Creatine monohydrate
Among the most studied sports supplements. Daily consistency matters far more than timing.
Supplements
Research records
Historical source snapshot. Not freshly verified, not a recommendation. Study findings, community accounts and app defaults are not interchangeable.
Publication suitability · 2026-10-15: Historical reference only; not a clinical verification. Clinical, regulatory, efficacy, safety and dose claims are not independently established by this review.
Creatine monohydrate
Among the most studied sports supplements. Daily consistency matters far more than timing.
Evidence category: Systematic review. This describes the source category, not approval or certainty.
Regulatory statement in source: Not separately recorded; do not infer approval from the evidence category.
Evidence comes from several systematic reviews and meta-analyses of human trials. A meta-analysis of 23 studies found creatine lowered muscle-damage markers after a single hard exercise bout, but markers were higher after long-term use. A meta-analysis of 13 trials in trained people found no effect on endurance performance. A safety review covering 951 female participants reported no deaths or serious adverse outcomes and no rise in gastrointestinal, kidney or liver problems.
Benefits reported in the imported source
- A safety review covering 951 female participants found no deaths or serious adverse outcomes.
- Pooled trials found lower muscle-damage markers after a single hard exercise bout.
Risks and limits
- After prolonged use, muscle-damage markers were higher than placebo at 24 hours.
- Pooled trials in trained people found no effect on endurance performance.
- Gastrointestinal events, creatinine, liver enzymes and weight did not differ from placebo there.
Source bottom line: Creatine looks safe across pooled human trials and blunts acute muscle damage, but does not improve endurance.
Uncertainty: Reference information only. Not medical advice.
Study protocols — reports, not instructions
469 participants across 23 studies of exercise-induced muscle damage
- Reported regimen
- loading of 20 g/day or 0.3 g/kg/day for 5-7 days, then maintenance of 5 g/day or 0.03-0.1 g/kg/day
- Duration
- 4 to 32 weeks
- Reported outcome
- Muscle-damage markers were lower than placebo after a single hard bout but higher than placebo at 24 h after prolonged supplementation.
- Source
- The Paradoxical Effect of Creatine Monohydrate on Muscle Damage Markers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:supplement:creatine/protocols/0
951 female participants across 29 studies
- Reported regimen
- loading alone at a median 20 g/day, loading 20 g/day for 5-7 days then 5 g/day, or 5 g/day maintenance alone; overall 1-30 g/day
- Duration
- 4 days to 365 days
- Reported outcome
- No deaths or serious adverse outcomes; gastrointestinal events, serum creatinine, liver enzymes and body weight did not differ from placebo.
- Source
- Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Females Taking Oral Creatine Monohydrate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (availability check 2026-10-15: possible access barrier; not independently inspected; HTTP 200)
Claim provenance
evidence.json#/catalog:supplement:creatine/protocols/1
Community and practice descriptions
Accounts of a practice are not evidence of safety or effectiveness. Words such as “standard”, “safe” or “recommended” describe the source account, not verified consensus or this wiki’s advice. Commercial and self-published citations are retained for traceability, not vendor endorsement or independent clinical corroboration.
Unverified imported account — What to Know About the Creatine Loading Phase - Healthline
An imported authored paraphrase, not a quotation or a recommended protocol.
Review: unverified historical account. The imported wording is preserved for attribution; its full clinical, dosing, efficacy or consensus claims have not been independently established. Unvalidated source account; no validated human dosing population or animal-to-human equivalence is inferred.
Imported wording: A sports-nutrition guide describes a common creatine loading pattern of 20-25 g daily for 5-7 days, divided into four or five servings, followed by 3-5 g daily for maintenance.
Historical research outcome: verified-description · 2026-10-06
Rechecked the previously published description against live source content. The live guide explicitly calls the loading sequence a common approach and distinguishes it from maintenance. The retained text attributes the sequence to the guide rather than prescribing it.
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/creatine-loading-phase: verified-description — The live guide explicitly calls the loading sequence a common approach and distinguishes it from maintenance. The retained text attributes the sequence to the guide rather than prescribing it.
Pharmacokinetic context
No half-life recorded in this source snapshot. No value has been inferred.
Source references
- The Paradoxical Effect of Creatine Monohydrate on Muscle Damage Markers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- Effects of Creatine Monohydrate on Endurance Performance in a Trained Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Fernández-Landa et al. 2023)
- Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Females Taking Oral Creatine Monohydrate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (availability check 2026-10-15: possible access barrier; not independently inspected; HTTP 200)
- ISSN position stand: creatine
Snapshot provenance
Source ID: catalog:supplement:creatine. Commit: adc7684614f9439b41d91a3312b62e7982c7e20e. Review state: historical-not-reverified. Authored links are retained separately from the canonical evidence links in the public data. App templates/defaults and rejected drafts are archived, not deployed.
Related entries and components
None listed.