If you take creatine and get bigger muscles, it’s probably because you’re working out more, not because creatine is changing how your muscles build protein when you’re just sitting around.

30

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

30

Community contributions welcome

30

Creatine supplementation has no effect on human muscle protein turnover at rest in the postabsorptive or fed states.

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2003 Apr

This study found that taking creatine doesn’t change how muscles build or break down protein when you’re just sitting around. So if people get bigger muscles from creatine, it’s probably because they’re working out more, not because creatine is changing their muscles at rest.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Creatine supplementation has no effect on human muscle protein turnover at rest in the postabsorptive or fed states.

Score: 30

DOI: 10.1152/AJPENDO.00338.2002

Similar Assertions

Taking 21 grams of creatine a day for 5 days can boost the amount of creatine in your muscles by about 30%, but it doesn’t make your muscles build protein faster or break it down slower, whether you’ve eaten or not.

30

0

79%

Taking creatine powder for about a week—first a lot, then a little—can boost the amount of creatine in your muscles by over 13%, which helps your muscles store more energy.

47

0

77%

Taking 20 grams of creatine powder a day for 5 days can make you gain about 1.2 kg in weight and help your muscles store more energy, at least in people whose bodies respond well to creatine.

44

0

75%

Taking creatine before or after your workout doesn’t make a difference in how much muscle you build or how much stronger you get, as long as you take it regularly for about two months.

52

0

74%

Taking creatine supplements the way some athletes do—starting with a big dose, then switching to a smaller one—might temporarily boost the sugar stored in your muscles, but that boost fades once you switch to the smaller daily dose.

38

0

73%