Should Women Take Creatine? 3 Unique Benefits Ladies Need To Know

Creatine is the most studied and effective supplement on the market. That's no secret anymore. What's less well known is the emerging data that suggests creatine supplementation in women may provide crucial and unique benefits.

These include helping stabilize mood and hormone fluctuations, improving cognitive function, and improving reproductive health, along with neonatal health.

This article is going to look at several creatine benefits for women that reach far beyond the gym and how it can affect the unique physiology of all the gym girls and non-gym girls alike. 

Key points You Need To Know! Research on creatine supplementation for women is increasing. Creatine holds numerous benefits that may uniquely benefit women. Benefits include improving reproductive health, increasing cognition, and stabilizing mood during hormonal fluctuations. Dosing protocols for these benefits are the same as normal dosing; Optional loading phase of 15-25g/day for 5-7 days, followed by a maintenance phase of 3-5g.

What Is Creatine? 

Creatine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid that is primarily stored in your muscles as creatine phosphate.

It plays a crucial role in the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a high-energy phosphate known as your "energy currency". ATP provides energy for every reaction and process in your body, making it crucial for numerous systems in the human body.

ADP is unable to provide energy, so ATP must be resynthesized. This occurs when creatine phosphate is released from the muscle and donates its phosphate compound.

While you consume creatine naturally, most people's levels are 60-80% full. Creatine supplementation is a way to fill your stores, which allows more ATP production, leading to greater performance in the gym (Kreider et al., 2017).

This is what most people know creatine for. However, it does much more than this.

Benefits Of Creatine Supplementation For Women

• Creatine increases brain energy to increase memory and cognitive function.
• Maintaining ATP production with creatine supports the processing of emotions and maintains mood.
• Creatine offers several benefits in addition to ATP, such as cellular hydration, which benefits and improves reproductive health.

Keep in mind, women still get the training and performance benefits creatine is known for. But we're not talking about those here.

Rather, we're going over 3 creatine benefits that are uniquely relevant to women. 

1. Creatine Supports Brain Energy, Memory, and Cognitive Function in Women

• Creatine supports brain energy production in women, helping maintain memory, focus, and mental resilience during stress and hormonal transitions (Lyoo et al., 2014)
• Supplementation may reduce mental fatigue and improve cognitive performance, especially during sleep disruption or perimenopause (Gutiérrez-Hellín et al., 2024).
• Women face a higher lifetime risk of cognitive decline, making creatine a practical tool for supporting long-term brain health (Aggarwal & Mielke, 2023).

Most people know of creatine as a supplement that helps produce ATP to help provide energy in the gym. However, most don't realize that in addition to your muscles, your brain requires ATP as well.

In fact, your brain is one of the most energy-demanding organs in your body. Every thought, memory, and emotional response depends on rapid ATP production.

Therefore, creatine functions as a "neural energy buffer", helping the brain rapidly regenerate ATP when demand rises (Xu et al., 2024).

Research shows that increasing brain creatine levels can support:

• Memory and learning
• Mental clarity
• Resistance to cognitive fatigue
• Focus during stress or sleep deprivation

How Does This Benefit Women?

This becomes especially valuable for women during times when brain energy systems are under extra strain, affecting cognitive efficiency.

Women experience this during several life stages of hormonal shifts, such as perimenopause and menopause (Ellery et al., 2016). During these periods, women are more likely to report;

• Feelings of forgetfulness
• Increased mental fatigue
• "Brain fog"
• General decrease in cognitive function

These symptoms are closely tied to brain energy metabolism, which creatine supports.

At the same time, women are disproportionately affected by long-term cognitive decline and increased risk of cognitive disease such as Alzheimer's.

Supporting brain energy availability may help maintain sharper thinking and mental resilience across decades, not just during workouts (Xu et al., 2024).

To maximize brain health, add resistance training to build your brain!

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2. Creatine May Improve Mood Regulation and Reduce Depression Risk in Women

• Low phosphocreatine availability is linked to impaired mood regulation and altered neural signaling (Allen, 2012).
• Studies show creatine may enhance antidepressant effectiveness and accelerate symptom improvement in women (Lyoo et al., 2012).
• Hormonal fluctuations increase depression risk across puberty, postpartum, and perimenopause (Smith-Ryan et al., 2025).
• Creatine offers a non-pharmacological way to support emotional stability and neural energy balance.

Our mood is deeply connected to how well our brain can produce and manage energy. When neural cells struggle to maintain ATP balance, your risk of emotional deregulation can increase.

By helping brain cells stay fueled, creatine plays a direct role in stabilizing your brain's energy supply. It supports the signaling pathways involved in;

• Mood
• Motivation 
• Stress response

Clinical research, including women-specific studies, suggests creatine may even enhance the effectiveness of traditional depression treatments, resulting in;

• Faster symptom improvement
• Greater reductions in depression severity
• Enhanced treatment responsiveness

How Does This Benefit Women?

During their lifetime, women experience hormonal fluctuations more often and to a larger degree than men. This includes periods such as;

• Puberty
• Postpartum recovery
• Menopause

These times can trigger increased vulnerability to mood disturbances and depression.

Creatine supplementation can offer a controllable nutritional tool that supports brain energy stability. This may help buffer these hormone-linked changes, offering better emotional resilience and improved tolerance to stress.

While creatine is not a replacement for medical care, it may be effectively used to help stabilize brain energy during these transitions.

We believe creatine is such an essential supplement for women (and men, too), so we have begun carrying our own SFS Creatine Monohydrate Powder!

3. Creatine Supports Energy Stability Across the Menstrual Cycle and Reproductive Health

• Creatine improves intracellular hydration, supporting cellular energy and reducing fatigue (Smith-Ryan et al., 2021).
• Supplementation may help stabilize energy levels across menstrual phases, including the luteal phase (Smith-Ryan et al., 2025). 
• Adequate creatine intake has been associated with a lower risk of irregular menstrual cycles and reproductive issues (Ostojic et al., 2024).

In addition to generating ATP, creatine helps regulate how cells store and use water and energy. This supports hydration inside muscle and nerve cells, where it improves cellular efficiency.

Emerging research suggests creatine supplementation may help:

• Maintain steadier energy levels
• Support cellular hydration
• Reduce perceived fatigue
• Improve consistency in physical performance

For a lot of women, energy levels don't stay constant throughout their menstrual cycle with hormonal shifts (Smith-Ryan et al., 2021). This can be especially true during the luteal phase, leading to;

• Increased fatigue
• Fluid changes
• Reduced performance.

How Does This Benefit Women?

Women frequently report fluctuating energy levels, perceived fatigue, and performance variability across menstrual phases (Ellery et al., 2016). By supporting cellular energy balance, creatine helps women optimize their physical, mental, and physiological state throughout the cycle.

In addition, new research also links adequate creatine intake with markers of reproductive health, suggesting benefits that extend far beyond exercise.

Emerging research suggests creatine supplementation may;

• Lower risk of Irregular menstrual cycles
• Enhance markers of cellular integrity
• Support consistent energy availability across hormonal phases
• Improve certain obstetric complications
• Improved fertilization and neonatal health (Muccini et al., 2021)

By stabilizing cellular energy and hydration, creatine may help maintain physiological consistency and health month to month.

Woman And Creatine: Final Say

There's still more research to do, but the focus on women-specific training and nutrition issues is increasing; this includes supplementation with creatine. Creatine is proving to be one of the most crucial compounds in the human body, affecting much more than lifting weights. It makes sense as it is the body's source of energy for every process and reaction in the human body.

If you're concerned about energy fluctuations, your reproductive health, or just want to feel better, a quality creatine supplement could be the key. That's why we've just launched our own SFS Creatine Monohydrate Powder. Simple and effective to increase your creatine stores and ATP production!

Women And Creatine FAQ

How does creatine affect women during their menstrual cycle?

Creatine supports cellular energy and increases cellular hydration. Both of these contribute to stabilizing strength, reducing fatigue, and improving training consistency. This can be especially important during the luteal phase when hormonal changes increase perceived exertion and fluid shifts (Smith-Ryan et al., 2025).

Can creatine help women during menopause?

Yes. Creatine helps preserve muscle mass, strength, and functional performance, which supports bone health and reduces fall risk. It also supports brain energy metabolism, which may help with mental fatigue and "brain fog" that is often reported (Ellery et al., 2016). 

Is creatine safe during pregnancy? 

Human clinical research is still limited. However, early evidence suggests creatine plays an important role in placental and fetal energy metabolism, but supplementation during pregnancy should only be considered under medical supervision (Muccini et al., 2025).

Is creatine supplementation safe for women?

Yes. Creatine is one of the most studied supplements and is considered safe for healthy women when taken at recommended doses (3–5 g/day). Research shows it does not disrupt hormones, menstrual cycles, or reproductive health. Most women tolerate it well, with mild intracellular water retention being the most common effect (Kreider et al., 2017).

Should women plan their training around their menstrual cycle?

It can help, but it isn't required. Hormonal fluctuations may affect energy, recovery, and perceived effort, so adjusting intensity based on how you feel can improve consistency (Smith-Ryan et al., 2025). Many women train effectively without strict cycle planning, but if you know you're prone to being affected more, you can plan ahead.

References

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