Creatine: a timeless supplement, not just a trend

We love creatine. We’re excited by creatine. We’ve sung creatine’s praises plenty. 

It’s a brilliant ingredient, not least because there are huge amounts of evidence supporting its role in everything from muscle strength and high-intensity exercise performance to improved cognitive function, women’s health and even concussion management. 

But is it right to call it a trend? The very fact that it’s been around for decades makes us think not – because rather than being fleeting, as many trends are, creatine continues to prove its relevance. 

That’s an aside though, and doesn’t take away from the fact it’s an exciting time for the ingredient. In fact, it’s this ongoing evolution that has us hooked. 

But how is it evolving, and what are some of the biggest talking points we’re hearing around creatine? Our founder, Nick Morgan, took part in a panel on creatine at the recent Sports and Active Nutrition Summit USA. Here are his top three takeaways. 

Optimal creatine dosing: how much should you take?

The traditional dose for creatine has been between 3-5g, but questions were being asked about 6g doses, and even 10g and 20g doses – both from the perspective of loading phases and everyday use. 

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, up to 30g a day may be safe and well tolerated by the general population, so concerns around safety aren’t necessarily an issue – although whether a brand can advise a dose that high is a different matter. 

This is because of various regulations that limit what can be said both in terms of dosage and on-pack claims. This is especially the case in Europe, where 3g is the approved dose and claims relating to creatine’s effect on cognitive function have been rejected. 

Regulations aside, where it gets interesting is considering this from a commercial point of view. Consumers often perceive ‘more’ as ‘better’, but whether they would pay more for a higher dose remains to be seen. 

In order to make the argument for more expensive products an effective one, there’s a huge education piece to be done about the benefits of a higher dose. 

It will also be interesting to see how higher doses could affect format. 

In general, the instruction for achieving a higher dose is to split it into smaller doses throughout the day. So 4x 5g servings. For powders, that’s four drinks a day. When it comes to capsules or gummies – the majority of which contain 1g of creatine per cap/gummy – you could be looking at taking up to 20 a day. Of course, this is the extreme but it does seem like an unlikely habit for most people to form, or feel comfortable with. 

Creatine for women’s health: unlocking new benefits

Despite growing awareness of the wider benefits of creatine, it’s still heavily associated with sports and active nutrition and, thanks to those regulations we mentioned above, marketed as such. 

Which creates a challenge when it comes to appealing to a wider audience. So what’s the key to success here and where do the opportunities lie?

In part, reaching a wider audience will happen organically; word of mouth is a powerful thing. 

But one area where we’re likely to see an increased focus on creatine is women’s health. 

With increasing numbers of women incorporating weight training into their workouts, the traditional benefits of creatine are as relevant as ever. What’s more, creatine has been shown to counteract muscle, bone and strength loss during menopause. 

Type ‘creatine products for women’ into Google right now though and you’re presented with a page of standard creatine products in black and blue packaging – a far cry from the pinks and purples of women-focused protein and collagen powders. 

To win with this audience though isn’t as simple as turning the packaging pink and adding an image of a woman on the front, there’s a huge amount of work to do to shift the stereotype of creatine as a product for ‘gym bros’. 

Thankfully, regulations here work in the favour of any brands trying to do this, with “daily consumption of Creatine may improve the effect of resistance training on muscle strength in adults over 55 years of age” an approved claim in Europe. 

And so, it’s really only a matter of time before creatine products that are marketed specifically at women begin to hit our shelves. 

The role of specialist brands in the future of creatine

So who’s going to change the face of creatine? 

Chances are, in order to reach and engage these new audiences, it’s going to be a specialist brand that reshapes the landscape; one that can disassociate creatine from its origins. 

The truth is, it would take a very clever and engaging awareness campaign to thrust creatine into the spotlight in this way. And while a generalist brand could do this, they don’t need to as there will be other flagship products to focus their time and money on. 

A specialist brand, on the other hand, has the opportunity to reshape the narrative of creatine. If it can do this successfully, then it could be the key to driving mass adoption. 

For now, that space is wide open but it’s only a matter of time before a brand steps in to own it. 

The renaissance of creatine

Creatine is the back-to-basics trend at its finest: the renaissance of well-researched, proven ingredients finding new life in different applications. 

But there’s no doubt about it, whether for athletic performance, cognitive enhancement, or overall wellness, creatine is poised to become a major player in the health and wellness space. And we can’t wait to see the results.

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