5 Creatine Myths Debunked: Kidneys, Hair Loss and More

Kidney damage. Hair loss. Dehydration and muscle cramps.

I’ve heard these claims attributed to creatine for decades. What’s interesting is that creatine has become one of the most misunderstood supplements in fitness while also becoming one of the most researched.

That isn’t because creatine is some mysterious chemical cooked up by the supplement industry. Creatine was first identified as a constituent of meat back in 1832. Your body produces it naturally, and you also consume it through foods such as meat and fish.

Inside your muscles, creatine helps form phosphocreatine, which rapidly regenerates adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—the energy your muscles use to contract. That makes it particularly important during short, intense efforts such as sprinting, jumping, and heavy lifting.

The modern era of creatine supplementation began in 1992, when researchers showed that taking creatine orally could significantly increase the amount stored in human skeletal muscle. The study wasn’t designed to measure performance, but later research demonstrated benefits for strength, power, muscle growth, and repeated high-intensity exercise.

As creatine became more popular, the questions and rumors multiplied. Is it a steroid? Is it safe? What is it doing inside the body?

Creatine is not a steroid. It’s a compound your body already makes and uses every day. Ironically, I think one reason it attracted so much controversy is that it actually worked.

Here’s what the research says about five of the biggest creatine myths that followed.

Myth #1: Creatine Damages Your Kidneys

The kidney concern usually starts with one word: creatinine.

Creatinine is a byproduct of normal creatine metabolism. It’s also one of the markers doctors commonly use to estimate kidney function. If you begin taking creatine and your serum creatinine level rises, it’s easy to assume that your kidneys are getting worse.

But that isn’t automatically what the result means. Increasing the body’s creatine pool can increase creatinine production without damaging the kidneys. In other words, creatine can affect the marker used in the equation without impairing the organ the equation is intended to evaluate.

Creatine can raise serum creatinine without damaging your kidneys. A change in the marker isn’t automatically a change in kidney function.

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that creatine supplementation produced a small increase in serum creatinine but no significant change in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a measure of how well the kidneys filter blood.

A separate 2026 meta-analysis found a similar pattern. Creatinine increased, and creatinine-based estimates of kidney function therefore appeared to decrease. But when filtration was assessed with chromium-51 ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Cr-EDTA)—a method that doesn’t depend on serum creatinine—the researchers found no significant reduction.

The key point is simple: A change in creatinine is not automatically evidence of kidney damage. Your physician should know that you take creatine when interpreting your lab work.

For healthy people using recommended amounts, the overall body of evidence does not support the claim that creatine damages the kidneys. If you have kidney disease, abnormal kidney function, or another medical condition, discuss creatine with your physician before taking it. That’s very different from claiming that creatine damages healthy kidneys.

Myth 2: Creatine Causes Hair Loss

The hair-loss concern largely traces back to a 2009 study involving college-aged male rugby players. The researchers reported an increase in dihydrotestosterone (DHT) after three weeks of creatine supplementation.

DHT plays a role in androgenetic hair loss in people who are genetically susceptible. From there, the internet made a leap: Creatine raises DHT. DHT is involved in hair loss. Therefore, creatine causes hair loss.

There was one major problem: The study didn’t measure hair loss. It measured hormones. Its DHT finding also wasn’t consistently reproduced in later research.

In 2025, researchers finally published a randomized controlled trial designed specifically to examine creatine and hair. Men received either 5 grams of creatine monohydrate or a placebo each day for 12 weeks. The researchers measured DHT along with hair density, follicular units, hair thickness, and other hair-growth outcomes.

They found no significant differences between the groups in DHT or any of the measured hair outcomes.

One 12-week study doesn’t answer every conceivable question. It was relatively short and included only men. But the most direct human evidence available doesn’t support the claim that creatine causes hair loss. That’s the accurate conclusion—not “creatine makes you bald.”

Myth 3: Creatine Makes You Bloated and Puffy

Creatine can increase body water, particularly when you first begin taking it or use a loading phase. That part is real. But body water, body fat, and gastrointestinal bloating are three different things.

Creatine draws water into muscle cells. That intracellular water is part of the reason muscles may look fuller after you start supplementing. Some research has also found an increase in extracellular fluid, while other studies suggest that most of the added water is stored inside the muscle. Individual responses can vary.

If the scale goes up after you begin taking creatine, some of that weight may simply be water. You haven’t suddenly gained body fat, and the change doesn’t necessarily mean you look or feel bloated. Most people—including me—don’t get a soft, puffy appearance from creatine.

Water stored inside your muscles isn’t body fat—and it isn’t the same as gastrointestinal bloating.

If water retention bothers you, skip the loading phase and take a smaller daily dose, such as 5 grams. You’ll still build up your muscle creatine stores; it will simply take longer.

There’s also another kind of bloating to consider: gastrointestinal discomfort. A large single serving of creatine monohydrate may cause gas, bloating, or diarrhea in some people, especially if the powder doesn’t dissolve well. Dividing the dose and taking it with adequate fluid may help.

Creatine HCl is another option. Its greater solubility allows it to dissolve more readily in fluid, and some people find it easier on the stomach than creatine monohydrate.

The accurate statement is that creatine can affect body water and that large servings may cause GI discomfort in some people. That’s very different from saying creatine makes everyone bloated and puffy.

Myth 4: Creatine Dehydrates You

This myth sounds logical on the surface. If creatine draws water into the muscles, couldn’t that leave less water available elsewhere and increase the risk of dehydration?

It’s a plausible mechanism. But a plausible mechanism isn’t proof that the predicted outcome occurs.

When researchers have tested the claim in controlled studies, creatine has not been shown to increase dehydration. A major 2021 review of the most common questions and misconceptions surrounding creatine reached the same conclusion.

You still need to hydrate, of course. Training hard, sweating heavily, and exercising in hot or humid conditions all increase your fluid needs. But those normal hydration demands aren’t evidence that creatine itself causes dehydration.

Myth 5: Creatine Causes Muscle Cramps

The cramping myth grew out of the same body-water theory. If creatine supposedly dehydrates you, the thinking went, then it must also increase muscle cramps.

Again, controlled research doesn’t support the claim. Studies examining creatine use during training and exercise in the heat have not shown that it increases cramping. Some field research has even reported fewer episodes of cramping and heat-related problems among creatine users, although that doesn’t mean creatine should be considered a treatment for either one.

Muscle cramps can have many causes, including fatigue, training load, heat, fluid loss, and individual susceptibility. Blaming creatine simply because someone cramps while taking it confuses coincidence with causation.

How to Get Your Creatine

My JYM Supps product line offers several ways to add creatine to your supplement routine. For a standalone option, JYM Creatine+ provides 5 grams of creatine—4 grams of creatine monohydrate and 1 gram of NO3-T® creatine nitrate—plus 500 milligrams of nitrates. JYM Creatine HCl provides another option for people who prefer the greater solubility of creatine HCl or find it easier on their stomach.

Creatine is also built into my pre- and post-workout formulas. Pre JYM and Pre JYM Stim-Free each provide 2 grams of creatine HCl; Pre JYM Plus supplies 5 grams of creatine monohydrate; and Post JYM BCAAs+ Recovery Matrix contains 2 grams of creatine HCl. 

Whether you use a standalone product, a workout formula, or a combination of the two, the key is making creatine a consistent part of your daily supplement routine.

What the Creatine Research Really Tells Us

Kidney damage. Hair loss. Bloating. Dehydration. Muscle cramps.

When you trace these claims back to the research, the story is almost always more nuanced than the headline. A rise in creatinine gets confused with kidney damage. A small hormone study gets turned into a hair-loss study. An increase in water stored in muscle gets labeled bloating. And a theoretical mechanism gets repeated as fact even when human research doesn’t show the predicted outcome.

Creatine isn’t short on research. It’s short on people who explain what that research actually means.

For most healthy adults, creatine remains one of the best-supported supplements available for improving high-intensity exercise performance and supporting gains in strength and muscle. 

The evidence doesn’t make it magic, and it doesn’t mean every person will respond identically. But it should put these five outdated myths to rest.

References

Antonio J, Candow DG, Forbes SC, et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: What does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2021;18(1):13.

de Souza Almeida A, da Silva LOD, Takahasi BNA, et al. Impact of creatine supplementation on kidney health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Urology and Nephrology. Published online July 27, 2026.

Harris RC, Söderlund K, Hultman E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clinical Science. 1992;83(3):367–374.

Lak M, Forbes SC, Ashtary-Larky D, et al. Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2025;22(sup1):2495229.

Naeini EK, Eskandari M, Mortazavi M, Gholaminejad A, Karevan N. Effect of creatine supplementation on kidney function: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Nephrology. 2025;26(1):622.

van der Merwe J, Brooks NE, Myburgh KH. Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2009;19(5):399–404.

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