Creatine Benefits: Who Can Benefit from It and Why?

Chances are that the word “creatine” brings to mind images of gym locker rooms, barbells, and buff bodies. True, creatine supplements are commonly used in strength-training regimens for their muscle-supporting benefits. But creatine also has some potential cognitive benefits.

Your body produces creatine, and it’s found in certain foods, but supplementation may help meet your needs, whether you’re hitting the gym or trail or just looking to support brain health. But what does creatine do? In a nutshell, it helps recycle energy during high-intensity training or during periods of increased cognitive demand.

If you’ve been thinking about adding creatine to your routine, you might be surprised to learn that you may be able to use your health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending arrangement (FSA) dollars to offset the cost of this supplement if you’re using it to affect the structure or function of your body, or address a specific medical condition that creatine could help. This depends on your plan’s rules and other factors.

In this article, we explore creatine benefits, what it does in the body and brain, how to take creatine, and potential HSA or FSA eligibility for this supplement.

Creatine is a natural compound produced in your body, and you get it from certain foods in your diet. You mostly store creatine in your muscles, which then convert the compound to phosphocreatine, a combination of phosphate and creatine. Phosphocreatine helps recycle adenosine triphosphate (ATP), your body’s universal form of energy. You need ATP for all types of movement and for all other bodily processes.

Here’s how it works: You get glucose, your body’s primary fuel source, from food. Your cells might use glucose right away if needed or store it in other forms, such as glycogen, to be used later. Your cells must convert glucose or glycogen to ATP when your body needs energy, say during a workout.

But ATP is rapidly broken down during high-intensity exercise, especially during intense exercise, turning it into adenosine diphosphate (ADP). Phosphocreatine helps “recycle” energy by donating a phosphate group to ADP to help convert it back to ATP, helping maintain ATP availability during short bursts of intense activity.

“Creatine is one of the best researched sports supplements,” says Mariam Zakhary, DO, a clinical advisor for Ikon Recovery Center and a physical, rehabilitation, and sports medicine physician.

To sum it all up, she says, “Creatine increases muscle’s capacity to store phosphocreatine, which is then able to convert ADP into ATP at a faster rate. The result is an increase in strength, increased power output, ability to complete a higher amount of training per week, and an increase in muscle mass through resistance training.”

Your body maintains a “pool” or store of creatine, mostly in your muscles, but it breaks down about 1% to 2% of that pool each day, turning it into creatinine, which you excrete through urine.

Your body replenishes degraded creatine by producing about 1 to 2 grams per day via your pancreas, liver, and kidneys. This is about half of your daily need, according to research in the journal Nutrients. You get the rest from certain foods, specifically red meat, seafood, and animal-milk products.

While about 95% of your body’s creatine pool is stored in skeletal muscle, your brain, heart, and ovaries or testicles get the other 5%, according to research in the journal PeerJ.

Your brain is a bit of an energy hog. It makes up about 2% of your body weight but requires about 20% of your resting energy, according to a journal article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Memory and executive functioning processes cause rapid firing of neurons (nerve cells), using up valuable ATP. Again, phosphocreatine helps rapidly regenerate ATP from ADP.

You might be wondering about what research says about creatine supplementation or where the evidence is most robust.

The following benefits are noted in a 2025 research review, published in the journal Nutrients.

Creatine may improve:

• Overall exercise performance and recovery
• High-intensity exercise performance
• Exercise adaptation through increased training loads
• The rate of glycogen replenishment for prolonged exercise at high intensities, or those with alternating intensities
• Body recomposition (increased lean mass and reduced fat mass) in combination with strength training
• Muscle cell volume and fluid balance
• Recovery following intense training
• Cognitive functions, including boosts to memory and attention and reductions in mental fatigue, though research is somewhat mixed

Many people may benefit from taking a creatine supplement, not just gym regulars. This is especially true for people who fall into the following categories.

Exercise places energy demands on your body, so your muscles use creatine to produce ATP from ADP quickly. During exercise, muscles rely more on phosphocreatine to regenerate ATP. High-intensity exercise utilizes phosphocreatine stores, which must be replenished afterward. Supplementation helps increase intramuscular creatine and phosphocreatine stores, supporting repeated bouts of intense exercise.

As you can see, if you’re physically active, you may have higher creatine demands. This is true whether you strength train, do high-intensity interval workouts, play team sports, or endurance train, according to research in the journal Nutrients.

Additionally, if you’re strictly vegan, you do not get creatine from diet, though your body still makes half your needs. You also might not get enough creatine from your diet if you stick mostly to plant foods, according to research in Frontiers in Nutrition.

During and after menopause, creatine supplementation may help. Creatine has mostly been studied for the male body. But some research points to improvements in strength and exercise performance in females, according to a journal article in Nutrients. Maintaining and building muscle mass during this life change is important because estrogen loss tends to ramp up age-related muscle loss.

Emerging evidence suggests creatine may help support cognitive function and mood during the menopause transition, although larger clinical trials are still needed.

Some evidence suggests creatine may support memory, attention span, and information-processing speed in some adults, according to a study in Frontiers in Nutrition. Research is still mixed on whether creatine supplementation could help protect against neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Anyone who is considering taking a creatine supplement should consult their health care provider first. This is especially true for those with underlying conditions or who take prescription or over-the-counter medications or supplements.

Creatine is generally not recommended for people who:

• Have kidney disease
• Have endometriosis
• Are under 18
• Are pregnant or nursing
• Take diuretics
• Take medications that may affect kidney function (such as prolonged NSAID use)

Creatine may cause some side effects, though these are generally mild. According to research in Frontiers in Nutrition, common side effects include:

• Abdominal discomfort
• Bloating
• Diarrhea
• Water weight gain in muscles

You may be able to mitigate these side effects by skipping the loading dose. Some creatine protocols recommend taking a high loading dose of 20 grams per day for the first week, followed by 5 grams per day going forward for maintenance.

But the loading dose phase may increase your risk of side effects. You can simply start with the maintenance dose, according to an article in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Or start with even less and see how you react.

“Gradually increasing your dose, taking creatine with food, and spreading out the dose throughout the day can reduce side effects such as bloating, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea,” says Jared Ross, MD, an emergency medicine physician, assistant professor at the University of Missouri, and the founder and president of EMSEC, LLC, a medical consulting company.

If your provider has recommended the supplement, follow their directions for how to take creatine to best support your needs.

Most research on creatine explores creatine monohydrate, so it is the most recommended type, according to the journal Nutrients. You can find it in various forms, whether you’re looking for capsules, gummies, or a powder you can mix in liquid.

Look for a product with clear serving sizes and no unnecessary additives. Products with third-party certifications, specifically NSF Certified for Sport and Informed Choice, are the most trusted, as they will be free of any banned or harmful substances.

If you’re on the hunt for a creatine supplement, the following are products from Truemed partners.

Momentous Creatine is a monohydrate powder option that’s NSF Certified for Sport, so you can rest assured you’re getting a product free from any banned substances and that meets strict limits on contaminants, such as heavy metals.

Thorne Creatine is another monohydrate powder option that’s NSF Certified for Sport. It’s lauded for its enhanced solubility in water for a tasteless and odorless experience, whether you’re consuming it in water or another liquid.

Gainful Creatine Monohydrate also comes in powder form, with creatine monohydrate as the only ingredient. The product is tested by Informed Sport to ensure it meets rigorous requirements regarding contaminants. The product mixes well with other Gainful formulas, including Performance Greens and Electrolyte Hydration.

True Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate Powder is non-GMO and features the product’s third-party testing results from Light Labs on its website to show it meets ingredient standards. A package delivers 250 servings, so you can reorder less or receive fewer subscription shipments.

As noted above, you might be able to purchase a creatine supplement with your HSA or FSA dollars. Creatine supplements might be eligible expenses for these health benefit accounts if you’re using the product to address a specific medical condition. If approved by an independent licensed clinician, such conditions might include the following: sarcopenia, mild cognitive decline, neurodegenerative disorders, and more.

You might need a letter of medical necessity (LMN). An LMN is a formal document from a licensed healthcare provider that explains why a certain product, treatment, or service is necessary to treat, mitigate, or prevent a medical condition.

Certain health products and services may be eligible for qualified customers with an LMN issued by an independent practitioner when the item is used to address a specific medical condition.

Truemed* specializes in helping you maximize your HSA and other health-related benefits (such as an FSA):

• First, you can check whether a product or service is normally considered a qualifying medical expense or whether you might need an LMN.
• Complete a health intake survey that will be reviewed by an independent licensed clinician.
• Buy the item; either pay directly with your HSA/FSA card at checkout or pay with a regular credit/debit card and seek HSA/FSA reimbursement afterward.
• The independent licensed practitioner will review your medical history, and if you qualify, will issue an LMN. Truemed itself does not make eligibility determinations.
• Truemed also offers support in the event you get a denial of reimbursement and need to provide substantiation documentation.

*Truemed is for qualified customers. HSA/FSA tax savings vary. Learn more at truemed.com/disclosures