Creatine is a Wonder Supp that We Should All be Using
- Jono Vautin
- Sep 20
- 3 min read
Every time I open social media, I am hit with a new post about how good creatine is, but maybe I just follow too many dieticians.
In all seriousness though, creatine is a straight up wonder supplement.
For years we’ve known about the exercise and sporting benefits of creatine, improved muscular strength, power, increased muscle mass.
These are what people still mainly know and use creatine for.
But over the last few years, there’s been a rise in creatine research that is looking beyond improved exercise performance.
(Wonder Foods Australia sell high quality, 100% creatine monohydrate that you should try).
Forge Exercise Physiology is a reader-supported publication.
Creatine for Women
Now this is a title that I’ve used before in a previous article.
Today I want to reinforce the points I made in then and expand into some new territories where creatine can be of benefit for females.
What we’ve spoken about previously:
The drop in oestrogen levels brought about by menopause causes women’s bone mineral density to decline as oestrogen is important for bone health.
Creatine supplementation combined with weight training helps to increase muscle mass and strength, which in turn helps with bone remodelling, causing bone mineral density to maintain or improve.
Homeostasis changes and gender differences:
Women have lower stores of creatine compared to men, across their lifespan.
These stores of creatine then get lower again as you age and during pregnancy.
Creatine metabolism also changes across the menstrual cycle, with researchers suggesting that creatine supplementation may be warranted given the changes to protein synthesis and glycogen saturation during the luteal phase.
Creatine during pregnancy:
Pregnancy places a massive metabolic stress on the female body. I’m sure that women who have given birth don’t need me to explain that.
Part of this metabolic stress is a depletion of creatine stores in the body. This reduction in creatine stores has been linked with low-birth weights and pre-term births.
Researchers suggest that creatine supplementation during pregnancy may help to manage this cellular energy depletion, but that further research is needed.
Creatine for Depression:
As I said earlier, traditionally most of the research surrounding creatine has been about its effects on sporting/exercise performance.
Now, however, more research has been done on the role of creatine within the brain. In fact, there’s been a really cool study that I will tell you about at a later date.
Part of what I’ve learned recently is that neurones require a constant supply of creatine to help with their cellular processes. And while the brain can synthesise some creatine endogenously, most is produced by the liver and kidneys, unless supplemented exogenously (from outside of the body).
How does this tie in with depression then?
Well, depression rates are twice that in females compared to males. This is directly linked with certain hormonal milestones that females will experience, these being, puberty, the luteal phase, following pregnancy, and during perimenopause.
Dopamine and serotonin are two neurotransmitters that play a key role in the regulation of our mood. Research suggests that correct functioning of the creatine-PCr system is important for the efficient transmission of dopamine and serotonin.
The severity of a depressive episode has been inversely linked to white matter creatine and PCr concentrations. Or for those not familiar with neurochemistry, the less creatine in the brain, the worse the depressive episode.
Creatine concentrations are lower in female brains when compared to male brains. Researchers found that supplementing 4g of creatine combined with anti-depressants helped to reduce depression scores in females by over 50%. These results coincide with another study that found people with lower dietary creatine intake were more likely to suffer from depression.
Condensing all this research into a few key takeways:
- Women naturally have lower creatine stores compared to men.
- These stores are influenced by age, pregnancy, and the menstrual cycle.
- Creatine supplementation may help to offset homeostatic changes that occur during the menstrual cycle.
- Depression appears to have links with low creatine intake and creatine concentration in the brain.
- Women are more likely to suffer from depression compared to men, and recent studies suggest that the use of creatine adjunctively with anti-depressants will reduce depression scores.
The Bottom Line:
Creatine is a wonder supplement, and everyone should be taking it.
Women, in particular, stand to gain a lot from the supplementation of creatine across their lifespan.
Chat soon,
Jono
Not Sure Where to Get Your Next Tub of Creatine?
Then you should check out Wonder Foods Australia.
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