Up next in 10
Expert nutritionist answers all your creatine questions — including whether it’s safe to take with no breaks, if it causes hair loss, and if you can mix it with other supplements.
When it comes to creatine, it seems like there's a lot of confusion! We’ve already had 2 super-informative creatine videos from PhD researcher and nutritionist, Richie Kirwan, but they still weren’t enough to satisfy you lot. So, we got him back to go through some of the most asked questions in the comment section.
Watch now to find out everything you wanted to know about creatine and how to use it effectively.
Find Richie on Instagram: @be_more_nutrition
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Is creatine safe for long-term use?
01:39 - Can you take creatine if you don’t work out every day?
02:26 - When should I take creatine?
03:00 - What happens if I take creatine with other supplements?
03:48 - Can I load for longer with a lower dose?
04:15 - Can I take creatine with coffee?
04:37 - What is Creapure and micronised creatine?
05:39 - Do you have to drink more water when taking creatine?
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0:00
creatine probably one of the most
0:02
effective sports supplements available
0:03
and so popular that i've already done
0:05
two videos all about it but it looks
0:07
like you guys still have a lot of
0:09
questions which i'm going to answer
0:10
right now
0:15
how's it going guys my name's richie
0:16
kirwan and you may have seen my previous
0:18
two videos on what creatine does and how
0:21
to take it if not remember to check them
0:23
out for even more info on creatine in
0:26
the comments of those videos you guys
0:27
have asked a lot more questions how to
0:30
take it when to take it with what will
0:32
it make me bald let's go through all of
0:35
them right now as always i want to point
0:37
out that i'm not recommending any
0:38
particular creatine supplements what i
0:40
am going to do is talk about the current
0:42
evidence available on creatine
0:44
let's get started what about taking
0:46
creatine for 10 20 or even 30 years
0:50
so in my last video on creatine i
0:51
mentioned that you don't need to stop
0:53
taking creatine and it's safe for
0:55
long-term use
0:56
in fact there are studies of creatine
0:58
doses as high as 30 grams per day for up
1:01
to five years without any problems at
1:03
all now what about if we're talking
1:05
about longer durations well the truth is
1:08
we don't have studies that last any
1:10
longer performing even short-term
1:13
studies is expensive and takes a lot of
1:15
organization doing longer studies is
1:18
even worse but in the case of creatine
1:20
if we have studies that show absolutely
1:22
no problems after up to five years in
1:24
kids and if there's no biological
1:26
mechanism by which could cause a serious
1:28
problem in healthy people which there
1:29
isn't then it's not uncommon to assume
1:31
that it'll be fine in the longer term
1:33
too basically all the evidence we have
1:36
so far says it's safe in healthy people
1:38
what if you don't work out every day do
1:40
you still have to take it so supplements
1:43
can have acute and or chronic effects as
1:46
an example caffeine has acute effect
1:49
because you take it and you experience
1:50
the results almost immediately well
1:52
within 45 to 60 minutes or so creatine
1:56
doesn't work that way you feel the
1:57
effects of creatine by saturating your
1:59
muscle cells with it this can take up to
2:01
a week if you load or a few weeks if you
2:03
take just five grams daily but the
2:05
effect is pretty constant once your
2:07
muscles are loaded to keep your muscles
2:09
fully loaded you need to keep taking
2:11
creatine every day in reality you could
2:13
probably take it every second day and
2:15
just double up on the dose so don't
2:17
think that you only need to take it on
2:19
the days that you train you just need to
2:21
keep creatine levels high and that has
2:23
nothing to do with when you train can i
2:26
take it in the evening one day and
2:27
morning the next when's the best time
2:30
short answer yes you don't need to worry
2:32
about taking it exactly 24 hours between
2:35
doses how long does it take for creatine
2:37
levels to drop
2:38
will something happen if your muscles
2:40
are fully saturated from taking creatine
2:42
for a while it can take about four to
2:44
six weeks for your creatine levels to
2:46
drop back to normal in terms of what
2:48
will happen not much you may lose a
2:51
little bit of weight which will be water
2:52
weight and you may not be able to
2:55
perform as well in the gym but you're
2:57
not going to suddenly lose all your
2:59
gains are there other supplements that
3:02
can have an effect on creatine if you
3:04
take them at the same time potentially
3:06
yes
3:07
there is some evidence that taking high
3:09
doses of caffeine together with creatine
3:12
might blunt the benefits of the creatine
3:14
the problem is some research says it
3:16
does and some research says it doesn't
3:18
creatine can cause stomach upsets in
3:21
some people as can high doses of
3:23
caffeine studies combining the two see a
3:25
lot of people getting upset stomachs too
3:27
so it could potentially be that from a
3:31
pragmatic standpoint it might be worth
3:33
taking creatine separately from high
3:35
doses of caffeine doses like five
3:36
milligrams per kilogram of body weight
3:38
or more or reducing your caffeine intake
3:40
if you already take a lot if you just
3:42
have a couple of cups of coffee a day
3:44
take your creatine separately from them
3:46
and it probably doesn't even matter
3:48
can i load for two weeks with a lower
3:50
dose you absolutely can there's nothing
3:54
magic about loading creatine at all it
3:56
just allows you to get more creatine in
3:58
faster so your muscles get saturated or
4:00
full with creatine faster and you see
4:02
results sooner just in case it makes a
4:04
difference i have never actually told a
4:07
client to load creatine taking the same
4:09
dose every day is just simpler just
4:12
takes a little bit longer
4:13
stop being so impatient
4:15
can i take it with tea and coffee yes
4:18
but high temperatures can break down
4:20
cream that's why some of the creatine in
4:22
meat gets broken down when it's cooked
4:24
if you want to take it with tea or
4:26
coffee it's probably not an issue as
4:28
long as you're not heating the water
4:30
after you put the creatine in in reality
4:32
though it's probably just as easy to
4:33
take it with a cold drink what is
4:36
creapure what is micronized creatine
4:39
creapure is a specific form of creatine
4:41
monohydrate produced by german company
4:44
azkam trustburg and my apologies to all
4:46
german speakers out there it's one of
4:48
the purest creatines available on the
4:50
market with a purity of 99.9
4:53
compared to regular creatine monohydrate
4:55
which is probably around 98 to 99 pure
4:58
if that's something that you consider to
5:00
be important you might want to consider
5:02
using creapure micronized creatine is
5:04
creatine that funnily enough has been
5:06
micronized which means the powder has
5:08
been made even finer so you get smaller
5:11
and more particles which gives a greater
5:14
surface area than regular creatine which
5:16
is supposed to substantially increase
5:18
the absorption and reduce the risk of
5:20
stomach upsets so if regular creatine
5:22
monohydrate gives you stomach upsets
5:24
then it might be worth trying micronized
5:26
creatine to see if it's better tolerated
5:29
the thing is regular creatine
5:30
monohydrate is already absorbed pretty
5:32
well and if it doesn't cause any stomach
5:34
upsets i wouldn't really consider it
5:35
important to look for micronized
5:37
creatine specifically why is it
5:39
important to drink lots of water with
5:41
creatine this is one thing we hear all
5:44
the time about creatine if you take it
5:46
you have to drink loads of water or your
5:48
body is going to explode
5:52
or something like that it's a
5:53
misunderstanding that is based on the
5:54
fact that creatine can cause some water
5:57
retention in some people people assume
5:59
that it's absorbing water from your body
6:02
so you need to drink a load of extra
6:04
water to stop it doing something what
6:06
that's something is nobody actually ever
6:08
explains yes creatine can cause people
6:11
to hold onto a little extra water maybe
6:13
500 milliliters to a liter of extra body
6:15
water an effect that i should point out
6:18
only happens in some people but that
6:20
doesn't mean that you need to start
6:22
drinking gallons and gallons of water
6:24
because you're taking creatine in case
6:26
you didn't know you're supposed to drink
6:27
plenty of water anyway it's a pretty
6:29
well known recommendation just do that
6:33
what if you miss a day or a week your
6:35
muscles will probably fall off
6:38
in reality it really doesn't matter like
6:40
i mentioned earlier it can take four to
6:42
six weeks for your creatine levels to
6:43
drop to normal after you stop taking
6:45
creatine completely so missing a day
6:48
it's not a big deal missing a week is
6:50
not a huge deal either because you can
6:52
just start taking it again don't worry
6:54
about it all that much
6:55
what about hair loss
6:57
this is a classic example of how
7:00
research can be taken out of context and
7:02
sensationalized so much that people
7:05
never forget it there was one study that
7:07
showed that taking creatine leads to an
7:10
increase in dht or
7:12
dihydrotestosterone dht is a metabolite
7:15
of testosterone that plays a role in
7:17
balding and hair loss so people lost
7:20
their minds when the results were made
7:22
public because of that one study many
7:25
people assume that creatine must cause
7:27
hair loss but there are no let me say
7:29
that again
7:30
no direct studies that show this even
7:33
with that said dht is only associated
7:35
with hair loss in people who are
7:37
genetically predisposed to lose hair
7:39
something that's known as androgenic
7:40
alopecia for anyone who's interested and
7:42
we don't have much control over the
7:44
genetic lottery so yeah there is no
7:47
conclusive evidence to say creatine
7:49
causes people to lose their hair and if
7:51
you already have the genes for hair loss
7:54
well i'm sorry but there's not a lot you
7:56
can do about that what about creatine
7:58
pills they're just a convenient way to
8:00
take creatine if you don't like the
8:02
powder the only issue is you usually
8:04
need to take a lot of them to get your
8:06
five grams and they can be a little bit
8:08
more expensive should i take it if i'm
8:09
just training at home maybe ask yourself
8:11
this
8:12
do you want the benefits of creatine
8:15
increased power output higher training
8:17
quality which could lead to better
8:18
strength and muscle growth the answer is
8:20
yes then you should consider taking
8:22
creatine you don't need to be training
8:24
in the gym every day of the week to reap
8:26
the benefits what about weight gain i
8:28
mentioned earlier that creatine causes
8:30
you to hold on to more water but not
8:32
everybody experiences it in general a
8:34
lot of that water gets stored in your
8:36
muscles both in and around the muscle
8:38
cells and leads to the muscles looking
8:40
bigger or fuller so a lot of people
8:42
notice their physiques look a little
8:44
better when they start taking creatine
8:45
and remember weight gain is not
8:47
necessarily a bad thing the only time
8:49
weight gain might be a problem is if
8:51
you're competing in a weight sensitive
8:52
sport like rock climbing or boxing in
8:54
that case you need to weigh the pros of
8:57
better performance with the risk of not
8:59
making your weight and the big one what
9:02
can i take my creatine with i have to
9:04
admit i was fairly surprised by how many
9:07
people ask this do you want it with a
9:09
protein shake
9:10
take it do you want it with a mass
9:12
gainer take it
9:13
orange juice take it champagne who am i
9:16
to judge your lifestyle take it it
9:18
really doesn't matter the only things to
9:22
consider is not to add it to food or
9:24
drink before you heat it and maybe don't
9:27
take it with high doses of caffeine like
9:29
some pre-workouts just because of the
9:30
possible stomach upsets that we
9:32
mentioned earlier don't over complicate
9:34
it just take it
9:36
daily
9:37
and reap the benefits so what do you
9:39
think did that finally answer all your
9:41
creatine questions
9:42
if not remember to check out my other
9:44
two videos on what creatine does and how
9:47
to take it as always if you have any
9:48
questions let me know in the comments
9:50
below and remember to like and subscribe
9:52
to the my protein youtube channel for
9:53
more great evidence-based nutrition
9:55
information
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