Not Just For Bodybuilders: 20 Reasons Everyone Should Be Taking Creatine
Still Think Creatine's Just For Bulking Up?
Creatine has long been associated with gym rats, the pursuit of massive muscles, and peak athletic performance, but have you ever stopped to consider that the brain is also a muscle? This supplement offers far more than just muscle gains. Countless studies have indicated that it's beneficial to your cognition, memory, bone health, and mental health too. What's more, it's one of the most studied supplements out there and is overwhelmingly considered safe and effective. Here are 20 compelling reasons why we think pretty much everyone should be taking this powerhouse supplement, even if gyming isn't your thing.
1. May Reduce Dehydration
There's a common misconception that creatine causes dehydration, but several studies have found the opposite to be true. Creatine actually helps improve hydration by drawing water into your cells.
2. May Reduce Muscle Cramping
Creatine draws water into cells, increasing water content inside muscle fibers. Well-hydrated muscles are less prone to cramping. Creatine also helps energize your muscles, reducing fatigue, another common cause of cramping.
3. It Supplies Energy To You Muscles
Creatine helps regenerate adenine triphosphate (ATP) which is the primary source of energy for muscle cells. With increased ATP, your muscles can train harder, longer, and recharge more quickly.
4. It Improves Athletic Performance
By replenishing your ATP stores, and enhancing your body's energy system, creatine allows your muscles to generate more force. This enables you to train with more intensity and power, especially for exercises that require short bursts like sprinting, interval training, and combat sports.
5. It Increases Strength
While taking creatine alone won't make you automatically stronger, when coupled with training, it can help enhance your abilities. By facilitating the rapid production of ATP, creatine allows you to perform more reps, lift heavier weights, and generate more explosive power.
6. It Enhances Muscle Growth
Creatine enhances muscle growth by drawing water into the muscles and facilitating protein synthesis. It's one of the most effective supplements for increasing lean body mass.
7. Accelerates Recovery
Creatine enhances ATP which, in addition to increasing energy, helps your muscles recover more quickly. It also plays a role in activating satellite cells which facilitate muscle repair.
8. May Improve Memory
Creatine's ability to enhance ATP is beneficial to more than just athletic performance. The brain uses ATP for energy-demanding processes such as memory creation.
9. May Protect Against Neurological Disease
Creatine is thought to help fight off neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's by increasing brain phosphocreatine (PCr) levels and ATP. This gives the brain a more stable supply of energy, preventing cellular energy crises that can lead to neuronal damage.
10. It Gives Your Brain Energy
Just like it gives your muscles energy, creatine gives your brain an energy boost as well. This prevents mental fatigue, fights off diseases, and fuels your brain for challenging cognitive tasks.
11. It Supports Bone Health
By enabling you to lift heavier weights and perform more intense resistance exercises, creatine indirectly increases bone density by making your muscles stronger. It also stimulates the metabolic activity and differentiation of the cells responsible for forming new bone.
12. Improves Glucose Tolerance
Creatine facilitates the transfer of glucose out of the blood and into the muscles, especially when combined with exercise. This contributes to better blood sugar control, insulin sensitivity, and glucose tolerance.
13. May Improve Cognitive Function
Creatine enhances the production of ATP and PCr, energizing the brain and improving its metabolic efficiency. This means the brain has a consistent supply of energy for demanding cognitive tasks.
14. May Reduce Fatigue
Creatine helps reduce fatigue in both the body and the brain by optimizing the availability of energy. During high-intensity exercise or demanding brain tasks, you quickly deplete ATP stores. Creatine helps you maintain higher ATP levels so you can continue operating at a high level without getting tired.
15. It's Safe
For the vast majority of individuals, creatine is safe when taken at recommended doses. While there are many common myths about creatine supplementation, they've almost all been debunked by research. Unless you have a pre-existing kidney or liver disease, potential side effects are mild and manageable.
16. It's Very Well-Researched
Creatine is one of the most extensively researched and scientifically-backed supplements on the market. Hundreds of studies have been carried out testing its safety and efficacy.
17. Has Anti-Aging Benefits
Creatine is effective at increasing muscle mass and strength, combatting age-related muscle and bone loss. It also fights age-related cognitive decline and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
18. Helps Prevent Injuries
By increasing muscle strength and power, creatine helps make muscle more robust and less prone to tears and strain. It also draws water into muscles and well-hydrated muscles are generally more resilient.
19. May Improve Sleep
Creatine has been found to increase total sleep duration in individuals who engage in strenuous exercise. It's also been shown to mitigate the consequences of sleep deprivation like brain fog and physical fatigue.
Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash
20. May Improve Mental Health
Creatine may help reduce symptoms of depression by improving brain energy. Certain mental health conditions have been linked to disruptions in brain energy metabolism, including reduced ATP production which creatine helps mitigate.
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