Creatine for WOMEN: The Top 4 Benefits Beyond Muscle (Brain, Hormones, & More)

Creatine is a very hot topic right now. Today I want to dive into what creatine is, the benefits for women, in particular, the top four health benefits for women that are backed by what appears to be the most research and the form and the dose that I recommend. So basically this will be your creatine masterclass, all on things that you need to know for creatine, the benefits, and then things to consider if you're going to, to start to take it for so long. We of creatine as just being for bodybuilders, as a bodybuilding supplement and I actually used to feel that way. One of the dietitians on my team, Michelle, is not only board certified in functional medicine, but also in sports nutrition and was previously a personal trainer and she has been recommending it to so many of our clients going through perimenopause and menopause for years. And as I started to dive deeper into the research, I was really blown away. A few weeks ago I spent hours and hours reading through all of the research papers that exist so that I could compile this into a clear snapshot of everything that you need to know about creatine. I personally started taking creatine about six months ago with two goals. One was to rebuild muscle postpartum and two, for its brain benefits. And I'll get into the muscle component in a second. But the most incredible improvement that I have seen in taking creatine is higher levels of focus and energy without any jitters that that come with caffeine. I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine and so I feel like the creatine just gives me the benefit of the focus and the alertness without any of those side effects that come with me over drinking or over consuming caffeine. So I drink the creatine in water and I drink it. Actually I, I was drinking it with my breakfast in a mug with a little bit of warm water with my amino acids and I would feel mentally sharp within minutes of drinking it. Now I've changed just for ease to pouring it into my water bottle every morning because it disso so much and I mix it with electrolyte so that I can't, I mean you can't really taste it at all, but I personally cannot. Some of my team members don't like the idea of just drinking it straight in water. But anyways, I noticed a significant improvement in my cognition very soon after consuming creatine. So let's start with what is creatine? It's a naturally occurring compound. Creatine is synthesized by the body from amino acids, so it is composed from arginine, glycine and methionine. And creatine is made in the liver and then to a lesser extent in the kidney and the pancreas. And creatine plays an enormous role in energy homeostasis and helps to regenerate ATP, which is the fuel that your cells use for energy, while your body makes some creatine of its own. The most common sources that you're going to get for creatine come from exogenous sources like animal proteins, primarily meat, fish, poultry included under the meat. And you can only get so much through food. So this is where supplementation can come in, where adding additional supplementation because your muscle actually has the capacity to store more creatine than what most people can get through food sources alone. So taking that additional supplement can be beneficial for increasing those creatine stores. Also, I just want to highlight the fact that a lot of vegetarians and vegans who are not getting really most sources of creatine in their diet can really benefit from getting this additional source as well, since it only comes from animal proteins. So historically, creatine, as I said, we've used it in the bodybuilding space, and it's been highlighted for men specifically. A lot of the evidence was originally done on men. And I have reviewed so much of the latest research and cases that some of these researchers are making. Some of the research is not necessarily in existence in human studies, but there's a lot of theories that these researchers have on the proposed benefits for women, given what we know mechanistically and in some of the ways that women can benefit. So a few key distinctions between men and women that I find very interesting are one, women appear to have 70 to 80% lower endogenous creatine stores compared to men. So we store less creatine than men. And women ages 19 to 39 consume less creatine in their diet on average. This is done through surveys where they found that the the average female that's 19 to 39 is consuming 0.6 grams per day compared to men who are the same age that are consuming 1.1 grams per day. The other thing that's interesting from a hormone standpoint is that these researchers are proposing that hormonal shifts during menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause, they change our creatine kinetics, meaning that our need for creatine can increase during these times. So one review paper specifically highlighted that creatine may be particularly Beneficial when women have low estrogen concentrations in the follicular phase. It can also be beneficial in amenorrhea. It can also be beneficial during pregnancy when we know the estrogen levels are higher. But there's a lot of hormonal shifts that are taking place and with the transition through menopause. So most studies indicate that there may be significant metabolic, hormonal, and neurological benefits for women who take creatine, and that there may be benefits at some of these particular periods of time. So we often recommend that women that are going through perimenopause and menopause take creatine. And I feel like going even a little more proactive can be beneficial so that you're getting those stores in advance. But there's now a case that's being built for this idea that creatine may be beneficial even during pregnancy to support the health and development of the baby and during breastfeeding when you have higher levels of creatine needs potentially. So there have not been any human studies that have looked at the safety of creatine in women. But I find that if I personally were to go back or get pregnant again, I would take creatine during pregnancy. Now, that's just my personal opinion, especially given how much muscle women lose during pregnancy and breastfeeding that impacts the metabolic health of the baby and the immune health of the baby and so many other factors, not to mention the health and the recovery and the postpartum health of the mom. But I would say that I would also, you know, consider taking it during breastfeeding. So I have gotten a lot of questions since posting an article about creatine a few months ago about whether it's safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding. And I have to say that there are not any human studies, but I personally would consider the, you know, for every decision that you want to make, you want to think about the risk to benefit analysis. And every person will make their own decision with their doctor, you know, making all decisions with your doctor. And this is just something that I would personally consider going into another pregnancy. One other thing that I wanted to mention is sometimes when we look at the research, it's, you know, really around where we have the most established research. So I recently saw someone who is a professor who is very much, you know, like, only makes claims when there is strong enough evidence to say yes or no, instead of thinking about, like, well, maybe this population could benefit, even though there aren't necessarily studies yet. And so she had highlighted the fact that she's typically skeptical of supplements, but that creatine has so much established research, which it really does, and that she feels like it's particularly beneficial or relevant for three demographics. One, athletes, because of the improvements in performance to looking at individuals who are older adults that are strength training to try to prevent sarcopenia and falls, since we know that muscle degrade is so much higher in older adults. And the third population for people who are trying to prevent mild cognitive impairments, short term memory loss and dementia. And I would say that even though there is established research in those three populations that how can we think about being more proactive? So if the claim is being made that it's only beneficial if you're an older adult, that is strength training, if you're trying to prevent falls in sarcopenia, what are the benefits that come when you start to do these things 30 to 40 years in advance in the foundation that you're laying for your future health and your future muscle building potential, that it becomes much easier when you're actually doing it in advance instead of just waiting and until that moment in time where you're at a significantly higher risk. So the way that I try to think about this, and I'm not even specifically referencing breastfeeding in pregnancy, but overall thinking about, okay, if this is beneficial for people that are older that are trying to prevent something or someone that's older that's trying to prevent dementia, but I care about my muscle health now and I care about my brain health now, then there is a case, in my opinion, for, for taking creatine, especially for women going through different hormonal changes like perimenopause and menopause. So let's go through the top four research benefits that have been the most established for creatine for women. Number one. The number one benefit of creatine that has been shown is strength, muscle mass and body composition improvements. So the research shows that when creatine is combined with strength training or resistance training, that creatine can help to increase muscle mass to a greater degree than resistance training alone, than people who are just doing the resistance training compared to the intervention group which has the creatine. Now, a big contributor to this is the ability to increase the power output and your time to fatigue so that you can train harder for longer. So you're not just going to gain muscle by taking creatine alone. The benefits come from pairing it with the resistance training and then being able to do more heavy lifting for longer periods of time. One meta analysis that was conducted in both males and Females showed that participants increased their strength from 12 to 20% and increased their power from 12 to 26% when they were training with taking creatine monohydrate. And this has also been shown in a group of small older women who were using short term creatine supplementation, which resulted in an increase in strength in power in lower body motor functional performance without any adverse side effects. And it also seems that creatine can help to preserve muscle in aging and in menopause. As I already mentioned, you know, that being a factor in elderly adults and elderly adults, you know, that can range, but as women especially get above the age of 50 and muscle loss is accelerated. I'm not trying to say that above the age of 50 is elderly adults, but it does then span to elderly adults. Okay. Research benefit number two is brain health. So recent evidence is building a very strong case for creatine monohydrate supplementation for cognitive enhancing benefits and properties specifically around the domains of memory, attention time and information processing speed. So there was a 2024 meta analysis that looked at 16 randomized controlled trials in both men and in women, and they found significant positive effects on memory, attention time and processing speed in those that took creatine. So, looking at the strength of the study and the overall outcomes, the improvements appear small, but they appear to be consistent. And more data is needed to fully understand the role of creatine on brain health. But there is a lot of promise. There was also a 2024 research highlight that creatine may be particularly beneficial for female brain health for many reasons, but one being its potential for aiding in sleep optimization and the way that sleep optimization can impact overall health. So improving sleep, especially because as women experience more hormonal fluctuations that can interfere with sleep. Hello, insomnia. For so many women that, you know, know what that feels like, that could be one of the reasons for declines in brain health. The lack of sleep that you're getting for, you know, week after week, month after month, that then impacts your brain processing speed, attention time, all of that. So that may be one of the reasons for brain health, mental health and fatigue related brain fog benefits. You know, this is also something to be thinking about in the postpartum phase again, when you have more sleep deprivation if creatine is able to offset it. There was one research study that Dr. Rhonda Patrick had highlighted where individuals who took 20 grams of creatine were able to mitigate the detrimental effects that happen from sleep deprivation when it comes to brain health. And so if we are Thinking about, you know, like going many times throughout the night of waking up to feed your baby or to calm your baby, being able to then function the next day becomes very challenging, especially if you are back at work or trying to just keep up with all the tasks that you have as a stay at home mom, where taking creatine could be a beneficial way. And of course, if you're breastfeeding and all of that, then you need to run it by your doctor and do what makes the most sense for you, given that there are not human safety studies in women that are breastfeeding. Okay, item number three. Benefit number three is mental health. Depression symptoms seem to improve noticeably in the research, with a greater efficacy that's noted in females compared to males who are supplementing with creatine. So the research proposes that the improvements are likely related to serotonin. And supplementing with creatine in women in particular appears to enhance SSRI therapy and can lead to more rapid and efficacious response in women that have major depressive disorder. Other research has shown that dietary creatine intake and depression occurrence are inversely proportional. So those with the lowest quartile of creatine intake, meaning they have the lowest level of creatine levels, meaning they have the lowest creatine levels, they had a 31% greater incidence of depression in adults. So this is very interesting to think about the benefits when it comes to brain health, processing speed. There was actually also one study that was done in people that have dementia and looking at potential benefits. Now the research is very much still evolving there. But then you couple that with the mental health and you see this trend emerging with improvements in overall brain health. If we bucket processing speed and memory and cognitive function with things like depression, anxiety and mental health, there is a lot of promise in this specific area, which is so interesting because these benefits really extend beyond just muscle and performance in athletes. Okay, benefit number four is bone health. Now, some of the research is indicating that there may be potential that creatine supplementation could support bone health. And this area, this fourth area, is the most inconclusive of these four benefit areas. There was a 2023 study that was conducted in postmenopausal females that showed that creatine supplementation plus resistance training, it did not have an impact on overall bone density compared to the control. But what they did show was that creatine plus resistance training could help to preserve femur strength in postmenopausal women, which can be protective against hip fractures. The other thing is that when we Think about bone health. Bone health typically goes hand in hand with muscle mass. So if creatine is having a beneficial role in muscle mass, the way that I think about it is that there's potential for it to also be impacting our bone health as well. One review paper highlighted that creatine may support bone health by improving muscle strength and balance, which can help to reduce risk of falls later in life. So again, my interpretation, mechanistically thinking, is that this could be significant in the perimenopausal phase, when bone density reduces significantly, but also after menopause, which may reduce the risk of osteoporosis and to support overall bone health. And if you're not there yet, if you haven't entered perimenopause or menopause, but you're trying to prepare your body, like I said in the beginning, there is something to be said for taking a proactive approach to your overall health and potentially seeing some of those benefits if you start younger. Okay, so let's talk about how to use creatine safely and effectively. Again, you want to run anything by your doctor, of course, before changing your own protocol. The recommended dose and the brands will vary based on the person, but the standard dose that's typically recommended is three to five grams of. Of creatine per day. Typically five grams. One scoop that's in the creatine containers will typically contain five grams. And there's protocols that exist that recommend higher levels, up to 15 to 20 grams per day in divided doses. And when I say protocols, I mean specifically around brain health. You'll see brain health protocols be anywhere from 15 to 20 grams, where you're taking half of that in the morning and then the other half in the afternoon, or you're taking creatine three times per day, five grams at a time. There's a number of different protocols that are out there, but the idea is that, you know, you want to figure out the best dose for you. I do often tell my team, especially when we're going through, like, crunch periods like we just did with launching the podcast and the new Being Bridget website. Both things happened on the same day, and it was a very large undertaking, to say the least. So we were, you know, I was waking up at 5am to make sure that I was able to, like, review all the copy and all these things for the new website with tight timelines. And so I was doing creative creatine twice per day to try to help with combating some of the lack of sleep with just waking up that early. To try to knock as many things out. And I'll say to my team, during periods like that, like protect your brain, make sure you're taking creatine. And so we make a lot of jokes around it. Creatine monohydrate is the most common and well studied form of creatine. I personally, everyone asks about the brands. I personally use clean creatine that's spelled K L E A N by clean Athlete which is the least expensive and it's very high quality. It's a NSF certified which means that it has a high level of NSF certification is a third party test. That NSF certification is like the gold standard for making sure that what is in the supplement is truly in the supplement. And you have to pay a lot of money to get that NSF certification. It's a lot of advanced testing that supplements have to go through. I personally love clean creatine. I have been recommending that brand in particular for many years. Another great option that a lot of people like is creatine by Thorne which is also NSF certified, meaning that it has that additional safety testing. I don't have affiliations with either company. I don't even have like affiliate codes or anything like that. I'm just sharing that those are the two most common that I see used. My friend Kelly Levesque from Be well by Kelly, who's an incredible nutritionist, she launched a micronized creatine that could be a good option if you have GI issues or you have just a harder time tolerating other brands of creatine. The idea is that it's a patented type of creatine that's easier on your digestive system. I am an affiliate for Kelly for her products. This isn't sponsored. I'm not paid to say anything but if you use my code Brigid at checkout on Kelly's website then you will get an additional discount on your order. So three options that exist. Clean creatine by clean athletes looking at Thorn and then be well by Kelly with that particular micronized creatine that can be easier on your digestive system. Safety and potential side effects I want to talk about. So creatine is one of the most well studied supplements that exist on the market today. It is one of the safest supplements that exists and is likely safe for people that have healthy kidneys. Sometimes there's, you know, things that circulate around creatine impacting kidneys negatively. But if you have healthy kidneys then there is no evidence of kidney or liver harm in healthy adults who are taking creatine short term or long term. Now, short term. I do want to mention that everyone is different. And so for as much as the research highlights that there are not a lot of side effects, I have heard from a number of you who have messaged me since writing my article on creatine saying that you have digestive upset and what you should do about the digestive upset. And so of course you want to run everything by your doctor. This is not medical advice, but dividing it out into smaller doses may help. Changing up the form, you know, could also be beneficial to something like the Bewl by Kelly. We also recently had someone on my team experience just like a huge bout of horrible gas and increases in some of the autoimmune symptoms that she gets. And I was thinking that it could have been with her increasing her creatine. Now, of course, there's no way to for sure know that, but nothing else had changed with her diet or her, her lifestyle overall, and she had recently increased her creatine. Now, I think that there are people, especially women, who are more sens. Sensitive to things that if you have an autoimmune disease, you are predisposed to more GI upset from certain things where you want to go low and slow to make sure that it's not creating any adverse side effects that haven't, you know, the side effects haven't necessarily been documented in the research. But I will say that with the number of you that have messaged me about having issues and having just a few clients, even in our practice right now, who are having issues, I do know that it does exist. And so doing what works best for you is of course important. And being aware of that going in, I would also say is important so that you can watch for any changes in how you're feeling, any potential side effects. Now, from a body weight standpoint, short term creatine does seem to increase body weight to a small degree, which is likely because of water retention that initially happens. So clients of ours typically find that this balances out within a few weeks of taking creatine. But I have heard from women who feel like they just become more puffy from taking creatine to the point that it doesn't balance out within a few weeks and they end up, you know, stopping it altogether. So again, you have to do what's best for you and make sure that you know, if that is your experience, that you are doing what works best for your body. So this is just purely to highlight what is shown in the research, what I have seen in clinical practice and what some of our clients are reporting, what I have personally experienced in order to help you make the best decision for yourself. But again, this is not medical advice. You want to always discuss any supplements with your practitioner and not take the advice from podcasts to say, this is exactly what I need to start. Because of course no podcaster knows your your individual health history, your individual health needs. Which is why working with a skilled practitioner like my team of functional medicine dietitians, where we're able to really dive into your labs, your health history, history of GI issues, history of reactions to various things is so incredibly important on your overall health journey. Okay, I hope that this was helpful. We reviewed what is creatine? We talked about the benefits for women versus men, the top four health benefits for women that are backed by research, and then the form and the dose that I recommend, in addition to safety and side effect considerations. If you're interested in any of the research links for the research studies that I talked about today, you can go to beingbrigid.com forward/minine. Again, that's being bridgid.com forward slash creatine. That's where you'll find a full blog post with a link to all of the research studies that I mentioned. Thanks for being with me and I will see you soon.