{"id":824497,"date":"2026-08-24T18:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T18:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/824497\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T18:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T18:54:18","slug":"3-big-myths-about-creatine-debunked-by-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/824497\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Big Myths About Creatine, Debunked By Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creatine is one of the most thoroughly researched nutritional supplements in the world. And yet, somehow, it remains one of the most misunderstood<\/a>, shrouded in a cloud of misinformation ranging from the absurd to the partially-true-but-still-mostly-bullshit. “A lot of times, especially in the nutrition world<\/a>, these myths are based on some morsel of truth that sort of gives them momentum,\u201d says Dana White<\/a>, a registered dietitian and clinical professor of health and exercise science at Quinnipiac University.<\/p>\n

The thing is, not only does creatine<\/a> have more published research behind it than just about any other supplement out there, but it\u2019s also been found time and time again to be among the safest and most effective. Basically, if you\u2019re looking to build muscle<\/a> or even improve athletic performance in a specific sport, creatine could be your secret weapon. (Although, given the context, we should say not too secret. We\u2019re talking about a supplement that gets the nod from the World Anti-Doping Agency).<\/p>\n

So what actually are the biggest myths about creatine? And is it actually a steroid? We put the question to some performance nutrition experts, and here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n

Myth #1: Creatine is a steroid<\/p>\n

This is by far the most enduring myth, but make no mistake: \u201cCreatine is absolutely not a steroid,\u201d says White. The confusion, most likely, is simply a case of bad timing. \u201cI think creatine got this bad reputation as it rose in popularity around the same time as steroid use<\/a>, back in the 80s and early 90s,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cChemically speaking, the two are vastly different,\u201d says Alexander Leritz, a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist at JM Nutrition<\/a>. Steroids\u2014drugs manufactured to mimic hormones like testosterone<\/a> and other androgens\u2014are generally not something you could accidentally happen upon in the aisles of your local supplement shop, and certainly not at the supermarket. Creatine, on the other hand, is a naturally occurring compound made up of basic amino acids<\/a> and can be found in foods like red meat, chicken and eggs.<\/p>\n

The reason why people even use creatine supplements is that it\u2019s just a little too challenging to consume enough of these foods to hit the recommended daily dose of five grams. \u201cIt would take upwards of a pound of red meat a day, possibly more,\u201d says White. \u201cInstead, you can get that same dose of creatine with a very small amount of a good, high-quality supplement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myth #2: Creatine makes you lose your hair<\/p>\n

This is a notion that has recently resurfaced<\/a>, and one that influencers love to hammer on for engagement. “This myth is based on a small subset of really bad data from a very long time ago,\u201d says White. \u201cOf course, as we know, these myths tend to carry over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Specifically, the theory that creatine causes hair loss can be traced back to a small 2009 study<\/a> that looked at rugby players taking creatine. Essentially, the researchers noticed an increase in a hormone called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, which is involved in male-pattern hair loss in susceptible individuals. \u201cThis study garnered a lot of attention,\u201d says Leritz. \u201cIt is important to note, however, that the study did not actually measure hair loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recently, a 2025 trial<\/a> spent 12 weeks monitoring the effects of creatine supplementation compared to a placebo. \u201cThe researchers were kind of, like, \u2018Let’s actually dig into this myth and see if there’s anything to it,\u2019\u201d says White. The results, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, reported no significant differences in DHT levels or hair growth. \u201cWhile it is worth keeping an eye on this space for future controlled studies, the current body of evidence does not support the myth that taking creatine can cause hair loss,\u201d Leritz says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Creatine is one of the most thoroughly researched nutritional supplements in the world. And yet, somehow, it remains…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[337,299,97,269,11657],"class_list":["post-824497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-fitness","tag-food","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-working-out"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}