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Supplements & sports nutrition
0 assessed products · 5 related reads
Before you decide
Creatine monohydrate is one of the most studied training supplements. Combined with resistance training it produces a small increase in strength and muscle size, it appears well tolerated in healthy adults, and it is optional rather than essential.
Research
Creatine adds a little water, often about 1 to 2 kg early, less without a loading phase, but it goes inside the muscle cells, not the layer under the skin. A controlled trial found extracellular water rose no more than with placebo. It is water in muscle, not fat, and it reverses if you stop.
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Probably not. The worry comes from one 2009 study that measured a DHT rise after creatine loading and never looked at hair. The only trial to directly measure hair follicle health, a 12 week RCT in 2025, found no effect on hormones or hair. Limits remain: one short study in young men.
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The cited short trials provide reassurance for the populations and protocols studied, not a guarantee for every reader. Creatine can influence creatinine-based kidney estimates, but that does not establish why an individual result is abnormal. Do not dismiss a raised creatinine or lower eGFR as a supplement effect without clinical assessment.
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A contextual comparison of 3 exact products already assessed by North Star Theory. It compares intended use, verified facts and limitations without claiming a universal winner or hands-on test.
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