Creatine for Women: Benefits, Dose & Side Effects

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

By extension, many imagine creatine for ladies is a foul thought except they need to appear to be 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 girls.

On this article, you’ll study 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 girls 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 usually 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 cut up it into smaller molecules. Afterward, they “reassemble” the fragments again into ATP for reuse.

The extra ATP your cells can store and the sooner your physique can regenerate it, the extra “work” you are able to do.

Creatine donates a molecule to an ATP “precursor” known 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 acquire skeletal muscle and power sooner, 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 Ladies?

Creatine boosts muscle acquire, power, and athletic efficiency.

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

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

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

Creatine might enhance mind operate.

Creatine boosts cognition, reminiscence, and focus, might ease stress and anxiousness, and should assist defend towards cognitive issues like Alzheimer’s.

Creatine might enhance temper.

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

Some animal research additionally hints that it could be extra helpful in enhancing temper for females than males.

Creatine might support sleep.

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

Whereas lowering sleep length 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 unfavourable results of inadequate sleep amount and high quality. 

Associated: 5 Evidence-Based Techniques for Sleeping Better Now

Creatine might ease menstrual signs.

Many ladies experience disturbed sleep and “mind fog” in the course of the follicular part (the primary half) of the menstrual cycle.

As we’ve already seen, nevertheless, creatine can reduce these results, assuaging a number of the adversarial signs related to the menstrual cycle. 

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

Ought to Ladies Take Creatine?

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

Some girls worry that taking creatine will cause them to turn into “cumbersome.” Whereas comprehensible, this isn’t one thing most ladies want to fret about. 

To study why, take a look at this text:

The 10 Absolute Worst Muscle-Building Myths and Mistakes for Women

How A lot Creatine Ought to a Lady Take?

Research exhibits that supplementing with 3-to-5 grams of creatine per day is perfect for ladies. 

And regardless of what some say, there’s no “finest time to take creatine.” Research exhibits it really works completely effectively once you take it pre-workout, post-workout, or at every other time of the day.

Once you begin taking creatine, you’ll be able to “load” it by taking 20 grams each day for the primary 5-to-7 days (adopted by the “upkeep” dose of 3-to-5 grams each 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 sooner, serving to you reap its advantages sooner.

Facet Results of Creatine for Ladies

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

Regardless of some claims, there’s no proof that it results in pimples, complications, or elevated blood pressure. It additionally doesn’t negatively have an effect on sleep high quality, virtually definitely doesn’t cause hair loss, and in case your kidneys are wholesome, it won’t damage them.

Folks with delicate stomachs would possibly 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 might also acquire weight whereas taking creatine.

Creatine causes weight acquire 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 unfavourable affect in your general well being or physique composition, so that you shouldn’t view it negatively. It additionally received’t meaningfully affect the way you look and should expedite the muscle-building course of, serving to you construct muscle sooner.

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

What’s the Finest Creatine for Ladies?

For a pure supply of micronized creatine monohydrate that additionally contains two different components to boost muscle progress and enhance restoration, attempt Recharge.

(In the event you aren’t certain if Recharge is best for you or if one other complement would possibly higher suit your finances, circumstances, and objectives, 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 Ladies: FAQs

FAQ #1: What’s going to creatine do for a lady?

FAQ #2: Ought to girls take creatine to drop extra 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 extra pounds is smart for a number of causes. As an illustration, it helps you practice longer and more durable, which can improve vitality expenditure and, thus, fats loss over time. 

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

To study extra about the way to food regimen and train to drop extra pounds shortly, take a look at this text:

How to Lose Weight Faster in 5 Simple Steps

FAQ #3: Does creatine have unintended effects for ladies?

Supplementing with creatine is usually secure, even when taking giant each day doses for a number of years.

Opposite to what some say, there’s no proof it causes pimples, complications, or high blood pressure. Furthermore, it doesn’t disturb sleep, virtually definitely doesn’t cause hair loss, and supplied you’ve gotten wholesome kidneys, it won’t harm kidney well being, both.

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

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 benefit each expectant moms and their unborn kids, we’d like extra definitive, high-quality analysis earlier than we are able to confidently advocate creatine use throughout being pregnant.