Creatine for Women: Benefits, Dose & Side Effects

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

By extension, many imagine creatine for ladies is a nasty concept except they need to seem like 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 ladies.

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 ladies 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 crimson 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 primary 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 quicker 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 quicker, 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 Girls?

Creatine boosts muscle achieve, energy, and athletic efficiency.

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

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

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

Creatine could enhance mind perform.

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

Creatine could enhance temper.

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

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

Creatine could support sleep.

Animal research suggests taking creatine reduces whole and deep sleep period. 

Whereas lowering sleep period 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 detrimental results of inadequate sleep amount and high quality. 

Associated: 5 Evidence-Based Techniques for Sleeping Better Now

Creatine could ease menstrual signs.

Many ladies experience disturbed sleep and “mind fog” through 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 antagonistic signs related to the menstrual cycle. 

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

Ought to Girls Take Creatine?

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

Some ladies concern that taking creatine will make them develop into “cumbersome.” Whereas comprehensible, this isn’t one thing most ladies 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 Lady 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 “greatest time to take creatine.” Research reveals it really works completely nicely once you take it pre-workout, post-workout, or at every other time of the day.

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

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

Aspect Results of Creatine for Girls

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

Regardless of some claims, there’s no proof that it results in zits, 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’ll be able to 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 tissue, quickly growing your physique weight.

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

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

What’s the Finest Creatine for Girls?

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

(When you aren’t positive 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 inform you precisely what dietary supplements are best for you. Click here to check it out.)

Creatine for Girls: FAQs

FAQ #1: What is going to creatine do for a girl?

FAQ #2: Ought to ladies take creatine to drop a few 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 a few pounds is wise for a number of causes. For example, it helps you prepare longer and tougher, which can enhance power expenditure and, thus, fats loss over time. 

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

To be taught extra about easy methods to eating regimen and train to drop a few pounds rapidly, try this text:

How to Lose Weight Faster in 5 Simple Steps

FAQ #3: Does creatine have unwanted effects for women?

Supplementing with creatine is mostly protected, even when taking giant day by day doses for a number of years.

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

These with delicate stomachs could expertise abdomen discomfort in the event that they “load” creatine. You’ll be able to simply sidestep this subject by skipping a loading part and taking 3-to-5 grams day by day as an alternative.

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

FAQ #5: Can you are taking creatine whereas pregnant?

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