Creatine has long carried a specific cultural association: bodybuilders, pre-workout shakes, gym locker rooms. But 2025 research published in journals including Frontiers in Nutrition and the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition points to a use case that has nothing to do with maximizing a bench press — supporting muscle strength in aging adults.
The core finding: creatine plus resistance training in older adults
The strongest and most consistent finding across recent research is straightforward: creatine supplementation at 3g/day or more, combined with resistance training, produces real improvements in strength and lean muscle mass in older adults. This matters clinically because of a specific, well-documented aging process called sarcopenia — the progressive, age-related loss of muscle mass and strength that increases fall risk, reduces independence, and is linked to worse outcomes across many chronic conditions.
The emphasis on "combined with resistance training" is important — creatine isn't shown to build muscle passively on its own. It appears to enhance the results of strength training that's already happening, not substitute for it.
Where the evidence gets more mixed: cognition
Creatine has also been studied for potential cognitive benefits, given its role in cellular energy metabolism (including in brain tissue). Here the picture is considerably less settled: some studies show promising effects on measures like short-term memory or mental fatigue resistance, particularly under conditions of sleep deprivation, while others find no meaningful effect. The honest characterization of this research, as of 2025, is "mixed and limited" — worth watching as more studies accumulate, not yet a basis for taking creatine specifically for brain health.
An emerging, understudied area: women's health
A notable gap in the historical creatine literature is female-specific research — much of the foundational creatine science was conducted primarily in male athletic populations. Emerging 2025 research is specifically examining creatine's role during perimenopause and menopause, periods associated with accelerated muscle and bone loss. This is a genuinely new and still-developing area rather than an established conclusion, but it's a meaningful expansion of who the existing bodybuilding-focused evidence base has historically served.
Why creatine has such an unusually strong safety track record
It's worth noting why creatine specifically has accumulated one of the more reassuring long-term safety profiles among popular supplements: it's been one of the most heavily studied sports supplements for well over two decades, across a wide range of ages, doses, and durations of use. This depth of research history is genuinely different from newer, trendier supplements like many adaptogens, where the evidence base is comparatively thin — creatine's safety conclusions rest on a considerably larger and longer body of research.
The kidney-function caveat, explained properly
The one recurring caution around creatine relates to kidney function, and it's worth explaining rather than just flagging. Creatine supplementation raises creatinine — a waste product measured in standard kidney-function blood tests — as a normal, expected byproduct of how creatine is metabolized, not because it damages the kidneys. In someone with healthy kidney function, this is not considered harmful. In someone with pre-existing kidney disease, however, creatine supplementation should be discussed with a doctor first, both because the metabolic burden may matter more in that context and because the creatinine change could complicate monitoring of actual kidney function.
The practical takeaway
If you're over 50 and doing resistance training — or considering starting — creatine has a reasonably solid, specific evidence base for supporting strength and lean mass, distinct from and better-supported than its cognitive claims. It's one of the more extensively studied supplements generally, with a long safety track record at standard doses, though as with any supplement it's worth confirming with your doctor if you have kidney concerns, since creatine is processed renally.
Sources: Frontiers in Nutrition and Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025 publications on creatine supplementation in aging and resistance-trained populations.