Creatine 101: What Women Should Know About Creatine During Menopause

Lifestyle |
7 min read

Written By

Emma Caplan-Fisher

Published

October 16, 2026

Medically reviewed by

Alyssa Dweck MS, MD, FACOG, MSCP, Chief Medical Officer

If keeping up your strength and energy feels harder lately, you're not alone. During perimenopause, declining hormones, specifically estrogen and progesterone, can contribute to muscle mass and strength loss — creatine, especially when combined with certain exercises, like resistance training, may help mitigate this loss.¹

Interest in creatine has grown alongside the research, as creatine use has risen quickly in recent years. For context, sales of creatine rose an estimated 120% between 2021 and 2022 alone; and more recently, the research targeting specific benefits for perimenopausal women has been expanding.²

Keep on reading to learn why you may want to consider creatine during perimenopause, what it actually is, how it can potentially support muscle strength and cognitive function, and what to know before adding it to your routine.

What is Creatine, and Why Does it Deserve Attention During the Menopause Transition?

Creatine is a compound your body makes in small amounts and also obtains from food sources like meat and fish.³ Most of it is stored in your muscles, where it's converted into a form used to make energy quickly during short bursts of activity.⁴

Because creatine doesn't increase testosterone levels and isn't an anabolic steroid (which is a manufactured copy of testosterone),⁵ it falls into the hormone-free category. As interest in creatine's potential relevance to women's health has grown, it's increasingly being discussed in the context of life-stage transitions, like menopause.⁶

This focus on creatine and menopause reflects broader interest in hormone-free options for supporting health and wellbeing in this life stage.

Research suggests creatine's consumer base has traditionally skewed toward male gym-goers, but that's changing — women are now major users of creatine, too,⁷ and there's growing interest in creatine benefits for women, specifically. The same review points out that women naturally manufacture around 20% less creatine than men, along with consume a dietary creatine intake around 30–40% less, on average.⁸

The review also notes something important for anyone considering creatine specifically during perimenopause: research directly evaluating creatine supplementation in perimenopausal women is lacking — most of what's known comes from studies of women in their late 50s and older, generally assumed to be postmenopausal – though hormonal status often wasn't directly verified, and participants' age may have included the upper range of perimenopause.⁹

How Might Creatine Support Muscle Strength for Women Over 40?

Creatine for women over 40 is becoming an emerging focus, especially as lean muscle mass loss during perimenopause is estimated to accelerate to about 1.5 pounds a year.¹⁰

A meta-analysis of postmenopausal women found that those who supplemented with at least 5 grams of creatine monohydrate a day while also doing resistance training observed greater gains in lean muscle and leg strength compared to those on a placebo.¹¹ Trials that used doses of 3 grams of creatine or less without resistance training didn't indicate much effect,¹² suggesting both the amount of creatine and pairing it with resistance training may matter.

This aligns with broader women's health research noting that the effect of creatine plus resistance training supports muscle strength and exercise performance – similar results were not achieved without the combination of creatine and resistance training.¹³ That's one reason creatine for muscle strength may have become an area of interest for women looking to support muscle strength during the menopause transition.

Can Creatine Help Support Cognitive Function During Perimenopause and Menopause?

Beyond supporting muscle, some research suggests creatine can also play a role in how brain cells manage energy. A 2024 study suggests that healthy adults supplementing with creatine monohydrate may experience cognitive benefits, including improvements in memory, attention time and information processing.¹⁴

This is encouraging as it’s not uncommon for women to report changes in focus and mental clarity, known as "brain fog," during the menopause transition. While existing research regarding creatine and cognitive benefits, specifically as it relates to perimenopausal and menopausal women is limited, more work is being done in this area to understand what benefits it may provide during this transitional time.¹⁵

Common Questions About Creatine for Women

A few common questions may come up when women consider supplementing creatine for menopause.

Will Creatine Make You Bulky?

Creatine won't make you bulky on its own, as research suggests the supplementation doesn't build muscle by itself.¹⁶ But regular resistance training and a well-balanced diet, taken alongside creatine, may help offset age-related muscle loss, known as sarcopenia.¹⁷

In the postmenopausal women's meta-analysis, the average difference in lean muscle mass between the creatine and placebo groups was small: just under a pound (0.37 kg) over a median of nearly nine months¹⁸ — so, not a dramatic change in size.

Does Creatine Cause Bloating or Weight Gain?

Some people may retain a small amount of fluid, around two pounds or so, over their first week of creatine supplementation, but this is temporary — as long-term use studies don't suggest a continual issue.¹⁹

Additionally, reported side effects, such as an upset stomach or added weight gain, appear to be more associated with high-dose "loading" protocols than with a standard daily amount.²⁰

Do You Need a Loading Phase?

You don't necessarily need a creatine loading phase of higher daily doses. Doing this doesn't appear to offer extra benefit over simply starting at a standard daily amount of about 3–5 grams, and it may put more strain on your kidneys.²¹

Is Creatine Safe for Women During the Menopause Transition?

Creatine can be safe for women to use during the menopause transition: in the meta-analysis of postmenopausal women, reported side effects were mild and occurred at similar rates between the creatine and placebo groups, and markers of kidney function didn't change over the course of the trials.²²

That said, supplementation isn’t right for everyone, and your individual health history matters. Before starting creatine or any new supplement, it's important to talk with your healthcare provider, especially if you have kidney concerns or take other medications.

What to Try if You're Considering Creatine

Creatine for menopausal women is a fast-growing area of research, but it's still developing, so it's important to seek advice from your healthcare provider. If you both decide creatine could be a fit for your routine during the menopause transition, current research suggests a few starting points:

Look for creatine monohydrate specifically — this form has been well-studied and frequently used.²³
Consider a standard daily amount of about 3–5 grams rather than a high-dose loading phase, as research doesn't suggest an added benefit from loading.²⁴
Pair it with regular resistance training, since that's the combination postmenopausal research has tested.²⁵
Take it consistently rather than only on workout days — the postmenopausal trials generally used daily dosing over 12–104 weeks.²⁶

As noted, be sure to check in with your healthcare provider before incorporating creatine into your routine, particularly if you have any kidney or other ongoing health concerns.²⁷

Muscle strength and energy are just one part of a much bigger picture during the menopause transition, but they're an important one. Creatine and healthy aging research is still evolving, especially for women specifically, but current evidence suggests creatine's overall risk-to-benefit ratio is favorable.²⁸ That possibly makes creatine a reasonable, hormone-free option to discuss with your healthcare provider as part of a broader strength-focused routine during the menopause transition.

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