Creatine Pineapple Orange Flavored 5 g by Thorne

If you train hard with short bursts—lifting, sprinting, team sports—creatine monohydrate is one of the few supplements that reliably moves performance. Vegans and vegetarians often respond more because their baseline muscle creatine is lower. Adults over 40 working to maintain lean mass also see value with resistance training. If your priority is long, steady endurance, the benefit is smaller but recovery between intervals can improve.

Creatine monohydrate raises phosphocreatine in muscle, which rapidly recycles ATP (the immediate energy currency in cells) during heavy efforts. That lets you squeeze out extra reps or hold peak power a bit longer, and over weeks that extra training volume adds muscle and strength. In some people, brain creatine increases too, which is why sleep-deprived or plant-based eaters sometimes notice clearer thinking on cognitive tasks.

One scoop provides 5 g of creatine monohydrate, a standard daily dose. Taken daily, muscles saturate in 2–4 weeks. A faster option is a loading phase (about 20 g per day split into 4 doses for 5–7 days), then 3–5 g daily. Mix with water or a carb/protein shake; insulin from carbs nudges uptake slightly. Caffeine taken at the same moment can blunt effects for some, so consider separating by a few hours.

Known kidney disease is a reason to avoid creatine unless your nephrologist is on board. Creatine can raise serum creatinine (a kidney waste marker) without harming kidneys, which can make eGFR (the estimate of kidney filtration) look lower on labs despite normal function. Hydrate well to reduce cramps or GI upset. Pregnancy and breastfeeding: data are limited, so avoid unless your clinician recommends it.

High-dose NSAIDs or other kidney-stressing drugs are a caution with creatine monohydrate. Diuretics increase fluid loss, so emphasize hydration. Post-workout bumps in Creatine Kinase (an enzyme that rises with muscle damage) are common and not a reason to stop unless you have symptoms. If your labs track serum creatinine, tell your clinician you supplement to prevent misinterpretation.