Optimal Creatine Capsules

Optimal Creatine Capsules are right for you if:

1. You want creatine capsules, not a messy powder. You want creatine without the tub, the scoop, the shaker and the cleanup. Creatine pills vs. powder isn’t a trade-off. Both use German creatine monohydrate (Creavitalis®) with magnesium and sodium, two minerals involved in how your cells use creatine. Creatine needs sodium to get into muscle cells [1], and magnesium to turn into quick energy [2,3]. Surveys show about half of Americans get less magnesium from food than the recommended amount [4]. Each capsule is 500 mg of creatine with nothing to mix.^†
2. You need creatine on the go. You travel, commute or take your supplements at your desk. Keep a bottle in your bag. That’s creatine for travel with no mixing and nothing to spill. At 500 mg a capsule, 6 capsules is 3 g.
3. You want low-dose creatine, not a full scoop. You don’t want 5 g in one go, or you just want less. Most creatine research uses 3 to 5 g a day [8]. Lower amounts have been studied too. 3 grams of creatine a day raised muscle creatine about 20% over four weeks [6], and about 2.3 g a day supported healthy resistance to fatigue in young adults [7]. With capsules, low-dose creatine is easy to measure: 4 capsules is 2 g and 6 is 3 g.^†
4. You tried creatine pills and quit. It didn’t sit right, or nothing seemed to happen, so the bottle ended up in a drawer. Creatine builds slowly. In one study, 3 g a day took four weeks to raise muscle creatine by about 20%, and levels drifted back to normal about a month after people stopped [6]. If you quit at week two, you quit before it had time to build. Capsules make “every day” easy.
5. Creatine pills for women over 40. On average, women eat less creatine than men, about 14 vs. 18 mg per kg of body weight a day in US adults [16,17]. One review suggests hormone-related shifts across a woman’s life, including menopause, may make creatine especially relevant [17]. Research in women is still limited, and more is needed.^†
6. Creatine for men over 50 and older adults. A review of 22 studies and 721 adults, with an average age of 57 to 70, found that people who took creatine while doing resistance training supported lean mass and strength better than people on a placebo [19]. Food gives people over 65 the least creatine [16].^†
7. Creatine for vegans and vegetarians. Plants have no creatine. In one trial, vegetarians started with less muscle creatine than meat eaters (117 vs. 130 mmol/kg) and gained more when they supplemented [11].
8. You eat plenty of meat and figure you’re covered. On a normal diet, muscle creatine stores are only about 60 to 80% full [8]. Meat helps, but your body is still making up the difference [1]. Lower amounts have been studied if you just want to top off, in the 2 to 3 g range [6,7].
9. Creatine for brain health. A review of 10 randomized trials found creatine supported measures of memory compared with a placebo, especially in adults aged 66 to 76 [20]. Another review found performance on cognitive tasks stayed unchanged in younger people [21].^†
10. Creatine and methylation (MTHFR). You follow methylation closely, maybe because of an MTHFR result on your genetic report. Making creatine is one of the most demanding jobs of methylation. One estimate puts making creatine near 40% of all methylation requirements [12]. When you take creatine, your body is freed up from having to make it [1]. My theory is that this frees up methylation for other important jobs so they can get done.
11. Creatine for muscle growth and strength. The International Society of Sports Nutrition calls creatine monohydrate the most effective supplement available for supporting high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass [8].

Creatine while pregnant or breastfeeding

Creatine is a natural compound. Your body makes it, you get some from food, and it’s passed to babies in human milk [24], where the amount is highest in the first days after birth [24]. Pregnancy changes how the body handles creatine. Researchers think a mother’s needs for creatine go up in late pregnancy as the baby grows [25]. Some researchers suggest extra creatine could turn out to be supportive. That hasn’t been tested in people yet. A Cochrane review found no trials in pregnant women [26], and the only human study so far was a small dosing study [27]. Talk with your doctor before taking creatine or any supplement while pregnant or breastfeeding.^†

Creatine for kids and teenagers

Optimal Creatine Capsules is for adults 18 and older. If you’re a parent wondering about creatine for your child or teen, here’s what to know.

The rules. There’s no federal age limit on creatine. A few states now restrict selling supplements marketed for muscle building or weight loss to people under 18.

What researchers say. The International Society of Sports Nutrition says creatine is acceptable for adolescent athletes only in serious, supervised training, with a balanced diet and normal dosing [8]. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages performance-enhancing supplements, including creatine, for young athletes [31]. One review of the adolescent research calls it extremely limited [32]. More research is needed.

If you’re a parent. Talk with your child’s pediatrician first. Sleep, balanced meals and good coaching come before any supplement.

This product is probably not right for you if:

• You have kidney disease or are at risk for it (for example, with diabetes or high blood pressure). Creatine breaks down to creatinine, a marker on kidney blood tests [3]. Talk with your healthcare provider first.
• You’re under 18. This product is for adults. See the section above.