120. Hot Take: Should Busy Women Like Me Even Bother With Creatine?

Welcome to our Hot Take Episode. Hot Take episodes are where I dive into the latest health and wellness trends, cut through the marketing noise and give you the science so you can decide what's actually worth your time, your money and your energy. This month we're going to be talking about a supplement that's getting a lot of attention right now. Creatine. It's a supplement that most people think is just for bodybuilders or for the gym. But there is a lot of recent research exploring creatine's potential benefit beyond muscle think brain function, mood support, improved aging, and cognitive clarity. So here's the question. Is creatine something you should actually care about or is it just another wellness trend? Today we're going to dig into the data so you can decide for yourself. And before we jump in, I want to hear from you. If there's a wellness trend you're curious about, leave a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts or Spotify letting me know which trend you want me to cover next. Or you can DM me on Instagram at well on Her Waypod let's dive in. Welcome to well on Her Way the podcast helping busy women cut through the noise of today's wellness industry to focus on what really moves the needle. I'm Dani Merenberg, nutritionist, women's health advocate and mom, juggling it all right alongside you. I know how overwhelming it is to do it all and still find time for you. Here. We're done with wellness that overwhelms. Each week. I break down the science, tune out the noise, and sit down with trusted experts to make health feel clear and doable for your real everyday life. You'll leave every episode with simple, sustainable steps you can use right away to feel your best and live with more clarity and confidence. Because wellness shouldn't feel like another full time job and you deserve to feel well on your way. Creatine is a supplement getting a lot of attention right now. More typically, it's known in the gym world to help build strength and muscle. However, there are some common misconceptions about how it works, like the fact that it doesn't alone build muscle, but rather it helps to provide your muscles energy to perform better, thus building muscle. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound in our bodies that helps produce ATP, which is the energy our muscles in our brain use to function. About 95% of creatine is stored in our muscles and 5% in our brain. It is also the most widely studied supplement on the market. It's been studied for decades. It's There are over 500 studies on supplementation, and they've been conducted since the 1920s. However, most of this research has focused on strength, power, endurance, lean muscle gain, and even preventing muscle loss in aging women, especially postmenopausal. I have a full episode on creatine for performance and body composition that I've linked down in the show notes for you to listen to that I think will help you decide if creatine is an effective supplement for you through that lens. But today we're diving into the newer science beyond just building muscle. Before we dive in though, a quick note. I am not a doctor and this episode is for educational purposes only. I'm sharing the latest research and science about creatine, but this is not medical advice or a prescription. Always, always, always check with your healthcare provider before adding any new supplement to your routine to make sure that it's right. All right, let's talk first about some of the new emerging research coming out on creatine that is looking at the brain. Recent studies are showing promise that creatine may improve cognitive function, working memory, attention and processing speed. And it's particularly effective when you're under stress, sleep deprived or experiencing aging. This can be great news for really anybody, but especially women in seasons of life like perimenopause, menopause, postpartum, and those going through some significant life changes. So if you are a mom running on little sleep or a night shift worker or a professional juggling multiple priorities and brain fog is coming up, creatine might help fuel your thinking and reaction times. The mechanism here is that creatine supports brain phosphocreatine levels, which basically is your brain's energy currency. Studies show effects in as little as four to six weeks at three to five grams of creatine per day. That's the recommended serving size of creatine. Creatine is also being studied for mood support and depression. In fact, research shows it may improve response in women with SSRI resistant depression. Up to 50% of individuals saw better treatment outcomes when they supplemented creatine alongside their traditional therapies. And some studies are even showing promising results for improving mood disorders without the use of SSRIs. But more research is needed on this and there is also preliminary data in neurodegenerative diseases too, like Alzheimer's and dementia. There are studies that may show improved memory and brain creatine levels while in early Parkinson's trials they may suggest that there's a reduction in fatigue and overall improved motor function but again, these are still very, very early stage research. However, it is all pointing toward creatine preserving mitochondrial and cellular health, which is key to brain aging. And now, even beyond just the brain, creatine is showing that it might even support anxiety and stress resilience. According to pre clinical studies, by reducing brain inflammation. Also, for women, especially vegetarians or vegans, creatine stores can naturally be lower. So supplementation could be more impactful. As I mentioned at the beginning, our bodies are naturally creating creatine and we can get creatine through the foods that we're eating. But those are animal based foods and both of those are in small quantities. So that's why supplementing with a creatine, especially if you live a plant based or mainly plant based diet, can be really impactful. Early studies are also exploring the benefits for pms, menstrual cycle, energy, postpartum fatigue and even brain injury recovery. And if you are chronically sleep deprived, creatine helps restore ATP in the brain. Again, that's your brain's energy currency. So you're thinking more clearly, reacting faster, and maybe feeling a little less foggy headed. Now I want to dive into some misconceptions that can come up with creatine. The first misconception is that creatine is only for men or bodybuilders. And and for a very long time creatine was only studied in men. However, studies are now including women and aging adults. And women may respond differently due to their naturally lower baseline creatine levels, especially like I mentioned in vegetarians and vegans. But they have shown to respond very, very well to creatine, especially through some life phases like perimenopause and menopause. The second misconception is that creatine causes kidney damage. I've heard this one quite a bit, or I've gotten asked this one quite a bit. And there is actually no data to support that if you're taking creatine in its recommended dosage. The research in healthy adults show absolutely no evidence in kidney harm at 3 to 5 grams of creatine a day. The third misconception is that creatine leads to excessive bloating and weight gain. And this isn't totally a misconception because there is some water retention that can occur, but significant weight gain is actually rare. Many effects are actually just muscle hydration and increased intracellular water, which is what happens when the creatine enters our cells and enters our muscle. If you want to avoid bloating or weight gain though, even knowing that that weight gain is water retention related, then what I'd recommend is just skipping the loading phase and that can help. So just going straight to 3 to 5 grams of creatine per day, which leads me to misconception number four, which is on this loading phase, is that you need a big loading phase where you're loading up on creatine in larger quantities for a week, two weeks before it actually takes effect. And that is actually not entirely true. You can do that to build up your creatine stores. However, you do not need to do that. So if you are worried about bloating or gaining weight, you can skip over that loading period. And for a lot of women, I'd say just skip over it. If you're worried about it at all, you can still see amazing benefits from the standard maintenance dose. And starting with that dose, it just might take a few weeks longer to really fill up your reserves for which is absolutely fine for the everyday woman. Me personally, I started just at the maintenance dose doing 5 grams of creatine a day. I did not do a loading phase. And I have really seen crazy benefits already from a cognitive perspective as well as the energy that I have in my strength training workouts. And I've been taking it now for about three months. But I would say within that first two week period, again with no loading phase, I was able to really feel and notice the difference. Also with the standard maintenance dose of 3 to 5 grams a day, this is supported by research for both muscle and cognitive benefits. So you don't need to add on any additional amount or dosage for cognitive benefit, aside from muscle. Now, of course, I do want to cover some limitations and things to know when it comes to creatine. The effects can vary based on your baseline creatine levels, your dosage and individual population. So when it comes to things like how quickly it will benefit you, that's something to keep in mind. Brain uptake of creatine is slower than muscles. Again only because 5% is going to the brain. And benefits may take anywhere from four to eight weeks to really see. There are some side effects that are generally mild. Like we talked about the water retention, bloating and there is some rare GI upset. The safety in pregnancy and breastfeeding has not been established, so definitely consult with your practitioner. And again, the standard effective supplementation is 3 to 5 grams per day. I'll often get questions, how often do I need to take it? Do I need to take it every single day? I do recommend taking it consistently. That's where you're going to see the benefit and even taking it on non training days as well. There are a lot of different types of creatine too. Creatine monohydrate is the one that is the most studied form and it is the one that is showing all of these amazing benefits and the one that I recommend for anybody who is interested in supplementing with a creatine. You want to find a creatine monohydrate. None of the other types of creatines that are being marketed out there have this sort of data behind them and research. So make sure it's a creatine monohydrate. And also something to keep in mind is that you do need to make sure you are drinking plenty of water while taking creatine because again, it can lead to a little bit of dehydration because of the amount of water that it needs when you are supplementing with creatine. So here is my hot take on creatine. It is not just a supplement for the gym. As more and more research is emerging, I am seeing it as this foundational tool for brain health, for energy, for mood and even healthy aging, along with the amazing benefits that it does provide from a physical perspective that I shared on the earlier episode that I've done on creatine. The research is growing fast, especially for women, perimenopausal women, mood disorders, and really anyone looking to improve cognitive performance. It's affordable, it's accessible, it's well studied and it's safe for most adults. And if your goals include mental clarity, better energy, mood support or longevity, creatine might deserve a place in your supplement toolkit. I personally have started using creatine and again, I have already experienced the benefit of it. Not only do I think it's great because of the physical benefit that you can get from creatine, but the mental benefits that are coming out in these studies has me even more of a proponent for this supplement. So I'd love to hear what your thoughts are. And if you enjoyed this hot take episode and want future episodes covering the latest wellness trends that you want to know about, leave me a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts or Spotify letting me know which trend to cover next. You can also DM me on Instagram at wellonhowerwaypod with the trends that you want me to analyze the next month. And if you want a full breakdown like I mentioned on creatine for physical performance, including how to take it, dosing and timing, check out my previous creatine episode on. Well on her way linked down in the show notes. All right, my friends, thanks so much for listening to today's hot Take episode. We'll be back next month with another trend that we will dive into the data with. And remember, the goal here is not following every trend trend. It's understanding the data so you can decide what's worth your attention. All right, I'll catch you in the next episode.