Creatine for Women: Benefits, Dose & Side Effects

There’s a typical false impression that creatine is just for males seeking to construct hulking muscle tissues.

By extension, many consider creatine for ladies is a nasty concept until they wish to appear to be an IFBB Professional bodybuilder.

These assumptions couldn’t be farther from the reality.

Creatine is a stand-out complement for anybody pursuing higher well being and health, with potential benefits particularly related to girls.

On this article, you’ll be taught the advantages of creatine for ladies. 

We’ll additionally dive into the analysis to reply key questions, together with: What’s creatine? What does creatine do for ladies? Ought to girls take creatine? And extra. 

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound comprising the amino acids L-arginine, glycine, and methionine.

Your physique produces creatine naturally and absorbs and stores it from meals like purple meat, eggs, and fish.

Athletes and gym-goers additionally typically take a creatine dietary complement as a result of it has quite a few muscle-building and performance-enhancing advantages. 

What Does Creatine Do?

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is probably the most fundamental unit of cellular energy. When cells use ATP, they break up it into smaller molecules. Afterward, they “reassemble” the fragments again into ATP for reuse.

The extra ATP your cells can store and the sooner your physique can regenerate it, the extra “work” you are able to do.

Creatine donates a molecule to an ATP “precursor” referred to as adenosine diphosphate (ADP), which expedites ATP manufacturing, enabling your physique to replenish its ATP retailer extra quickly.

That’s why supplementing with creatine helps you achieve skeletal muscle and energy sooner, improves anaerobic endurance, enhances muscle restoration, and boosts train efficiency. 

Associated: This Is the Definitive Guide to Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation

What Are the Advantages of Creatine for Ladies?

Creatine boosts muscle achieve, energy, and athletic efficiency.

Creatine’s advantages for ladies are much like these for males: it helps you achieve muscle and strength sooner, improves anaerobic endurance, enhances muscle recovery, and boosts intense train efficiency.

Mainly, it’s an all-around win for ladies who train.

What’s extra, some research suggests girls supplementing with creatine are inclined to see larger relative enhancements than males in these areas. The place males usually expertise an enchancment of round 5%, girls get pleasure from a rise of round 15%, highlighting how efficient creatine is for ladies. 

Creatine might enhance mind perform.

Creatine boosts cognition, reminiscence, and focus, might ease stress and nervousness, and will assist defend in opposition to cognitive issues like Alzheimer’s.

Creatine might enhance temper.

Whereas scientists are nonetheless exploring the connection between creatine and melancholy, a number of research present that taking creatine can enhance temper.

Some animal research additionally hints that it might be extra helpful in enhancing temper for females than males.

Creatine might support sleep.

Animal research suggests taking creatine reduces complete and deep sleep length. 

Whereas lowering sleep length and high quality normally harms psychological and bodily efficiency, other studies show that taking creatine makes you mentally and bodily sharper, even when sleep-deprived.

Whereas speculative, this might imply creatine reduces your want for sleep and offsets any unfavorable results of inadequate sleep amount and high quality. 

Associated: 5 Evidence-Based Techniques for Sleeping Better Now

Creatine might ease menstrual signs.

Many ladies experience disturbed sleep and “mind fog” in the course of the follicular part (the primary half) of the menstrual cycle.

As we’ve already seen, nevertheless, creatine can reduce these results, assuaging a few of the opposed signs related to the menstrual cycle. 

Associated: The Complete Guide to Eating and Training During Your Menstrual Cycle

Ought to Ladies Take Creatine?

Moreover, girls naturally have decrease creatine shops than males and infrequently eat fewer creatine-rich meals, which makes utilizing dietary supplements to extend creatine ranges much more advantageous.

Some girls worry that taking creatine will cause them to grow to be “cumbersome.” Whereas comprehensible, this isn’t one thing most girls want to fret about. 

To be taught why, try this text:

The 10 Absolute Worst Muscle-Building Myths and Mistakes for Women

How A lot Creatine Ought to a Girl Take?

Research reveals that supplementing with 3-to-5 grams of creatine per day is perfect for ladies. 

And regardless of what some say, there’s no “finest time to take creatine.” Research reveals it really works completely nicely while you take it pre-workout, post-workout, or at every other time of the day.

Whenever you begin taking creatine, you possibly can “load” it by taking 20 grams each day for the primary 5-to-7 days (adopted by the “upkeep” dose of 3-to-5 grams each day).

You don’t have to start out with a loading part, however studies show that it causes the creatine to build up in your muscle tissues sooner, serving to you reap its advantages sooner.

Aspect Results of Creatine for Ladies

Taking creatine dietary supplements is basically secure for ladies, even in excessive doses (as much as 30 grams each day) over a few years.

Regardless of some claims, there’s no proof that it results in pimples, complications, or elevated blood pressure. It additionally doesn’t negatively have an effect on sleep high quality, nearly actually doesn’t cause hair loss, and in case your kidneys are wholesome, it won’t damage them.

Individuals with delicate stomachs may really feel discomfort if they begin with a excessive dose of creatine. You may keep away from this undesirable impact of creatine dietary supplements by skipping a “loading” part and easily taking 3-to-5 grams a day.

You may additionally achieve weight whereas taking creatine.

Creatine causes weight achieve as a result of it attracts water into your muscle tissues, quickly rising your physique weight.

Crucially, water retention from creatine will not be the identical as gaining fats. It has no unfavorable influence in your total well being or physique composition, so that you shouldn’t view it negatively. It additionally received’t meaningfully influence the way you look and will expedite the muscle-building course of, serving to you construct muscle sooner.

Associated: Does Creatine Make You Gain Weight? What Science Says

What’s the Greatest Creatine for Ladies?

For a pure supply of micronized creatine monohydrate that additionally consists of two different substances to boost muscle progress and enhance restoration, strive Recharge.

(In case you aren’t certain if Recharge is best for you or if one other complement may higher suit your funds, circumstances, and targets, then take the Legion Supplement Finder Quiz! In lower than a minute, it’ll let you know precisely what dietary supplements are best for you. Click here to check it out.)

Creatine for Ladies: FAQs

FAQ #1: What’s going to creatine do for a lady?

FAQ #2: Ought to girls take creatine to drop extra pounds?

Taking creatine by itself in all probability won’t boost fats loss to a significant diploma. Nonetheless, supplementing with creatine whereas weight-reduction plan and exercising to drop extra pounds is smart for a number of causes. For example, it helps you practice longer and tougher, which can improve vitality expenditure and, thus, fats loss over time. 

It additionally helps you retain muscle and energy, which is important for enhancing your body composition whereas “cutting.”

To be taught extra about the best way to weight-reduction plan and train to drop extra pounds shortly, try this text:

How to Lose Weight Faster in 5 Simple Steps

FAQ #3: Does creatine have uncomfortable side effects for ladies?

Supplementing with creatine is usually secure, even when taking giant each day doses for a number of years.

Opposite to what some say, there’s no proof it causes pimples, complications, or high blood pressure. Furthermore, it doesn’t disturb sleep, nearly actually doesn’t cause hair loss, and offered you might have wholesome kidneys, it won’t harm kidney well being, both.

These with delicate stomachs might expertise abdomen discomfort in the event that they “load” creatine. You may simply sidestep this problem by skipping a loading part and taking 3-to-5 grams each day as an alternative.

FAQ #4: What are the disadvantages of taking creatine?

FAQ #5: Can you’re taking creatine whereas pregnant?

Though there are indications that creatine supplementation may gain advantage each expectant moms and their unborn youngsters, we want extra definitive, high-quality analysis earlier than we are able to confidently suggest creatine use throughout being pregnant.