Creatine for Menopause: What the Research Actually Shows

By Roy Anderson, Founder of GUMO · Reviewed by Koji Wang, Physiotherapist · Last updated 23 October 2026

Creatine for menopause has some real evidence behind it, but less than social media suggests. The strongest finding is for muscle: in postmenopausal women, creatine taken alongside resistance training usually adds more lean mass and strength than training alone. The evidence for bone density, brain fog and mood is early or mixed, and there's still very little research in perimenopause specifically.

Creatine has become one of the most talked-about menopause supplements, and a lot of the claims online run well ahead of the studies. This guide goes through what the research actually found for muscle, bone, brain and mood, what it didn't find, and how to take creatine if you decide it's worth trying.

Does creatine help with menopause?

It can help with one of the biggest physical changes of menopause, the loss of muscle, as long as you're also doing strength training.

Falling oestrogen is one of the main reasons women lose muscle, bone and strength with age, according to a 2021 review of creatine in women's health led by Abbie Smith-Ryan at the University of North Carolina. The same review notes that women have 70 to 80% lower creatine stores than men to begin with. That's part of why researchers think creatine might be useful at this stage of life.

In Australia, most women reach menopause between 45 and 55, with an average age of 51, according to healthdirect. Perimenopause, the lead-up when periods become irregular, can last 4 to 8 years. Healthdirect lists menopause hormone therapy (MHT) as a treatment for symptoms like hot flushes, night sweats and sleep problems. Creatine doesn't treat those symptoms, so think of it as a possible support for muscle and energy rather than a menopause treatment.

Creatine for muscle and strength after menopause

This is where the evidence is strongest, with one big condition: you need to lift.

The Smith-Ryan review looked at the trials in postmenopausal women and found that, combined with resistance training, the vast majority supported creatine at 5g a day or more for improving muscle, strength and everyday physical tasks. One 12-week study in women around 65 found creatine plus training improved lean mass, strength and tests like getting up from a chair more than training with a placebo.

It's not a clean sweep, though. A few trials found no extra benefit over training alone. And creatine without exercise was disappointing: a low dose of 1g a day for a year, then 3g a day for another year, had no effect on muscle, bone or strength compared with a placebo. Short, high-dose loading did produce small gains in muscle and strength in older women, but the review describes those effects as minor.

In practice, creatine helps your muscles produce energy for short, hard efforts, which lets you get a bit more out of each strength session. If there's no strength session, there's not much for it to work with. For more on how this plays out for women at every age, see creatine for women.

Does creatine help bone density in menopause?

Not directly, based on the best trial so far. But it may help bone strength in other ways.

The longest and largest study, a 2-year randomised controlled trial by Philip Chilibeck's team at the University of Saskatchewan, gave 237 postmenopausal women (average age 59) either creatine or a placebo while they did resistance training three days a week and walked six days a week. The result:

• Creatine had no effect on bone mineral density at the hip or spine.
• It did help maintain the shape and strength of the narrowest part of the hip bone (the femoral neck), which predicts how well bone resists bending.
• The creatine group got faster at walking 80 metres, while the placebo group didn't change.
• It had no extra effect on bench press or squat strength in the full group.

The dose was 0.14g per kilogram of body weight a day, which is roughly 9 to 10g for a 70kg woman, so higher than the usual 3 to 5g.

Why do so many articles say creatine "supports bone density"? Mostly because of an earlier, smaller study from the same team. In a 12-month trial published in 2015, 47 postmenopausal women were randomised and 33 finished. Those taking creatine lost 1.2% of bone density at the femoral neck compared with 3.9% on placebo. It was a promising result, but the larger and longer 2023 trial didn't confirm it. Some articles even mix the two up and describe the 2-year trial as having 47 women. The Smith-Ryan review reached a similar overall conclusion across the smaller trials: creatine, with or without resistance training, appears to give little benefit to bone density itself.

Creatine for perimenopause

Perimenopause itself has barely been studied.

A 2025 review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, led by Smith-Ryan, stated that there was no research directly evaluating creatine in perimenopausal women. It called perimenopause "a new era for creatine research" and listed muscle, bone, fatigue, cognition and mood as areas worth testing, but those are hypotheses, not results.

You might see a "14-week perimenopause study" quoted online, including in The Conversation. It's real, but it's a 2025 conference abstract with 15 women, only 5 of whom were perimenopausal, and no placebo group. It found improved lower body strength across the group and better sleep quality in the perimenopausal women. That's encouraging, but it's a starting point rather than proof.

Does creatine help with menopause brain fog?

Possibly, but the research in menopausal women is very new.

The most direct study is an 8-week randomised trial published in 2025 in 36 perimenopausal and menopausal women with an average age of 50. Women were split into four groups: 0.75g or 1.5g a day of creatine hydrochloride, 0.8g a day of a creatine hydrochloride and ethyl ester mix, or a placebo. The 1.5g group improved reaction time and reported less fatigue and fewer concentration problems, the closest thing to brain fog the study measured. Brain creatine went up in all three creatine groups, although only 16 women had brain scans. The 1.5g group also showed a possible drop in mood swings, but that result wasn't statistically significant.

There are catches. Each group had only around nine women. The creatine was supplied by a commercial company, and the lead researcher, Sergej Ostojic, sits on a creatine advisory board for the creatine manufacturer AlzChem and co-owns creatine-related patents. None of that makes the results wrong, but it's a reason to treat them as early.

Outside menopause, the picture for creatine and the brain is mixed but interesting, with the clearest effects during sleep deprivation and in older adults. We cover that research in creatine for brain health.

Brain fog is also one of the things we hear about most. We get messages from women in their 40s and 50s telling us their brain fog feels better since they started taking creatine, and honestly, they're some of my favourite messages to read. But I'm careful with them. They're personal stories, not evidence, and brain fog in menopause has many causes, including poor sleep, so it's worth talking to your GP if it's affecting your day.

Creatine and mood in menopause

There's an early signal, but only as an add-on to treatment.

The 2025 JISSN review notes that perimenopause is a period of higher risk for depression. In a 2012 trial, 52 women with major depression who were taking the antidepressant escitalopram improved faster when they also took 5g of creatine a day rather than a placebo, with differences showing from week 2. That study wasn't in menopausal women, and creatine isn't a treatment for depression. If your mood has changed, please speak to your GP first.

Four of our creatine monohydrate gummies give you 5g of creatine, the dose used in most of the postmenopausal muscle studies, with no sugar.

A note on bias: GUMO makes creatine gummies, so we have an interest in creatine looking good. That's why every claim in this guide links to its source, including the ones where creatine didn't work.

How to take creatine during menopause

The same way anyone else does: 3 to 5g of creatine monohydrate every day, at whatever time suits you.

The 2025 JISSN review found no evidence that women need a different approach to men. Taking 5g a day fills your muscle stores in about 3 to 4 weeks. A loading phase of 20g a day for 5 to 7 days gets there faster, but it isn't necessary. Consistency matters more than timing. Our guide to how much creatine per day goes into dosing in more detail.

Most importantly, pair it with strength training two or three times a week. In nearly every positive trial, the women were lifting weights.

"I recommend women in this stage of life do both: take creatine and strength train. Muscle is the most important thing for ageing well, so building it now sets you up really well for the future, and it has knock-on benefits for things like bone health too. Creatine is a very safe supplement. The only time I'd suggest double-checking with your GP is if you're on a lot of medications."

Koji Wang, Physiotherapist, Balwyn Physio

Is creatine safe for women in menopause?

For healthy women, yes. In the postmenopausal trials reviewed by Smith-Ryan, creatine caused no more side effects than a placebo, including in trials that lasted two years.

The most common things people notice are a little water weight in the first few weeks and an upset stomach if they take a big dose in one go. If you have kidney disease, take several medications or have other health conditions, check with your GP before starting. Our guide to creatine side effects covers who should avoid it.

Here's how the evidence stacks up overall.

Frequently asked questions

Should a menopausal woman take creatine?

If she's healthy and doing, or willing to start, strength training, creatine is a reasonable, well-studied option for supporting muscle and strength. It's not essential, and it won't replace exercise, protein or medical treatment for menopause symptoms.

Does creatine help with menopause belly fat?

No, creatine doesn't burn fat. It may help indirectly by supporting the muscle you build through training, but you might see the scales go up by a kilo or so at first from water stored in your muscles. Read more in does creatine make you gain weight.

Does creatine increase oestrogen in females?

Not in the studies that checked. The 14-week conference study measured oestradiol and found no significant change, and PsyPost's report on the 8-week trial says hormone levels didn't change significantly either.

Should over 50s take creatine?

Many over-50s could benefit, because muscle loss speeds up with age and creatine plus strength training is one of the better-supported ways to slow it. Start with 3 to 5g a day and check with your GP if you have kidney problems or take regular medication.

Should a 45-year-old woman take creatine?

There's no age you need to wait for. A 2025 review flags perimenopause, usually in your 40s, as a stage worth studying because muscle and bone start to decline then, although trials in this age group are still limited. For the basics, see what is creatine.

How long does creatine take to work in menopause?

At 3 to 5g a day, muscle stores fill in about 3 to 4 weeks. Strength and muscle changes in the trials showed up over 12 weeks or more of training.

Can I take creatine with HRT?

There's no known interaction between creatine and menopause hormone therapy, but there's also no research on the combination. Mention it to your GP so they have the full picture of what you're taking.

Sources

• Smith-Ryan A.E. et al. (2021). Creatine supplementation in women's health: a lifespan perspective. Nutrients, 13(3), 877
• Smith-Ryan A.E. et al. (2025). Creatine in women's health: bridging the gap from menstruation through pregnancy to menopause. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 22(1), 2502094
• Chilibeck P.D. et al. (2023). A 2-yr randomized controlled trial on creatine supplementation during exercise for postmenopausal bone health. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 55(10), 1750 to 1760
• Chilibeck P.D. et al. (2015). Effects of creatine and resistance training on bone health in postmenopausal women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 47(8), 1587 to 1595
• Hall L. et al. (2025). Impact of creatine supplementation on menopausal women's body composition, cognition, estrogen, strength, and sleep. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 22(sup1), 2533673
• Ostojic S.M. et al. (2025). The effects of 8-week creatine hydrochloride and creatine ethyl ester supplementation in perimenopausal and menopausal women (CONCRET-MENOPA). Journal of the American Nutrition Association
• Lyoo I.K. et al. (2012). A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral creatine monohydrate augmentation for enhanced response to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in women with major depressive disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(9), 937 to 945
• Healthdirect Australia: Menopause
• The Conversation: Supplements for menopause, here's what the evidence actually says
• PsyPost: Creatine supplement may enhance brain function during menopause

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About the author
Roy Anderson is the founder of GUMO and has taken creatine daily for over three years. He started GUMO after seeing brand after brand sell creatine gummies with little or no creatine inside. Every batch of GUMO Creatine Gummies is third party lab tested in Australia, with the results published. Read more about Roy →