Creatine bloating can occur when you take 20–25 grams of creatine for 5–7 days. You might avoid this by taking only 3–5 grams a day.
Creatine is one of the most popular dietary supplements on the market. Athletes and fitness enthusiasts often use it to improve muscle size, strength, power, and performance.
Though creatine has a strong safety profile, some users experience bloating in the loading phase, also known as the beginning stages of supplementation.
This article explains what causes creatine bloating and steps you can take to avoid it.
Amino acids are compounds required for essential functions — including building your muscles. Creatine is a substance that your body produces naturally from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine. On average, your liver, kidneys, and pancreas make 1–2 grams per day, which is stored mostly in skeletal muscles.
Creatine can also come from animal-based foods — primarily meats and fish — and from supplements. It is best-known for enhancing exercise performance by providing energy to your muscles, but has also been studied for its role in other health benefits, such as promoting healthy aging and brain function.
However, to experience optimal benefits, you may need to consume large amounts of animal protein sources like meat or fish to obtain enough creatine, making supplements a logical, more cost-effective way to increase levels.
Creatine (creatine phosphate) works by donating phosphate to ADP to replenish ATP, a molecule that
This system rapidly replenishes your body’s ATP stores by using creatine to provide energy to your muscles. But because your natural stores are limited, they’re quickly used up during high intensity activity.
Supplementing with creatine increases its concentration in your muscles, providing more phosphate to power ATP.
This may translate to improvements in the overall quality of training. For example, as early as the 1980s,
As a result, it’s a popular supplement among athletes and workout enthusiasts.
Creatine bloating is a phenomenon that most often occurs during the loading phase when beginning to supplement with creatine. The loading phase consists of taking 20–25 grams of creatine for 5–7 consecutive days.
Following the loading phase, a maintenance dose of 3–5 grams or 0.01 grams per pound (0.03 grams per kg) of body weight per day thereafter is necessary to maintain optimal muscle stores.
Research suggests that the loading phase can result in a significant gain in total body water. This tends to increase body weight due to an increase in both muscle mass and water intake into the muscles, which may cause bloating.
On average, you may expect to gain 2 to 4 pounds during the loading phase, which is partially water weight. Increases in total body water due to supplementing with creatine are short-term and typically resolve a few weeks after the loading phase.
While not everyone experiences bloating, you may be able to limit or avoid it by skipping the loading phase altogether and taking the maintenance dose of 3–5 grams per day.
The purpose of the loading phase is to saturate your muscles with creatine so that you can experience its benefits sooner. This is because the supplement has no immediate effect on exercise performance. You experience a difference only once your muscles are fully saturated. The time it takes to notice full benefits typically takes 5–7 days of loading.
Therefore, the time you take creatine — whether around workouts, in the morning, or at night — isn’t vitally important, as long as you remember to take it daily.
If you prefer, you can skip the loading phase and just take the maintenance dose of 3–5 grams daily. Doing so may help limit bloating that’s often associated with the high doses taken during the loading phase. This is just as effective as loading, but it will take longer for you to experience benefits — typically 3–4 weeks as opposed to only 1 week with loading.
In fact, studies show that supplementing with low doses over longer periods is effective in improving athletic performance and muscle power output without causing the rapid weight gain linked to loading.
A 2017 study of 19 male athletes demonstrated that supplementing with 0.01 grams per pound (0.03 grams per kg) of body weight per day for 14 days led to significant increases in muscle power output compared to a placebo. What’s more, the athletes showed no significant increase in body weight.
There are many forms of creatine available to purchase, including:
- creatine monohydrate
- creatine ethyl ester
- creatine hydrochloride (HCl)
- buffered creatine
- liquid creatine
- creatine magnesium chelate
The most widely available form is creatine monohydrate. Other forms are available. Research suggests that the absorption rate of creatine monohydrate is nearly 100%.
Creatine monohydrate is generally sold in a powder form, either alone or in pre-workouts, which are products you take before your workouts that contain other “energizing” ingredients like caffeine. Since there is often little evidence to support the benefits of additional ingredients in creatine-mixed supplements, you may want to take creatine as a solo supplement.
Mix the powder with water or juice using a spoon to stir. For easier mixing, you can use creatine monohydrate in micronized form.
Micronized creatine is smaller than typical creatine and mixes better with liquids so that you won’t have clumps at the bottom of your drink.
Creatine is generally considered safe as a supplement, but it’s a good idea to consult a healthcare professional before beginning any supplement.
There have been concerns about creatine supplements and kidney health, but some studies suggest that creatine supplementation may not affect kidney health. Researchers found that, though creatine levels may be higher in individuals who take creatine, this does not mean the kidneys are harmed.
While there were concerns about dehydration related to creatine, in 2000, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) found no direct evidence that creatine caused dehydration. They have not revised their statement.
The current consensus is that short- or long-term use of creatine supplements is safe and poses little to no health risk in otherwise healthy people.
However, individuals with chronic conditions, people with impaired kidney function, or those taking medications should check with their healthcare professional before taking creatine.
Creatine is a popular supplement used to improve exercise and athletic performance; However, creatine bloating may occur during the loading phase — when you take 20–25 grams of creatine for 5–7 days — due to an increase in muscle mass and water intake into your muscles.
Skipping the loading phase and taking the maintenance dose of 3–5 grams daily instead may help prevent bloating.
Speak with a doctor or healthcare professional before taking creatine or any supplement.