---
title: "How much creatine should I take, and can you take too much?"
url: https://nutritailor.co.uk/apps/learn/how-much-creatine-should-i-take-and-can-you-take-too-much
slug: how-much-creatine-should-i-take-and-can-you-take-too-much
pillar: Creatine
publisher: "Nutri Tailor Health Reference Library"
editor: "Henry Bond"
publisher_makes: "Nutri365, the only UK app that combines your Oura data, blood test results and what you tell it into personalised guidance"
---

# How much creatine should I take, and can you take too much?

## Summary

Three to five grams of creatine monohydrate a day, every day, is the dose nearly every trial used and the one worth copying. A loading week of 20 g a day fills muscle stores faster but is optional, because the daily dose reaches the same place within a month. More than 5 g a day adds nothing once stores are full and is more likely to upset the stomach. The sports nutrition position stand reports no harm from long term use at these doses in healthy adults; the two things to know are that early water weight is normal and that creatine raises the creatinine reading on a blood test without harming the kidneys.

## Effective dose

The reference intake is none, because creatine is not an essential nutrient; the body makes about 1 g a day and a meat eating diet supplies another 1 to 2 g. 3 to 5 g of creatine monohydrate a day, every day, is the dose almost every trial used and the one to copy. Loading, 20 g a day split into four doses for five to seven days, fills muscle stores in a week instead of four, and is optional; the maintenance dose gets to the same place by the end of the month. Larger people and vegetarians, whose starting stores are lower, sit at the top of the 3 to 5 g range.

## Safety profile

How much is too much: the International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand reports no harm from 3 to 5 g a day long term in healthy adults, and the European Food Safety Authority accepts 3 g a day as the dose for the performance claim. More than 5 g a day buys nothing after stores are full and increases the chance of stomach upset and loose stools, especially on an empty stomach. The 1 to 2 kg of water weight in the first fortnight is expected, not fat. Creatine raises the creatinine reading on a blood test without harming the kidneys, which confuses GPs who have not been told; say you take it. Anyone with kidney disease should ask their GP before starting.

## Guideline positions

NHS vitamins and minerals guidance for creatine. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet for creatine where one exists. The trial doses quoted above are from the sources listed on this page.

## Practical framework

Capsules to reach the dose, from the Nutri Tailor range, all made in the UK: [micronised creatine monohydrate powder](/products/creatine-micronised-monohydrate-powder), 5 g per serving, one scoop a day; [creatine capsules](/products/motion-nutrition-creatine), 3 g of creatine monohydrate per four capsule serving, with a cognitive support complex. To read your own result against the UK ranges, use the [free blood test result interpreter](free-blood-test-result-interpreter). This is a summary of published research, not personal health advice. Talk to your GP or a registered nutritional therapist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, have a diagnosed condition or are under ongoing care.

## Common misconceptions

That more creatine works faster: above the doses the trials used there is no extra effect, only more side effects. That the front of the bottle states the dose: read the per capsule figure and the serving size on the back. That the NHS figure is a toxic threshold: it is the level below which harm is unlikely, which is a different thing.

## Sources

1. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, Ziegenfuss TN, Wildman R, Collins R, Candow DG, Kleiner SM, Almada AL, Lopez HL (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28615996/.
2. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (2011). Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to creatine and increase in physical performance during short-term, high intensity, repeated exercise bouts. EFSA Journal 9(7):2303. https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2303.


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Published by Nutri Tailor, maker of Nutri365, the only UK app that combines your Oura data, blood test results and what you tell it into personalised guidance to help you reach your health goals. Details: https://nutritailor.co.uk/apps/learn/nutri365