Creatine is having another month.
First, a new study made the rounds claiming creatine builds muscle even if you don't train. Then, this week, a former NFL player told his followers to stop taking it altogether. Somewhere in between, the old hair-loss scare came back, and a few people started calling the scale gain "fake muscle."
If you train, you've probably wondered whether you should be taking it, whether you should stop, or whether any of this matters. Here's what the evidence actually says, claim by claim, and where creatine fits next to the things that matter more.
Claim 1: "Creatine builds muscle without exercise"
This one comes from a Texas A&M trial published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition this year. Sixty-four adults aged 45 to 65 finished 12 weeks of taking either 10 grams a day of creatine or a placebo. Among those who chose not to exercise, the creatine group gained about 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) of lean tissue (Texas A&M,
the paper).
The headline outran the study. A few things worth knowing:
- Participants chose whether to exercise, and only creatine versus placebo was randomized. The no-exercise comparison was just 13 people per group (full paper).
- Lean tissue was measured with a DXA scan, which can't tell water from muscle, and the study didn't measure body water. Researcher Stuart Phillips made this point on X, calling the gain "most plausibly water" (his post).
- The paper's own disclosure says the senior author chairs the scientific advisory board of AlzChem, a creatine manufacturer, which also supplied the creatine used. It says the sponsors had no role in the data or its interpretation (full paper).
- The authors themselves describe the cognitive and blood-marker results as exploratory.
Verdict: overstated. The less exciting takeaway holds up better. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand calls creatine monohydrate the most effective supplement for increasing lean body mass during training (Kreider et al., 2017), and a 2024 meta-analysis of 143 trials found stronger effects alongside resistance training (Pashayee-Khamene et al.). That's useful. It isn't a shortcut around lifting.
Claim 2: "Stop taking creatine, it's bad for you"
On October 27, ex-NFL defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko posted "STOP TAKING CREATINE... A good diet and proper sleep are best" (X post). It reached over a million people. He said creatine is like filling a balloon with air and causes soft tissue injuries.
He cited no research for the injury claim, and the research that exists points the other way. The ISSN position stand found no evidence that creatine increases injuries, and college football players on creatine had fewer strains, cramps, and total injuries than non-users (Kreider et al., 2017).
Verdict: no evidence for the harm, but he's right about the priority. Diet and sleep do matter more than any supplement. You can agree with that and still disagree with throwing creatine out.
Claim 3: "Creatine makes you lose your hair"
This fear traces back to a 2009 study of 20 rugby players. It measured DHT in the blood, not hair (van der Merwe et al.).
A 2025 randomized controlled trial tested the question directly. Thirty-eight trained men took 5 grams a day for 12 weeks, and there was no difference in DHT or in hair density, count, or thickness compared with placebo (PubMed).
That trial had limits. It was short, included only men, didn't record family history, and didn't measure DHT in the scalp.
Verdict: weak. The honest answer is "there's no good evidence it causes hair loss," not "proven safe forever." If hair loss runs hard in your family and it worries you, that's a fair conversation to have with your doctor.
Claim 4: "It makes you fat and bloated"
Partly true, and the wording is the whole point.
Some people see the scale go up in the first week or two. A 2021 expert review notes that a loading phase typically adds 1 to 3 kg, mostly water, and concludes creatine doesn't increase fat mass (Antonio et al.). The 2024 meta-analysis found users gained about 0.9 kg on average, nearly all of it fat-free mass. Creatine isn't a reason to expect steady weight gain over months.
Verdict: water, not fat. If the scale moves two pounds in week one, don't panic and don't quit. If it keeps climbing, look at your food, not your scoop.
