Is Creatine Safe? Insights From 2025 Research

Creatine is the most popular supplement for athletes, and a new study confirms it is safe.¹

In this article, I’ll break the findings down in an easy-to-understand way.

Key points:

Creatine is as safe as a placebo in clinical trials
Side effects are rare and minor
Real-world data confirm creatine’s safety

Creatine 101: What Is It Anyway?

Creatine is a compound naturally produced in your body, mostly found in your muscles.

It helps your body produce energy when you do high-intensity, short-burst stuff like lifting weights or sprinting.

You can also get it from red meat and fish, but unless you’re chewing through pounds of steak every day, you’re probably falling short of optimal levels to max out your performance. Or your potential health benefits.

That’s why creatine supplements are so popular.

They help you eke out a few extra reps and lift heavier, sprint faster, and build a little more muscle mass.

But beyond the barbell, creatine is also being studied for brain and heart health, injury recovery, memory, and even for a potential role in managing conditions like type 2 diabetes and neurological diseases.

The Fear Factor: “Is Creatine Safe?”

Creatine is the most well-researched supplement. Studies have consistently found it safe over decades of research, and the FDA has granted it a “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) status.²

However, the Internet and social media have convinced many people that creatine might damage your kidneys, cause cramps, or lead to other mysterious ailments.

A few isolated case reports (often involving supplements that mix a ton of dubious ingredients, not just creatine) have likely added fuel to the fire.

Those fears have stuck around longer than a bad gym playlist. You can still find gym-goers, teachers, coaches, or even doctors advising against creatine because it has all these purported side effects, and “we don’t know if it’s really safe.”

But we do. At this point, there are literally hundreds of studies confirming its safety.

And this new analysis just reviewed them all.

The Latest Scoop: Is Creatine Safe?

A new mega-study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition analyzed all clinical trials on creatine supplementation.

The researchers combed through:

685 human clinical trials involving 12,839 people taking creatine
Comparisons with 13,452 people taking placebos
28.4 million global adverse event reports
Social media sentiment analysis from YouTube and Twitter

They checked for side effects in people taking creatine versus those on placebos.

Here’s what they found.

Side effects were reported in 13.7% of creatine studies vs. 13.2% of placebo studies. Statistically, that’s a tie.
The only slight increases were in GI issues (like bloating or gas) and muscle cramps, but even those weren’t statistically significant when you look at the total number of participants.
No evidence of kidney, liver, or cardiovascular harm, even in studies lasting up to 14 years.

The researchers also dug through 28.4 million adverse event reports globally on the Internet. Mentions of creatine were practically invisible, just 0.00072%. That’s as likely as your abs showing up after one plank.

In short, creatine is as safe as the protein shake in your gym bag (assuming you didn’t leave it there all weekend).

And no, it doesn’t make your hair fall off, either.

Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss? New Study Says No.

Should You Take Creatine?

If you’re healthy and looking to boost performance, build muscle, and maybe even reap the potential health benefits, here’s what you need to know.

Who Should Consider Creatine?

Strength and endurance athletes
Older adults for maintaining muscle and cognition
Vegetarians/vegans (you get less creatine from food if you don’t eat animal proteins)
People recovering from injury

Or we could make it easier and say, “Almost everyone.”

The “almost” are those that haven’t been researched thoroughly yet.

I got a question that said but what about pregnant and postpartum women?

Unfortunately, there are no trials that directly test creatine supplementation during and after pregnancy.

There are potential benefits hinted at in the scientific literature.

Researchers speculate it “may be particularly important during menses, pregnancy, postpartum, during and post-menopause.” It could “provide a safe, low-cost nutritional strategy for reducing intra- and postpartum complications associated with cellular energy depletion.”³

However, the Drugs and Lactation Database suggests that it is “probably best” for pregnant and postpartum women to avoid creatine.⁴

Not because it’s dangerous but because there are no long-term trials.

So, it’s probably safe, but there are no guarantees because it hasn’t been tested thoroughly. Don’t use it if you are worried and want to be 100% on the safe side.

How to Take It

Take 3–5 grams per day after an optional “loading” phase (20 grams/day split over 5–7 days).
Stick with creatine monohydrate. It is the most researched, most effective, and least expensive. Supplement companies have tried to come up with new and “improved” versions, but none has equaled the original. It’s the gold standard.
You can mitigate any mild GI issues by drinking a few glasses of water more than usual.
There is no need to cycle off, and you can take it any time during the day (but do take it every day, on rest days, too).

Read more: The Best Time to Take Creatine

The Catch?

It’s important to note that the researchers has previously conducted industry-sponsored creatine research, and this analysis was also funded by the industry.

That doesn’t change the results of the studies they analyzed, and someone has to finance research, but it is something to be aware of.

Final Rep

Creatine is effective, safe, affordable, and backed by more research than you can shake a stick at.

You don’t need it to make gains and get great results, but at the same time, it is the only dietary supplement with tangible positive effects, without any adverse ones.

So, if you’ve been sitting on the creatine fence, now’s the time to hop off. Safely.