Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39720835›Full record

ReviewJournal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition2025

Part II. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?

Jose Antonio, Ann F Brown, Darren G Candow, Philip D Chilibeck, Stacey J Ellery, Scott C Forbes, Bruno Gualano, Andrew R Jagim, Chad Kerksick, Richard B Kreider and 10 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025
    Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Jose AntonioNova Southeastern University, Department of Health and Human Performance, Davie, FL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8930-1058
Ann F BrownUniversity of Idaho, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Moscow, ID, USA.
Darren G CandowUniversity of Regina, Department of Health and Human Performance, Regina, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6655-4482
Philip D ChilibeckUniversity of Saskatchewan, College of Kinesiology, Saskatoon, Canada.
Stacey J ElleryMonash University, The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Victoria, Australia.
Scott C ForbesBrandon University, Department of Physical Education Studies, Brandon, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-6896-5552
Bruno GualanoUniversidade de Sao Paulo, Applied Physiology and Nutrition Research Group -School of Physical Education and Sport and Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Andrew R JagimLindenwood University, College of Science, Technology, and Health, St. Louis, MO, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6651-5096
Chad KerksickTexas A&M University, Department of Kinesiology and Sports Management, College Station, TX, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0458-7294
Richard B KreiderUniversity of Agder, Department of Nutrition and Public Health, Kristiansand, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-3906-1658
Sergej M OstojicMessiah University, Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Science, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7270-2541
Eric S RawsonAuburn University, School of Kinesiology, Auburn, AL, USA.
Michael D RobertsUniversidade de Sao Paulo, Center of Lifestyle Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, São Paulo, Brazil.
Hamilton RoschelUniversidade de Sao Paulo, Applied Physiology and Nutrition Research Group -School of Physical Education and Sport and Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Abbie E Smith-RyanUniversity of North Carolina, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5405-304X
Jeffrey R StoutUniversity of Central Florida, School of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, Orlando, FL, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6114-1649
Mark A TarnopolskyMcMasterChildren's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Trisha A VanDusseldorpBonafide Health, Harrison, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9057-2720
Darryn S WilloughbyBaylor College of Medicine, School of Medicine, Temple TX, USA.
Tim N ZiegenfussThe Center for Applied Health Sciences, Canfield, OH, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Creatine monohydrate supplementation (CrM) is a safe and effective intervention for improving certain aspects of sport, exercise performance, and health across the lifespan. Despite its evidence-based pedigree, several questions and misconceptions about CrM remain. To initially address some of these concerns, our group published a narrative review in 2021 discussing the scientific evidence as to whether CrM leads to water retention and fat accumulation, is a steroid, causes hair loss, dehydration or muscle cramping, adversely affects renal and liver function, and if CrM is safe and/or effective for children, adolescents, biological females, and older adults. As a follow-up, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate additional questions and misconceptions about CrM. These include but are not limited to: 1. Can CrM provide muscle benefits without exercise? 2. Does the timing of CrM really matter? 3. Does the addition of other compounds with CrM enhance its effectiveness? 4. Does CrM and caffeine oppose each other? 5. Does CrM increase the rates of muscle protein synthesis or breakdown? 6. Is CrM an anti-inflammatory intervention? 7. Can CrM increase recovery following injury, surgery, and/or immobilization? 8. Does CrM cause cancer? 9. Will CrM increase urine production? 10. Does CrM influence blood pressure? 11. Is CrM safe to consume during pregnancy? 12. Does CrM enhance performance in adolescents? 13. Does CrM adversely affect male fertility? 14. Does the brain require a higher dose of CrM than skeletal muscle? 15. Can CrM attenuate symptoms of sleep deprivation? 16. Will CrM reduce the severity of and/or improve recovery from traumatic brain injury? Similar to our 2021 paper, an international team of creatine research experts was formed to perform a narrative review of the literature regarding CrM to formulate evidence-based responses to the aforementioned misconceptions involving CrM.

Indexed as

CreatineDietary SupplementsFemaleHumansMuscle, SkeletalPregnancySports Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaCreatineopinionsresearchSequelsocial media

Identifiers

PMID39720835
PMCPMC11703406

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.