Creatine improves physical function and body composition in older adults

I&#x27;ve worked out my whole life (since around age 14, now over 35) and had periods where I did a lot of supplements like creatine or pre-workout.<p>I no longer bother with them, although creatine is one of the more well researched &#x2F; &quot;real&quot; supplements, so you&#x27;re better off with that than lots of others.<p>To me though they&#x27;ve never really done anything (besides cost money). In my opinion the best bang for your buck is drinking a coffee before or during your workout. That and make sure you get enough sleep and eat nutritious food.

If you’ve never tried adding a little bit of creatine in your diet, I would recommend trying it.<p>You will definitely notice the positive effects.<p>If you’re not training, don’t take weight lifting amounts, just 500-1000mg a day is more than enough.. more than that and your body will start to get larger because you will be retaining water.

Creatine works exceptionally well for me (43m), I lift and do cardio, a couple of times a week. And if I take creatine, for a couple of weeks, I can see a noticeable improvement in energy, and body composition. It&#x27;s so cheap, why would you not take it?

I have creatine on my short list of supplements to try this summer. Anything you wished you knew when starting it? Do I need to worry about buying a specific brand known for being “clean”?

I&#x27;m rapidly approaching 50 and in the gym 7 days a week 2+ hours a day for heavy lifting and cardio.<p>Creatine is one of the few supplements that I can say has noticeable immediate difference on or off. Without it, my recoveries take longer and I have to back down workouts to 4-5 days a week.<p>5mg a day... time doesn&#x27;t seem to make a difference but I take pre workout. No hair loss or other side effects.

Creatine seems acknowledged as working in the fitness community by both the bro-science and the science-based crowds.<p>For me, it worked very well, but I noticed I was losing hair in the shower (eep!) and stopped using it. Seems that&#x27;s a thing for people with male pattern baldness. ¯\_(ツ)_&#x2F;¯

Given the near de facto standard use of creatine for people working out, I would have expected there to be more conclusive results available.

<i>Conclusion: Creatine supplementation improves sit-to-stand performance, muscle function, and lean tissue mass. It is crucial to conduct high-quality prospective RCTs to confirm these hypotheses (PROSPERO number, CRD42023354929).</i><p>&#x27;Give us funding pls&#x27;<p>I use creatine myself and think it helps build muscle, but this is a pretty weak result. I do think it&#x27;s worth researching because it&#x27;s a cheap supplement and could help an ageing demographic as part of an exercise program. OTOH I&#x27;m not sure it&#x27;s necessary if you&#x27;re not exercising intensively or actively trying to build strength. Consistent regular light exercise and reducing sugar in your diet seems like the best way for most people to deal with ageing.

&gt; The quality of evidence for all outcomes was low or very low because of a high risk of bias.