We Inherit Opinions Before We Realize to Question Them
I had opinions about creatine I'd never actually examined. Bloating. Weight gain. Kidney damage. Something for bodybuilders, not for me. I'd never read a single study — but the concerns were just there, fully formed, somewhere between overheard gym conversations, wellness content I'd scrolled past, and years of absorbed messaging about what should and shouldn't go into a woman's body.
Isn't it strange how that works? We inherit opinions before we realize to question them.
What Changed My Mind
On an episode of Diary of a CEO, an anti-aging doctor said she takes 25–30 grams of creatine a day to combat sleep debt and brain fog — that it lets her perform as if she'd had a full night's rest when she hadn't. That dosage is far above what most studies use. I became curious and looked more into the research behind creatine. For many of us, short sleep is almost a guarantee at some point in everyone’s lives and the cognitive cost is real. (The research on creatine and sleep loss is promising but early, and mostly uses high doses. I’m treating that part as an open question.)
I wanted to know whether a small, evidence-based dose made sense for my body and if I could attain sharper thinking on bad sleep days and without the side effects I'd spent years absorbing warnings about. What I found surprised me.
Here’s how I worked through it, using the same five steps I use for any supplement: know it, size it, food first, weigh it, make it stick.
This is my personal approach, not medical advice, and I’m not sponsored by any brand mentioned. Talk to your doctor before starting creatine, especially if you’re under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding, take medication, or have kidney issues.
Step 1: Know it
Creatine is a compound your liver and kidneys make from three amino acids: glycine, arginine and methionine. It isn’t a steroid or a hormone, and it isn’t something foreign to your body.
Where it lives: Almost all of it is stored in your skeletal and heart muscle.
What it does: It powers short, intense efforts by regenerating ATP, your cells’ energy source.
How much you use: About 1–3 g a day, depending on how much muscle you have. Your body makes about half of that (roughly 1 g a day). Food supplies the rest depending on your diet.
Step 2: Size it to your body
Research shows that 3–5 g a day, or 0.1 g per kilogram of body weight, is effective for most adults. The tub’s scoop is one-size-fits-all. So I asked: does that make sense for me? I am 5’1” and 105 pounds. My friend is 6’4” and 200 pounds. In many clinical settings, doses are adjusted for body weight. A label that gives us the same scoop doesn’t.
Height Weight Calculated dose at 0.1 g/kg:
Me: 5’1” 105 lb (48 kg) 4.8 g a day
My friend: 6’4” 200 lb (91 kg) 9.1 g a day
Same label. Same scoop. Nearly double the calculated dose.
This is my reasoning, not a proven rule. Weight-based dosing hasn’t been shown to work better than the standard 3–5 g.
Studies use anywhere from about 0.03 g/kg (roughly what your body uses up each day) to 0.1 g/kg. Here’s what that range looks like:
Body weight Low end (0.03 g/kg) High end (0.1 g/kg)
100 lb (45 kg) 1.4 — 4.5 g
120 lb (54 kg) 1.6 — 5.4 g
140 lb (64 kg) 1.9 — 6.4 g
160 lb (73 kg) 2.2 — 7.3 g
180 lb (82 kg) 2.4 — 8.2 g
200 lb (91 kg) 2.7 — 9.1 g
220 lb (100 kg) 3.0 — 10 g
Studies suggest single doses above about 10 g can cause GI distress, and once muscles are saturated, extra creatine is simply excreted, so more isn’t better. A loading phase of 25 to 30 g per day is typically split into smaller doses and done only briefly, if at all. My calculated dose was 4.8 g, but since I already get some creatine from food and prefer to start low and go slow, I take less than that.
Step 3: Try food first
I always ask myself first: is there a natural way to get this? For creatine, the answer is meat and fish: beef, pork, chicken, salmon, tuna and herring. A pound of raw meat or fish has about 1–2 g. Plants have almost none, and dairy and eggs have only trace amounts. That’s why vegetarians tend to have lower creatine stores, and one of the clearest cases where food alone can’t fill the gap.
Then I did the math. To get 4.8 g a day from food alone, I’d need roughly 3 pounds of raw chicken every day.
Here’s what that costs, comparing creatine only, not meals:
Source Per day Per year
~3 lb organic chicken breast ($8.99/lb, Whole Foods 365, NYC, Oct 2026)
per day ~$27
per year ~$9,840
One 4.8 g scoop of creatine monohydrate ($48 for 60 servings)
per day ~$0.80
per year ~$292
The cost, the prep, and the prospect of eating 3 pounds of chicken every day were not going to work. Needless to say, I looked into creatine supplements more seriously.
Step 4: Weigh it honestly
Food first, then fill the gap. For creatine, a scoop was the realistic way to reach my number. Before deciding, I wanted to know what the research actually says. The myths I believed, and what the studies show.
One review answers most of the questions people actually ask. In 2021, a team of sports nutrition researchers reviewed more than 500 studies on creatine in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (Antonio et al.). Here’s what it found, in the order I had the questions.
Won’t creatine make me gain weight? Any early change on the scale is water drawn into your muscle cells, not fat. Across studies, including trials lasting up to two years, creatine didn’t increase fat mass.
Can it damage my kidneys? In healthy adults at recommended doses, the evidence doesn’t support it. One thing worth knowing: creatine can raise creatinine on blood tests, a marker doctors use to check kidney function. So tell your doctor you take it.
Isn’t it a steroid? No. It’s not a steroid or a hormone. The association likely came from years of sitting on shelves next to actual performance-enhancing drugs.
Do I need a loading phase? No. The classic 20 g a day for a week is optional. Lower daily doses of 3–5 g fill your stores too; it just takes about 3– 4 weeks instead of one.
Does timing matter? Not much. Before a workout, after, with meals: what matters is consistency.
Does it help women specifically? This one surprised me. In postmenopausal women doing strength training, creatine improved muscle mass, strength and function. It works alongside training, not in place of it. Passively taking anything without intentional lifestyle change doesn't move the needle much in the long run.
The downsides
Part of what I try to do here is give you the full picture so you can decide for yourself.
Water retention. The most common side effect, usually in the first few days, as creatine draws water into your muscles.
Stomach upset at high doses. Doses over 10 g may cause GI distress, such as bloating or diarrhea. More isn’t necessarily better.
The hair loss question. One study found that creatine loading raised DHT, a hormone linked to hair loss in people prone to it. That finding has never been replicated, the levels stayed within normal limits, and no study has documented hair loss from creatine. But the study exists, so you should know about it.
Check with your doctor first if you’re under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding, on medication, or have kidney issues.
Who funds the research
Several authors of the 2021 review sit on the scientific advisory board of AlzChem, a company that manufactures creatine. The paper discloses this, and I think you should know it too. It doesn’t invalidate the findings, but a discerning reader deserves the full picture.
Step 5: Make it stick
Consistency matters more than timing. Before committing to a brand, I look for the simplest form: the least processed, with the fewest additives. I used the NOVA framework, developed by researchers in Brazil, as a rough filter. It sorts foods into four groups by degree of industrial processing, from unprocessed to ultra-processed. A common rule of thumb is that more than five unfamiliar ingredients suggests ultra-processing, so I put those products back unless the benefit clearly outweighs the cost. Creatine monohydrate is naturally a single-ingredient product, so I chose Thorne, which mixes easily and isn’t gritty.
My 2 pm Ritual: The Strawberry Matcha Creatine Latte
Here's where it gets practical — and a little fun. I mix my creatine into a homemade strawberry matcha latte for an early afternoon pick-me-up, right around the 1–3pm window when my energy starts to slow. Low calorie, antioxidant rich, and honestly better than anything I'd get at Blank Street or Starbucks — because I know exactly what's in it and how much of everything.
Matcha in its truest form is one of the most antioxidant dense foods you can consume. It contains L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes calm focus without the jittery spike of coffee — and it has been used in Japanese tea ceremonies for centuries as a ritual of presence and clarity. Strip away the syrups and the aesthetics and what's left is genuinely worth drinking.
I also pay close attention to how much matcha I use because caffeine, like creatine, is something I believe in dosing by body weight. The recommended caffeine range is 3–6mg per kilogram per day, with an upper limit of 400mg per person. I start at the low end, which for my weight starts at around 140mg per day, which works out to about 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of matcha. I also have black coffee in the morning so I try to take that into account when making my latte.
A full breakdown — exact recipe, ratios, and why each ingredient is in there — is coming soon. But here's what I'm working with (I’m not sponsored by any of these brands):
Matcha — $15/month
Thorne Creatine — $24/month
Elmhurst Milk — $32/month
Brad's Organic Coconut Water — $30/month
Minimo Nutrition in Vanilla — $24/month
If you're someone who buys a fun drink every day, we know that adds up. A more intentional homemade version runs about $4 per cup — versus $8 for a customized latte at Starbucks or Blank Street. Over a year, you'd spend nearly $2,920 at a coffee shop versus $1,460 making it yourself. That's over $1,460 back in your pocket. For me, that's an international vacation. I'll take it.
The Bottom Line
Creatine monohydrate is one of the most studied supplements in existence. The concerns I carried for years (kidney damage, fat gain, “only for people who want to bulk”) aren’t supported by the evidence in healthy adults. What is supported: it’s safe and effective for most adults, and underused outside of athletes. But the real takeaway isn’t creatine. It’s the process: know it, size it, try food first, weigh it honestly, and make it stick.
Borrow the approach, not my dose.
Why One Study Is Never Enough
It’s important to note a single study is one data point. Research becomes reliable when findings are replicated, when independent teams reach the same conclusions, and when other scientists keep citing and building on the work. These are the sources behind this post, starting with the most cited studies on creatine:
Here are five of the most cited and authoritative studies on creatine that form the backbone of what we know:
1. Kreider et al. (2017) International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine The most comprehensive evidence-based review on creatine that exists. If you read one thing, read this.
2. Harris et al. (1992) Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. The first study to prove oral creatine increases muscle creatine stores in humans. The modern creatine era begins here.
3. Hultman et al. (1996) Muscle creatine loading in men. Proved that 3g daily for 28 days achieves the same result as 20g daily for 6 days. The foundation for everything we know about dosing.
4. Antonio et al. (2021) Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?. Eleven independent researchers. 500+ peer reviewed publications. The study that answers the questions people actually ask.
5. Rawson & Volek (2003) Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance.