Creatine

Creatine is one of the most widely researched supplements in the world, with over 600 scientific studies examining its positive effects on strength, performance, cognition and healthy aging. If there is one supplement you should be taking, it's this. 

Creatine supports:

• Increased strength and power output during resistance training and faster recovery and reduced fatigue, translating into 20% performance gains

• Greater lean muscle mass gains over time and maintenance of muscle mass as we age

• Improved focus and cognitive performance under everyday stress or sleep deprivation

• PMS, hormonal transition support and hormonally related mood disturbances

• Improved mood, mental stability, and even relief of symptoms of depression 

For women, creatine can be particularly powerful across a lifespan. Oestrogen influences muscle mass, bone health and energy metabolism, which means they all start to decline as oestrogen decreases through menopause and training becomes harder. Maintaining muscle mass and bone health is therefore essential for women.

Creatine is also active in the brain. It supports neuronal energy metabolism and has been studied for its effects on mental fatigue, memory, focus and cognitive performance under stress or sleep deprivation. It’s even been shown to improve symptoms of depression.  

What training does creatine help with? Everything! But it’s most effective for women when combined with:

• Lifting 

• Sprinting 

• HIIT or other high-intensity workouts

• Plyometrics 

Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid stored in the muscles and the brain. It’s found in animal-based foods in small amounts, but supplementing is generally required to reach the minimum effective dose of 3.5-5g per day. Women naturally have lower levels of creatine than men. 

In muscle, creatine increases phosphocreatine availability, helping regenerate ATP — the body’s primary energy currency — during high-intensity effort. This allows you to produce force repeatedly, recover faster between sets, and progressively overload over time.

The peer-reviewed proof:

• Creatine Supplementation in Women’s Health: A Lifespan Perspective: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7998865/ 

• Creatine in women’s health: bridging the gap from menstruation through pregnancy to menopause: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15502783.2025.2502094 

• Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38418482/ 

• Association between dietary intake of creatine and female reproductive health: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fsn3.4135 

• Creatine supplementation and resistance training in vulnerable older women: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15502783.2025.2502094 

• Creatine for Exercise and Sports Performance, with Recovery Considerations for Healthy Populations: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/6/1915 

• “Heads Up” for Creatine Supplementation and its Potential Applications for Brain Health and Function: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-023-01870-9 

• Creatine for the Treatment of Depression: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/9/9/406