in life. 

Creatine supplementation seems to improve cognitive performance and brain function while reducing mental fatigue, particularly in stressful times. There is strong evidence to support that creatine supplementation improves mood and depression, particularly in women.

Some women report having changes in cognition as they age, such as brain fog. Can creatine supplementation support cognition?

It does appear that ATP is linked to brain activity. One study found that during times of high mental stress our brain requires more creatine because you have more ATP turnover during stressful times. Creatine supplementation seems to improve cognitive performance and brain function while reducing mental fatigue, particularly in stressful times.

Can creatine impact your mood?

There is strong evidence to support that creatine supplementation improves mood and depression, particularly in women. We don't know the exact mechanisms, but some of the studies have shown that creatine is involved with the efficient transmission of metabolites that affect mood. Several studies have found that women have lower levels of creatine in the brain, particularly in the frontal lobe, which controls mood, cognition, memory and emotion. A couple of studies looked at creatine supplementation in combination with a regular antidepressant; they found reduced depressive symptoms in female adolescents and adults with major depression.

Why is supplementing for creatine more beneficial for women than men?

Women tend to have lower creatine stores than men. Creatine is produced and stored in your muscles, and women tend to have less muscle mass than men. Another reason is that women tend to eat less beef and pork when compared to men. Women tend to respond to creatine supplementation better than men, likely because they have more of a deficiency and therefore the supplementation is more supportive. 

It does look like creatine can have some wide-ranging benefits. But it will not be a “cure-all.” Creatine might be additive and help people, but nothing in the literature indicates that this is a cure.

Have there been any studies about how creatine supplementation impacts the brain neurologically?

I didn’t find many studies in support of this. There’s one study that found that creatine metabolism seems to be dysfunctional in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). So while they do think there's some dysfunction, I wasn’t able to find follow-up studies on MS and creatine supplementation. There was another study on Parkinson's disease and creatine. They found no significant differences between the control and treatment groups. So far, there doesn’t seem to be evidence that creatine can help neurologically.

Are there any side effects to supplementing with creatine?

Yes. The most common are weight gain and gastrointestinal issues. Muscle tends to store more water than fat, so taking creatine could lead to water retention, which can cause weight to increase.

How much creatine should women take?

It’s recommended to take between three and five grams of creatine supplement daily. This dosage has been shown to be effective for increasing your creatine levels in muscle cells. A “more is better” approach doesn’t work with creatine, as your body can only store so much. Taking more doesn’t mean your body will store more.

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Can anyone take creatine?

People with compromised kidney function should talk to their doctor before taking creatine or increasing foods that are high in creatine. The kidneys process protein. My research focuses on diabetes, and most of our patients with compromised kidneys are on low protein diets.

Is there anything people should look for when shopping for a creatine product?

The most effective and affordable form is creatine monohydrate. It comes in a powder form. Take any supplement at your own risk. The supplement industry is highly unregulated, but there are companies that certify supplements. NSF and USP may be resources you can use to verify supplements.

Anything else you’d like to share?

It does look like creatine can have some wide-ranging benefits. But it will not be a “cure-all.” Creatine has been shown to have benefits for depression, but don’t stop taking your antidepressants. If you are worried about bone health, don't stop taking calcium or doing weight-bearing exercise. Creatine might be additive and help people, but nothing in the literature indicates that this is a cure.