Whether you’ve stepped foot in a weight room or not, chances are if you’re into health and fitness in any capacity, you’ve heard a thing or two about creatine.
It’s a staple supplement for most athletes and bodybuilders, and if you’re looking for serious muscle building, increased muscle strength, and enhanced work capacity, it should probably be for you, too.
But when you’re trying to achieve weight loss, shed fat, or achieve any other benefit associated with intermittent fasting, some supplements can tread into risky territory. While most are safe to take during a fast, certain supplements can stop autophagy and therefore break your fast. Is creatine one?
We’re breaking down what you need to know about creatine and if knocking back your creatine supplement during a fasting routine is a good or bad idea.
Key Takeaways
- Pure creatine is calorie-free and typically doesn’t “break” a fast from a caloric intake perspective.
- It won’t cause a meaningful glucose or insulin spike; choose plain creatine without sweeteners.
- Hydration and electrolytes still matter during fasting workouts.
- Time creatine around training or take daily—saturation is what counts.
What Is Creatine And What Does It Do?
Creatine is perhaps one of the most popular ergogenic aids in the fitness market. While not a new supplement by any means, athletes and fitness enthusiasts are cashing in on the benefits it has to offer.
Whether you want to build muscle mass, increase strength, boost power, or improve exercise performance, creatine can do it.
And while we’re used to seeing creatine as a pure white powder or part of a pre-workout formula, creatine is actually a naturally occuring compound that the body produces in the liver and kidneys from three amino acids: glycine, arginine, and methionine. It's also a naturally occurring non-protein amino acid found in red meat and seafood. (1)
What about pre workouts - Does pre workout break a fast? [Guide]
Athletes and bodybuilders flock to this stuff because research consistently shows that exogenous creatine supplementation can increase intramuscular creatine stores, which explains the observed training performance adaptations achieved with creatine supplementation.
Here’s why.
Roughly 95% of creatine found in the body is stored in muscle cells, with small amounts also found in the brain and testes. And of the 95% creatine found within skeletal muscles, about 2/3 of it comes in the form of phosphocreatine (PCr). (1)
ATP: The Fuel Behind Every Rep
In order for your body to run, it needs a constant supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), its primary fuel—and creatine plays a significant role in energy availability and the regeneration of ATP.
Put simply, creatine acts like a rapid ATP recharger for quick energy bursts.
The fuel needed to rephosphorylate ADP into ATP to supply active muscle tissue largely depends on the amount of phosphocreatine (PCr) in the muscles.
As phosphocreatine levels become depleted with prolonged intense activity, energy availability declines because of a lack of ATP regeneration needed to meet the demands of high-intensity exercise. (2)
When the body doesn’t have enough substrate to regenerate ATP, maximal effort declines, and your power output isn’t nearly as high as it was when you started training.
How Creatine Charges Your Muscles
Simply put, the primary metabolic role of creatine is to combine with a phosphoryl group (Pi) to form phosphocreatine. During energy production, ATP is degraded into ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and an inorganic phosphate molecule (Pi), which provides energy to fuel metabolic activities.
The free energy released from the hydrolysis of phosphocreatine to creatine + Pi is used as a buffer in the resynthesis of ATP. This entire process ensures sufficient ATP availability during maximal effort anaerobic activities. (1)
The Benefits Of Supplementing Creatine Monohydrate
While creatine has typically just been touted for its role in gaining lean mass, that’s not the only thing it has to offer.
Research in healthy adults suggests creatine has a range of potential benefits, from physical performance to brain health and cognitive function. However, while promising, creatine's effects on the brain are still a topic of research and studies aren't conclusive. (12, 13, 14, 15)
Let's focus on the three most notable benefits of creatine:
1. Increases Aerobic Capacity
Several studies have shown that creatine supplementation is beneficial for high intensity, short-duration anaerobic exercise, but it may also benefit aerobic exercise and support fat oxidation. It does so in two ways (3):
- Altering substrate utilization during aerobic activity lasting more than 150 seconds
- Decreasing blood lactate accumulation with low-intensity aerobic activity, which may improve lactate threshold and ventilatory threshold
2. Boosts Muscle Growth
Creatine is touted as the gold standard for bodybuilders and anyone doing resistance training. It has benefits for muscle growth and potentially for muscle maintenance, too. That’s because the gains accompanying creatine supplementation are often the result of increased work capacity due to the increased availability of phosphocreatine to regenerate ATP.
As a result, you can work harder for longer, which ultimately allows for greater increases in muscular hypertrophy. (4) But that’s not it.
Research also shows that creatine supplementation can boost levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which has potent anabolic effects on skeletal muscle, and may further enhance muscle growth by mediating the growth-promoting effects of growth hormone (GH). (5)
3. Enhances Recovery
Recovery is a significant part of performance, and while several supplements can boost recovery efforts, creatine isn’t one you typically think of—but it should be.
Research suggests that combining creatine and glucose post-workout can improve creatine and carbohydrate retention in muscle (1, 10), and since replenishing muscle glycogen stores is such a critical piece of the recovery puzzle, it may accelerate recovery for athletes that burn large amounts of glycogen during training.
What’s more, creatine may also reduce the extent of muscle damage caused by high-intensity exercise by reducing markers of inflammation such as cytokines, prostaglandins, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). (6, 7)
Can You Take Creatine During A Fast?
Fasting is a popular method for achieving fitness and health goals, among others. It involves abstaining from all or specific foods and drinks, usually with the exception of water, for a specific time period.
The question is, can you consume creatine while fasting without breaking your fast? Studies suggest you can.
In order for a supplement to break a fast, it has to elicit a significant metabolic response, such as rising insulin levels, which subsequently causes blood sugar to rise and will halt autophagy. Can creatine spike insulin? It cannot.
Because creatine does not contain any sugar or artificial sweeteners and is not a protein like a protein powder, it doesn’t provoke insulin release and thus doesn’t interfere with a fasted state or the fat loss process where you're trying to maintain lower insulin levels. (8)
Similarly, other research suggests that creatine supplementation can improve glucose tolerance but does not affect insulin sensitivity in healthy males undergoing aerobic training. (9) This means taking creatine won't disrupt your fasting goals.
With that said, we’re talking about pure creatine supplements that don’t contain any additives. The problem is that many creatine supplements are sweetened and flavored, or added into other fitness supplements that do cause an insulin response, which means that consuming them would break your fast.
Did you know?
Some creatine products may claim zero calories despite having added flavorings, sweeteners, or fillers like maltodextrin that actually add miniscule caloric value and may affect insulin. Always read ingredient labels and opt for pure creatine if you want to ensure not breaking a fast.
Related Post: Does Prebiotic Fiber Break a Fast? - A Complete Guide
How To Take Creatine With Your Fasting Regimen
Knowing how much creatine to take and creatine timing can both help you maximize benefits while respecting your fasting protocols.
-
The standard dosage range is 3-5 daily.
-
Some do a loading phase of 20 grams for 5-7 days, then a maintenance phase: 3-5 grams daily.
You can take creatine during your fasting period as it's one of the better non-caloric supplements — assuming it's without additives. This applies to all forms of fasting regimens, including alternate day fasting. Obviously, taking creatine with juice, milk, protein shakes, or other sources of calories will break the fast.
That said, there's nothing wrong with saving your creatine intake for your eating window to take all supplements with meals. The choice is down to your eating pattern and preferences.
Final Thoughts
Long story short, creatine has a lot to offer for both performance and recovery. If you’re training in a fasted state, taking a 100% pure creatine monohydrate supplementation is not likely to elicit any sort of insulin response; therefore, it will keep you in a fasted state.
So, if you’re down to make some major muscle gains while torching up some body fat, there’s a big thumbs up with creatine.
When you're ready to fuel your workouts outside of your fasting window, get your hands on a supply of Pre Lab Pro®:
- A clean, nootropic-enhanced pre-workout
- Delivers jitter-free energy and enhanced focus without artificial additives
- With natural caffeine, nitric oxide boosters like beetroot powder, and zero calories
- Designed to power your performance while keeping your nutrition clean.
Featuring premium-grade ingredients like NutriGenesis® B-Vitamins and L-Setria® Citrulline+L-Glutathione, Pre Lab Pro® is perfect if you're seeking sustained energy and mental clarity to maximize your training sessions.
Can you take it during a fast? Pre Lab Pro® contains small amounts of dextrose, xylitol, and red beet powder that will likely affect your insulin response. If you're avoiding all calories, save the scoop for when the feeding window opens! It might be fine if you're on a relaxed fast and allow yourself a small amount of calories.
References
- RB Kreider, DS Kalman, J Antonio, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017 Jun; 14(18).
- TW Buford, RB Kreider, JR Stout, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise.J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007; 4: 6.
- JD Branch. Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2003 Jun; 13(2): 198-226.
- TW Buford, RB Kreider, JR Stout, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise.J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007; 4: 6.
- GR Adams. Insulin-like growth factor in muscle growth and its potential abuse by athletes. West J Med. 2001; 175(1): 7-9.
- MB Cooke, E Rybalka, AD Williams, PJ Cribb, A Hayes. Creatine supplementation enhances muscle force recovery after eccentrically-induced muscle damage in healthy individuals. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009 Jun 2; 6: 13.
- RV Santos, RA Bassit, EC Caperuto, LF Costa Rosa. The effect of creatine supplementation upon inflammatory and muscle soreness markers after a 30km race. Life Sci. 2004 Sep 3; 75(16): 1917-24.
- KB Rooney, JM Bryson, AL Digney, CD Rae, CH Thompson. Creatine supplementation affects glucose homeostasis but not insulin secretion in humans.Ann Nutr Metab. 2003;47(1):11-15.
- B Gualano, RB Novaes, GG Artioli, et al. Effects of creatine supplementation on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in sedentary healthy males undergoing aerobic training.Amino Acids. 2008;34(2):245-250.
- Theodorou AS, Paradisis G, Smpokos E, et al. The effect of combined supplementation of carbohydrates and creatine on anaerobic performance. Biol Sport. 2017;34(2):169-175. doi:10.5114/biolsport.2017.65336
- da Silva RP, Leonard KA, Jacobs RL. Dietary creatine supplementation lowers hepatic triacylglycerol by increasing lipoprotein secretion in rats fed high-fat diet. J Nutr Biochem. 2017;50:46-53. doi:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2017.08.010
- Candow DG, Pratt J, Fabiano N, et al. Creatine Supplementation and the Brain: Have We Put the Cart Before the Horse?. J Diet Suppl. Published online January 20, 2026. doi:10.1080/19390211.2026.2616440
- Salem A, Ammar A, Kerkeni M, et al. Short-term creatine supplementation enhances strength, reduces fatigue, and accelerates recovery in resistance-trained athletes: a double-blind, randomized, crossover trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2025;22(sup1):2617283. doi:10.1080/15502783.2026.2617283
- Li N. Creatine supplementation and exercise in aging: a narrative review of the muscle–brain axis and its impact on cognitive and physical health. Front Nutr. 2026;12:1687719. Published 2026 Jan 12. doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1687719
- Eckert I. Creatine Supplementation for Cognition: A Critical Perspective on Promise, Proof, and Public Perception. J Nutr. 2025;155(10):3143-3147. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.07.016
