Creatine is a substance produced by the body, formed from the amino acids glycine, arginine and methionine. You produce about half of your creatine stores yourself – the other half you take in through food, above all through meat and fish.
Creatine is known above all through sport: many associate it with muscle strength and performance enhancement. Yet creatine is far more than a supplement for strength athletes. It fulfils central tasks in your energy metabolism and also plays an important role for the brain.
What does creatine do in the body?
The most important function of creatine lies in the rapid provision of energy. Creatine is converted into creatine phosphate in the muscle cells. This molecule serves as a kind of energy store that, during short, intense efforts – like sprints or heavy strength training – quickly releases energy in the form of ATP.
However, these creatine phosphate stores are already depleted after a few seconds. This is one of the reasons why the maximum intensity of such efforts can only be maintained for a very short time. But as soon as the body relaxes again, the creatine phosphate stores refill within a short time – thus enabling the next intense action.
Without creatine, you therefore wouldn't be able to call up your maximum performance during intense efforts as effectively. But even at rest and during cognitive tasks, creatine plays a supporting role, as it provides the cells with an additional energy reserve. The brain in particular, which has a high energy demand, benefits from stable creatine stores – they can help to maintain mental performance and concentration even in phases of increased strain.
Creatine and sport: the classic use
In sport, creatine is one of the best-researched dietary supplements there is – and its effectiveness is scientifically well established.
Studies show:
- Creatine increases maximum muscle strength and performance during short, intense efforts.
- It supports muscle building by improving both performance and recovery.
- It can promote glycogen storage after intense training sessions and thus accelerate recovery.
Creatine is therefore of interest not only to strength athletes and sprinters, but also to team and combat sports, in which speed, explosiveness and the ability to perform such intense actions several times in a row are decisive.
More than sport: creatine and brain health
Besides its role in muscle metabolism, creatine is increasingly coming into focus in neurology too. Because the brain also needs a lot of energy – and creatine appears to act as a kind of buffer here.
Initial studies indicate that creatine:
- can stabilise cognitive performance in cases of mental fatigue,
- has a supporting effect in cases of sleep deprivation,
- and could possibly play a role in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's or depression.
This makes it clear: creatine is not just a sports supplement, but is also interesting for mental health.
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Natural sources of creatine
Creatine occurs almost exclusively in animal foods:
- Red meat (beef, lamb, pork)
- Fish (e.g. herring, salmon, tuna)
Plant-based foods contain virtually no creatine. That's why vegetarians and vegans have on average lower creatine stores in the muscles. Although the body produces part of it itself, this isn't always enough for an optimal supply.
Creatine as a supplement – sensible or not?
Creatine is one of the most widely used and best-researched supplements. Its effect is well established, especially in the areas of sport and muscle strength.
Supplementation is sensible above all for:
- athletes who want to increase their performance and muscle strength
- vegetarians and vegans with low creatine intake
- older people, since creatine can also slow age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia)
Typical dosages are 3–5 g per day, which can be taken over the long term; in the meantime, however, higher amounts are sometimes suggested too. A loading phase (e.g. 20 g per day over 5 days), as was common in the past, does not appear to be strictly necessary.
Are there any risks or side effects?
Creatine is considered safe at the usual dosages. The most common side effects in cases of overdose are mild gastrointestinal complaints or water retention in the muscles.
The concern once expressed that creatine could burden the kidneys has not been confirmed in studies on healthy people. In the case of existing kidney diseases, however, a specialist should be consulted.
Meat, health and a contradiction in the recommendations
An interesting point is often overlooked: substances like creatine and carnitine, which are increasingly being supplemented, occur almost exclusively in meat and fish. This fundamentally contradicts the long-standing recommendations to greatly reduce meat consumption – since this is said to be associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases.
The term creatine derives from the Greek word kreas (= meat), because the substance was first isolated from meat in the 19th century. Carnitine also has a similar linguistic root: it comes from the Latin caro/carnis (= meat) and was likewise first obtained from meat at the end of the 19th century. Both names therefore show the close connection to animal foods not by chance – rather, they reflect the historical place of discovery and the main source of these molecules.
The question is therefore legitimate: is it really healthy to eat entirely without meat and animal foods? And if so – why then do these deficiency symptoms occur, which in many cases can only be compensated for by supplements and whose intake demonstrably improves our physical and mental performance as well as our health again? That doesn't really seem logical. So why add all these molecules individually if they can be taken in sufficient quantity through a balanced diet with natural, unprocessed animal foods?
What matters here is the distinction: what's meant is not processed meat, but natural, unprocessed meat. Processed meat products – with preservatives, flavour enhancers or other additives – do actually increase the risk of chronic diseases.
Conclusion: creatine is more than a sports supplement
Creatine is not just an aid for muscle building. It plays an important role in energy metabolism – both during short, intense efforts and for the function of the brain and muscles in old age. Creatine is among the best-researched supplements and is described in the research literature as effective and safe, particularly in connection with physical performance and possibly also with cognitive functions. At the same time, the question of nutrition arises: since creatine occurs almost exclusively in animal foods, the assessment of meat for health could be more complex than the blanket recommendation to reduce it suggests.
