Creatine in Women

What do you think of when you hear the word Creatine? What we’ve always heard or thought about creatine was based on research of the supplement’s effect on groups of men.

Fortunately, research on the benefits of creatine in women has become a forefront topic in the wellness arena. Recently, we dove deep into a research article shared by the National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, “Creatine Supplementation in Women’s Health: A Lifespan Perspective”, [link to the full article here]. Check out our summary below and let us know what you learn!

There are several major concepts discussed in depth in this article. Here are a few:

• Evidence shows that creatine is “an effective ergogenic aid for increasing strength, power, and athletic performance in females without marked changes in body weight”

• Creatine supplementation is most effective for athletes who perform high intensity, short-duration activities or repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise with short rest periods (such as jumping, sprinting, and resistance training)

• Females store 70-80% less endogenous creatine overall vs. males

• Creatine supplementation may be even more effective for females by supporting a pro-energetic environment in the brain

• Supplementation shows positive effects on:

• Skeletal muscle size & function

• Mood & cognition by restoring brain energy levels & homeostasis

Creatine is one of the most commonly used dietary supplements. The chemical explanation: creatine is an essential piece in the creatine kinase reaction. It is used to speed up ATP (energy) production from creatine & phosphocreatine and also serves as a metabolic buffer to maintain pH.

So what? What can creatine do for me as a female athlete? It helps you recover faster & perform better! It also supports cross-bridge recycling and energy availability during exercise. Creatine may also support neural function and adaptations to exercise and may delay the onset of fatigue during training, which allows for a greater stimulus for training, leading to increases in muscle mass, strength, and muscle fiber hypertrophy. In aerobic exercise, creatine also decreases the workload on the cardiovascular system and delays the onset of neuromuscular fatigue.

Sleep deprived? Mom brain? Yep, you guessed it, creatine can help! It is shown to help improve cognitive performance, brain function, & reduces mental fatigue during stressful mental tasks or under sleep deprivation. Check out these facts:

• Females have much smaller stores of creatine in the body than males (70-80% less), and tend to consume less creatine in their diets than males

• Females have higher reported intramuscular stores of creatine at rest (~10%), which means they may need to supplement with higher dosages compared to males

The effects of creatine supplementation in relation to hormone-related changes has been overlooked in performance-based studies. Creatine may help have an anti-depressant effect in women, especially when combined with anti-depressant medications and during high hormone phases of life (puberty, postpartum, menopause).

• Most important times for women to supplement with creatine:

• Luteal phase of menstrual cycle (high estrogen phase): may support muscle protein preservation

• During the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (low estrogen phase), it may help improve cognition and sleep (which are usually strongly affected)

• Pregnancy!

• Increased metabolic demand during pregnancy reduces the amount of creatine for your body to pull from, which causes increased fatigue, even from a “normal” training load

• A reduction in creatine stores in pregnancy have been linked to both low birth weight and pre-term birth

• Postpartum

• Has anti-depressant effects that are especially helpful during high hormone phases of life (so it may be helpful in lowering your risk of postpartum depression, or reducing the severity of its symptoms)

• Post-menopausal: 

• Need a loading dose to start, research supports 0.3 g of creatine per kg of body weight per day for at least 7 consecutive days

• After loading dose, can switch to supplementing with at least 5 g per day

Here are our conclusions: Creatine is an effective supplement, for both physical and cognitive performance enhancement and is especially useful during high and low hormone cycles in a woman’s life.

Our takeaway: we would recommend creatine supplementation for all women, but especially for female athletes!

Why Momentous Creatine? 

One of the biggest complaints we hear from people who have taken creatine before is a side effect of gastric bloating.

Momentous Creatine is creatine monohydrate that is made with a product called Creapure. Due to the way that it is processed, it doesn’t contain the unwanted by-products that so frequently cause gastric bloating in other creatine products.

All Momentous products are NSF certified, which means that they only contain what they say they do on the label! We love it, because we can throw it in our water bottle with some LMNT or in our protein shake, or even our morning cup of coffee and we don’t even notice it’s there!

Want to add creatine to your routine to improve your recovery and performance? Mention it during or after your next session, or swing by Peak Performance to grab some!

Want to level up your game? Peak Performance therapists help athletes like you get out of PAIN, return to the things they LOVE, and reach their PEAK PERFORMANCE! Give us a call at: (864) 362-0072 or book an evaluation here: https://peakperformancepts.janeapp.com/