Must you take creatine for menopause signs? Let’s discuss it.
Creatine is the brand new huge factor, particularly for girls in menopause. Touted as a miracle for all the things from mind fog to bone well being, creatine is displaying up extra steadily in dietary supplements marketed towards girls over 40. However does creatine truly work? Is creatine good for menopausal girls?
Let’s discover how the scientific analysis stacks up towards the commonest claims.
Declare #1: Creatine Improves Bone Density
Verdict: False
Bone well being is a serious concern throughout menopause. As estrogen ranges drop, bone mineral density (BMD) declines, rising the danger of osteoporosis. Due to this, many dietary supplements declare to enhance bone energy or density — and creatine is not any exception.
Some have hypothesized that creatine may assist with bone well being by enhancing muscle energy, thereby enhancing mechanical loading on the bones. Nevertheless, the medical proof doesn’t help this principle.
A randomized managed trial (PMID: 25386713) involving postmenopausal girls discovered that though creatine improved muscle perform, it had no vital impact on BMD. Equally, a complete 2023 meta-analysis (PMID: 37144634) concluded that creatine doesn’t forestall bone loss or osteoporosis.
In comparison with vitamins with well-documented results on bone well being — comparable to calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium — creatine lacks a powerful physiological mechanism or medical proof for enhancing BMD in menopausal girls.
In abstract, whereas creatine could contribute not directly to musculoskeletal perform, it doesn’t improve bone density and mustn’t exchange confirmed osteoporosis prevention methods.
Declare #2: Creatine Helps with Cognition
Verdict: Most likely False
Many ladies going via menopause report signs like mind fog, reminiscence lapses, and problem concentrating. This has led to rising curiosity in brain-boosting dietary supplements like creatine.
Creatine performs a central function in mobile vitality manufacturing, together with in mind cells. The idea is that declining endogenous creatine ranges with age may impair mind perform, and supplementation may assist replenish these shops.
A 2018 evaluation (PMID: 29704637) checked out creatine’s results on cognitive efficiency and located combined outcomes, with solely modest cognitive advantages in very particular conditions. For instance, some research used extraordinarily excessive doses (as much as 20g/day) and targeted on sleep-deprived or cognitively harassed people. These circumstances should not consultant of the final menopause inhabitants.
There’s additionally restricted proof on creatine’s function in enhancing temper or despair. A 2024 pilot research (PMID: 39488067) discovered that creatine may improve the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral remedy (CBT) in folks with despair. Nevertheless, extra strong trials are wanted to substantiate this potential profit.
Different analysis has examined creatine’s results in neurodegenerative ailments, however findings are preliminary and never instantly relevant to the typical lady experiencing menopause.
In conclusion, creatine is just not a confirmed resolution for cognitive decline or despair in menopause, and any potential advantages are seemingly small and context-specific.
Declare #3: Creatine Helps with Muscle Energy
Verdict: True
One of the crucial well-documented results of creatine is its capability to improve muscle energy and energy, particularly when mixed with resistance coaching.
Menopause typically accelerates sarcopenia, the age-related lack of muscle mass and performance. This contributes to a decline in mobility, metabolic fee, and general high quality of life.
A number of meta-analyses help creatine as a helpful ergogenic help for older adults:
- A 2021 evaluation (PMID: 34836013) confirmed that creatine supplementation improved upper-body energy in older adults.
- One other 2024 evaluation (PMID: 40292479) reported that creatine, paired with resistance coaching, led to larger enhancements in energy and lean physique mass than train alone.
Creatine will increase intramuscular phosphocreatine shops, which in flip helps produce extra ATP throughout brief bursts of high-intensity train. This results in higher coaching efficiency, larger workload capability, and quicker restoration.
Though creatine doesn’t instantly construct muscle with out coaching, it does assist improve the advantages of weightlifting, making it a wonderful complement for bodily lively menopausal girls.
Is Creatine Protected for Menopausal Girls?
Verdict: Sure
Creatine is without doubt one of the most extensively studied sports activities dietary supplements and has a robust security profile, together with in older populations.
A 2021 place paper by the Worldwide Society of Sports activities Diet (PMID: 33800439) concluded that long-term creatine supplementation (3–5g/day) is secure for wholesome people. Widespread myths about kidney injury have been disproven repeatedly by medical trials.
Creatine is mostly well-tolerated. Some customers could expertise delicate water retention or bloating early in supplementation, however these results are short-term. Importantly, creatine doesn’t negatively have an effect on hydration standing, liver enzymes, or kidney perform in wholesome adults.
Girls with kidney illness or different power circumstances ought to seek the advice of their healthcare supplier earlier than beginning any new complement, together with creatine.
Ought to You Take Creatine Throughout Menopause?
When you’re questioning whether or not creatine is price including to your complement routine throughout menopause, right here’s the brief reply:
- Don’t take it for bone well being or cognitive efficiency — the proof simply isn’t robust sufficient.
- Do think about it in the event you’re doing resistance coaching and desire a secure, efficient method to enhance energy and restoration.
On this context, creatine is a instrument to reinforce efficiency, not a magic capsule. However for lively girls in midlife, it may be a part of a complete technique to keep up muscle, enhance exercise capability, and keep robust via menopause and past.
The way to Use Creatine for Greatest Outcomes
When you determine to strive creatine, right here’s the way to use it safely and successfully:
- Dosage: 3–5 grams per day of creatine monohydrate (essentially the most researched kind)
- Loading: Not vital. Simply begin with the day by day dose.
- Timing: Anytime of day is okay, although some proof suggests post-workout could supply slight advantages.
- Hydration: Keep properly hydrated, as creatine attracts water into muscle cells.
- Consistency: Take it day by day to keep up muscle saturation, even on relaxation days.
Closing Ideas on Creatine for Menopause
Creatine is just not a miracle remedy for menopause signs, but it surely is usually a beneficial instrument for girls targeted on energy, mobility, and general well being.
Right here’s the underside line:
- Creatine doesn’t enhance bone density or considerably enhance cognitive perform.
- It could improve temper when paired with different therapies, however extra analysis is required.
- It improves muscle energy and efficiency, particularly with resistance coaching.
- It’s secure and well-tolerated in most wholesome people.
When you’re lifting weights, recovering from exercises, or managing age-related muscle loss, creatine is likely to be price including to your routine.
References:
- Candow DG, et al. (2015). Results of creatine supplementation and resistance coaching on bone mineral content material in postmenopausal girls. PMID: 25386713
- Forbes SC, et al. (2023). Creatine and bone well being: A scientific evaluation and meta-analysis. PMID: 37144634
- Avgerinos KI, et al. (2018). Results of creatine supplementation on cognitive perform. PMID: 29704637
- Silva S, et al. (2024). Creatine in adjunct with CBT for despair: A pilot research. PMID: 39488067
- Chilibeck PD, et al. (2021). Impact of creatine supplementation throughout resistance coaching on muscle mass and energy in older adults. PMID: 34836013
- Candow DG, et al. (2024). Creatine and resistance coaching in getting old: A vital evaluation. PMID: 40292479
- Kreider RB, et al. (2021). Worldwide Society of Sports activities Diet place stand: Security and efficacy of creatine supplementation in train, sport, and medication. PMID: 33800439