Creatine Bias

From eNewsletter 10/21/2026

I know I've wrote about creatine several times in the last few years. Given how white hot the topic is through the media and word of mouth, I must remind you to temper the enthusiasm.

If you read this headline, I bet this would draw extreme excitement: "Creatine may help build muscle even without exercise, researchers find." The press release continues with: "Creatine helped middle-aged adults gain muscle and strength even without a structured workout program in a new 12-week study. When combined with exercise and a calorie-reduced diet, it produced even greater strength gains while helping participants add lean tissue and lose fat." Salivating yet?

The problem with this study from Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition is that the lead author is anything but unbiased. Read the Disclosure Statement: "R.B.K. has conducted industry-sponsored research on creatine, received financial support for presenting at conferences, and has served as an expert witness throughout his career. He serves as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for AlzChem (a company that makes creatine monohydrate and provided the supplements for the study), is a co-founder of the non-profit International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), and a member of the scientific advisory boards for Oath Nutrition and Trace Minerals."

As I've said before, when independent creatine studies are performed, some have shown to be slightly beneficial, but not enough to outweigh the side effects that we've seen consistently over decades. Other independent studies show no benefit.

In many cases, the supplement industry is just as culpable for biased research as is the pharmaceutical industry. Luckily, you have us to sift through what is independent and what is not :) Best, Steve

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