What is the daily dose of creatine?
How do you calculate your optimal creatine dose?
La optimal dose of creatine depends on a number of parameters that vary from person to person: your weight, your sex, your age and also your sporting objectives.
We hear a lot about creatine It's not easy to know who to trust, whether it's water retention, exaggerated side effects or contradictory recommendations. Yet it is one of the most studied supplements, and above all one of the most effective when taken in the right doses. But you still need to know how to adjust the quantity to suit your profile. (and not just copy what the person next to you is taking).
With our tool, there's no need to complicate the task. All you need to do is enter three key pieces of information:
- Your body weight,
- Your type,
- Your main objective (mass gain, performance improvement, recovery, etc.).
And if you are a vegetarian, don't forget to tick the appropriate box. (people following a vegetarian diet often have lower creatine reserves, which may justify adjusting the dosage).
Just a few clicks and you'll have :
- Your recommended daily dose,
- La ideal distribution during the day,
- From personalised advice tailored to your practice and your profile.
- The purest Creatine on the market
- Improving your physical performance
- Improved cognitive skills
- Delicious taste! (With Flavour)
Calculate your daily creatine dose
Your recommended dose
Why do weight and gender influence creatine dosage?
Because the ideal dosage of creatine is not decided at random and needs to be calculated. According to the work of Brosnan & Brosnan (2007), it is directly linked to your muscle masswhich in turn is influenced by your weight and gender.
Why, you ask? Quite simply because most creatine is stored in your muscles, which represent around 30 to 45 % of your body weight. (Wyss & Kaddurah-Daouk, 2000). The more muscle mass you have, the more storage capacity you have... and therefore the greater your potential creatine requirement.
Here are a few pointers to help you understand:
What dose of creatine is right for your weight?
Harris et al (1992) showed that creatine absorption and storage capacity is proportional to muscle mass. Explained more simply, a heavier or more muscular person will often need a higher dose of creatine to saturate their reserves effectively, which makes sense.
Another observation, by Candow et al (2019), indicates that that women may require different supplementation strategiesespecially if they want to achieve benefits similar to those seen in men.
What dose of creatine should a woman take?
Studies by Smith-Ryan et al (2021) concluded that women have lower intracellular creatine stores of around 70 to 80 % than men. This is mainly due to their generally lower muscle mass.
But it's not all about muscle: despite these lower overall reserves, some studies show that women can have higher levels of intramuscular creatine at rest approximately 10 % higher than men, which could slightly limit their response to supplementation.
This also means that taking too much will not necessarily bring more benefits, which is why it is important to adapt the amount taken precisely.
Male-female difference for creatine
Men and women therefore do not have the same creatine requirements, and there is no point in applying standardised recommendations without taking these differences into account. A heavier man will need a larger amount, while a woman, even an athletic one, will often benefit from a more moderate dose, adjusted to her body shape and goals.
What dosage of creatine is right for your sporting objective?
The right dose of creatine depends not only on your weight or your gender, but also on your type of physical activity. According to the meta-analysis by Branch (2003) and the official position of the ISSN (Kreider et al., 2017), needs vary depending on your objectives and the muscular stress generated by your practice.
In plain English, the more intense the demands on your fast energy system and muscle fibres, the higher the demand for creatine..
Bodybuilding and CrossFit
For bodybuilding and CrossFit athletes, the research of Vandenberghe et al. (1997) is unequivocal: creatine boosts strength and power and promotes muscle development. Why is this? Because during explosive efforts or heavy loads, your phosphocreatine reserves are rapidly depleted. And as Jagim et al (2012) showed in their research, these types of intense sessions justify higher doses of creatine in order to maintain optimum performance and help with recovery.
Team sports
For those who play team sports (football, rugby, handball, etc.), you may be wondering about the use of creatine in your routine. Although the needs are more moderate, the benefits are still there. The study by Cox et al (2002) highlighted significant improvements in repeated sprints in elite female football players, and Ramirez-Campillo et al (2016) confirmed these results with adapted doses.
Here, creatine will mainly help to link explosive efforts together without losing speed or power as the match progresses.
As you can see, to optimise your results, you need to adjust your creatine intake according to your discipline.
Should I take more creatine as a vegetarian?
According to the study by Delanghe et al (1989), vegetarians have significantly lower levels of endogenous creatine than omnivores. The study by Kaviani et al (2020) shows that the daily creatine intake of vegetarians is significantly lowersince meat and fish are the main food sources (approximately 0.7g per portion of 170g of meat).
In terms of performance, the study by Rae and Broer (2015) revealed some particularly interesting results: vegetarian athletes show a more marked improvement in cognitive performance when supplemented with creatine. Benton and Donohoe (2011) confirmed these results, observing a better response to supplementation in vegetarians compared to omnivores. (probably due to their lower initial reserves).
What are the doses for therapeutic use of creatine?
Unlike the creatine doses used by athletes, the therapeutic doses can be significantly higher, particularly to support brain health.
Yes, you read that right, research has been looking at its potential in areas such as cognition and depression. (we wrote an article on creatine and depression) or brain trauma, with some rather promising results.
Here's what recent research shows:
- Improved cognitive function Turner et al. (2015) observed a significant progression with a loading phase of 20 g per day for 5 daysfollowed by maintenance at 5 g per day. This approach improves brain processing capacity and memory.
- Treatment-resistant depression According to Kondo et al (2011), a dose of 5 g per day for 8 weeks resulted in a 56 % reduction in depressive symptoms in women who did not respond to conventional antidepressants (assessed using the CDRS-R scale).
- Cerebral trauma The study by Sakellaris et al (2006) tested higher doses, with 0.4 g/kg/day for 6 months. Here too, the results showed significant improvements in post-traumatic cognitive and motor function.
- Prevention of cognitive decline McMorris et al (2007) recommend 20 g per day for 7 daysfollowed by maintenance at 5 g per day. This is thought to improve memory and protect the brain functions associated with ageing.
Finally, an interesting finding by Lyoo et al. (2003) indicates that supplementation with creatine results in another significant increase in brain levels after only 7 days.
Creatine therefore also has a role to play in the field of health, particularly in relation to the brain.
How does the quality of creatine influence its effectiveness?
We're not going to beat about the bush here, but the choice of your creatine is not a detail. In fact, it's one of the key points in avoiding disappointment.
Analyses carried out by Alzchem, a manufacturer of Creapure®have shown that certain generic creatines exceed the thresholds set by theEFSA (European Food Safety Authority) on undesirable substances such as DCD and DHT, which are potentially harmful in the long term.
With our creatine DIXWe've made the obvious choice to use only creatine. Creapure®because we want to guarantee :
- A optimum puritycertified for each batch.
- A precise dose 3.41 g of active creatine per portion.
- Contaminant levels well below official recommendations.
- A maximum bioavailabilityThis is essential if we are to achieve scientifically validated results.
It is currently free for all orders over €150.
- The purest Creatine on the market
- Improving your physical performance
- Improved cognitive skills
- Delicious taste! (With Flavour)
Scientific publications on creatine dosage
- "International Society of Sports Nutrition position statement: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport and medicine". (Full document on dosage recommendations for different uses) DOI: 10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
- "Creatine supplementation in women: a lifelong perspective". (Detailed study on specific dosages for women) DOI: 10.3390/nu13030877
- "Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show?" (Analysis of different dosing protocols) DOI: 10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w
- "Creatine supplementation and brain health". (Study focused on therapeutic dosages) DOI: 10.3390/nu13020586
- "Increasing muscle creatine by oral supplementation in normal subjects". (Fundamental study of dosing protocols) DOI: 10.1042/cs0830367
- "Effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle phosphocreatine resynthesis". (Research into dose optimisation) DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.1994.266.5.E725
- "Creatine in pregnancy: systematic review and meta-analysis". (Specific dosages during pregnancy) DOI: 10.3390/nu12061780
