I hear creatine is gaining popularity as a supplement, so I thought it would be handy to write about it so you can make an informed decision as to whether it’s something which might benefit you.

Creatine has been around for a very long time, it’s one of the most well researched and effective supplements for improving exercise performance and has long been taken by people who want this.

Now, it’s gaining popularity as a supplement for everyone because of its potential non-exercise based benefits.

The benefits of creatine are vast, but there is less research on the non exercise benefits.

It’s been shown that in certain situations, creatine can provide cognitive and mental health benefits.

In stressful situations involving sleep deprivation or exercise to exhaustion, creatine appears to reduce mental fatigue.

Vegetarians and older adults might benefit from improvements in memory by taking creatine.

It may also have some use as a fat burning supplement. Not because it burns fat, but because by allowing you to access more strength, power and energy in your workouts, you’ll likely gain more muscle. Muscle is energy hungry, and so makes it easier to create a calorie deficit.

So, how do you take it?

Well, the standard dose used in research is 0.03g per kg bodyweight. Sometimes a loading dose is recommended but there’s no real need for this except that it gets the creatine into your system a little quicker.

It will take about a week before you’ll notice any effects. You’ll likely gain a few pounds on the scales (1-2kg) at first because the creatine will promote some water storage in your muscles. This serves to make you look more toned.

There is a possibility that creatine will cause some digestive upset in some people, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for this. Creatine will hang around in your system for over a week when you stop taking it, which can prolong this digestive upset!

Overall, creatine is cheap, easy to take and tasteless too. It offers a lot of benefits in exercise and some possible benefits outside of exercise too and could be worth considering trying out.