Does Creatine Make You Gain Weight? Water vs Fat Explained

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

Creatine can make the scales go up a little, usually by no more than 1 to 2kg. That weight is water stored inside your muscles, not fat. Creatine has virtually no calories, so it can't make you fat, and the extra water disappears within about 4 to 6 weeks if you stop taking it.

I get why people worry about this, especially if you're watching the scales. But the number on the scale and the fat on your body aren't the same thing, and creatine is a good example of why. Here's what's actually happening, how much to expect, and how to tell water weight from fat.

Does creatine make you gain weight?

It can, but only a little, and not in the way most people fear. The Australian Institute of Sport says creatine can increase body mass by a maximum of about 1 or 2kg, and that this is linked to the extra water stored alongside the creatine in your muscles. The weight stays while your muscle creatine stays topped up, and it drops back if you stop.

Not everyone gains weight on creatine. Some people barely see a change. It depends on how much creatine your muscles already hold, how much muscle you have, and whether you do a loading phase.

Why does creatine cause weight gain?

Creatine draws water into your muscle cells. When you top up the creatine stored in your muscles, water follows it in, a bit like a sponge soaking up water. Scientists call this intracellular water, because it's held inside the cells.

That's an important detail. This water isn't sitting under your skin, where it would make you look puffy, and it isn't fat. It's inside the muscle, which is why some people say their muscles look a little fuller on creatine. It's also part of how creatine works, not an unwanted side effect.

Over the longer term, any further weight change comes from training, not from the creatine itself. If creatine helps you train harder and build muscle, that muscle weighs something too. More on how much muscle it really builds below.

How much weight do you gain on creatine?

Typically somewhere between nothing and 2kg, with most of it in the first week or two. The AIS puts the maximum at about 1 to 2kg, and that's in line with what most studies find.

How quickly it happens depends on how you start. With a loading phase of about 20g a day, your muscles fill up in about a week, so the scales can jump within days. Taking a steady 3 to 5g a day fills your muscles over about four weeks, so the gain is spread out and much easier to miss.

When I did a loading phase, the main thing I noticed was how much more water I was drinking and how often I was heading to the toilet. That's the water shifting into your muscles in real time. On a normal daily dose, you don't really notice it happening.

Does creatine make you fat?

No. Creatine has virtually no calories and doesn't cause your body to store fat. Fat gain only happens when you consistently eat more energy than you use, and creatine doesn't change that equation.

A study by van Loon and colleagues found that the extra body weight people gained during creatine loading was still there six weeks later and was accounted for entirely by an increase in fat-free mass. In other words, the scale went up, but fat didn't.

Creatine weight gain in women

If you're a woman worried about weight gain, the evidence is reassuring. A 2020 systematic review by researchers from Monash University and the Hudson Institute in Melbourne looked at studies of creatine in females and found no significant difference in weight gain between women taking creatine and those who weren't.

A 2025 trial at UNSW Sydney saw something similar. The creatine group, particularly the women, gained an average of about 0.5kg more lean body mass than the placebo group in the first week, which the researchers thought was probably fluid, and that difference soon disappeared. If you're a woman worried about looking bulky or heavier, creatine isn't likely to change much on the scales. For more, see creatine for women.

Is creatine weight gain just water, or real muscle?

At first, it's mostly water. Over months, it depends on your training, and the research here is more mixed than most articles admit.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition concludes that creatine combined with resistance training increases lean body mass more than training alone, based on many studies.

A 2025 UNSW Sydney trial, published in Nutrients, challenged that. Researchers put 54 relatively healthy adults aged 18 to 50, who weren't previously doing much exercise, through 12 weeks of supervised resistance training three times a week, and measured their body composition with DEXA scans. Half took 5g of creatine a day, starting a week before training. Both groups gained about 2kg of lean mass, with no difference between them.

The researchers think earlier studies may have overestimated creatine's muscle benefits by counting early water gain as muscle, since their creatine group gained "lean mass" in the week before training even started. Senior author Dr Mandy Hagstrom also suggested 5g a day may not be enough if your specific goal is building muscle, and the team said longer studies are needed.

My take: this doesn't change the dose recommended by the Australian Institute of Sport and the ISSN, which is 3 to 5g a day for strength and high-intensity performance, where creatine's evidence is strongest. What it does show is that for newer lifters over a few months, creatine won't add muscle by itself. Either way, the weight it adds early on is water, not fat. There's more on the evidence in what is creatine.

Will creatine make you look puffy or bloated?

It shouldn't make you look puffy. Because the extra water is stored inside your muscle cells rather than under your skin, it doesn't cause the soft, puffy look people associate with water retention. If anything, muscles can look slightly fuller.

Bloating is a different thing. Some people feel bloated during a loading phase, or if they take a large dose in one go, because of how creatine sits in the gut. That's a stomach issue, not water weight, and it usually settles once you drop to 3 to 5g a day. See creatine side effects for more.

How to tell creatine water weight from fat gain

The scale can't tell water, muscle and fat apart, so it helps to look at a few other things. Water weight from creatine usually:

• shows up in the first one to four weeks, then levels off
• stays at around 2kg or less
• doesn't change how your clothes fit around your waist
• doesn't change your waist measurement

Fat gain, on the other hand, builds slowly over months, keeps going rather than levelling off, and shows up on the tape measure and in how your jeans fit. If you want a precise answer, a body composition scan such as a DEXA scan, available at clinics across Australia, can separate fat from lean mass.

A practical tip: if you weigh yourself, do it at the same time each morning and look at the weekly average, not daily jumps. Body weight naturally swings by a kilo or more from day to day with food, salt and hydration, creatine or not.

Can you take creatine while trying to lose weight?

Yes, and it can actually help. When you're eating in a calorie deficit, holding on to muscle is a challenge, and creatine helps you keep training hard. Muscle also matters for your metabolism, since lean mass largely sets how much energy your body burns at rest.

Creatine won't burn fat, though. Fat loss still comes down to your overall diet and activity. The one thing to know is that creatine's water weight can hide fat loss on the scales for the first few weeks. Trust the tape measure and how your clothes fit over that period, rather than the scale alone.

If you're taking creatine while losing weight, a gummy can be an easy option, as long as it's sugar-free. GUMO creatine gummies give you 5g in four gummies with no sugar. They aren't kilojoule-free, though: a serve has 147 kJ and 8.6g of carbohydrate from maltitol, a sugar alcohol, so count it if you track closely.

A note on bias: GUMO makes creatine gummies, so we have an interest here. That's why every claim in this guide links to its source.

How to minimise creatine water weight

If you want to keep the scales as steady as possible, skip the loading phase and take 3 to 5g a day from the start. The water weight still comes, but gradually over a month, so it's barely noticeable. Keep drinking water as normal; you don't need to cut back, and drinking less won't stop creatine pulling water into your muscles. And if the scale matters to you for a specific reason, like making weight for a sport, time when you start creatine so the early gain has settled well before then. Runners have their own trade-offs here, covered in creatine for runners. For dosing, see how much creatine per day.

What happens to your weight when you stop creatine?

You'll gradually lose the extra water weight. The AIS notes that after you stop, the extra body mass drops back over about 4 to 6 weeks as your muscle creatine returns to normal. You won't lose fat, and you won't lose muscle you built, as long as you keep training. You might look very slightly less full, but that's it.

Frequently asked questions

Can creatine make you gain belly fat?

No. Creatine has virtually no calories and doesn't cause fat gain anywhere, including your belly. Any early weight gain is water inside your muscles. If your midsection feels bloated, it's more likely gut bloating from a large dose, which settles on a lower daily amount.

Why did I gain 4 to 5kg after starting creatine?

That's more than creatine alone usually explains, since the AIS puts creatine's effect at around 1 to 2kg at most. Bigger gains usually come from other changes at the same time, like eating more to support training, more carbohydrate stored in your muscles, or normal day to day weight swings. Check your waist measurement and how your clothes fit.

Will I look skinnier if I stop taking creatine?

Not really. You'll lose the extra water over about 4 to 6 weeks, so the scale may drop a little and your muscles may look slightly less full. You won't lose fat by stopping, so you won't look leaner in any meaningful way.

Does creatine make you gain weight if you don't work out?

You may still see a small amount of water weight, because creatine draws water into your muscles regardless. But without training, you won't gain muscle from creatine, so any change will stay small.

Is creatine good for weight loss?

Creatine isn't a weight loss supplement and doesn't burn fat. But it can help you keep training hard and hold on to muscle while you're in a calorie deficit, which supports better body composition.

How long does creatine water weight last?

As long as you keep taking creatine, the extra water stays, because it's tied to the creatine stored in your muscles. Once you stop, it leaves over about 4 to 6 weeks.

Should I stop taking creatine if I gain weight?

Not if it's a kilo or two in the first few weeks and your waist hasn't changed. That's water in your muscles and a sign the creatine is being stored. If the weight keeps climbing over months, look at your diet and training rather than the creatine.

Sources

• Australian Institute of Sport: Creatine, are there any concerns or considerations?
• de Guingand D.L. et al. (2020). Risk of adverse outcomes in females taking oral creatine monohydrate: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 12(6), 1780
• UNSW Sydney (2025). Sports supplement creatine makes no difference to muscle gains, trial finds (study published in Nutrients). UNSW Newsroom
• van Loon L.J.C. et al. (2003). Effects of creatine loading and prolonged creatine supplementation on body composition, fuel selection, sprint and endurance performance in humans. Clinical Science, 104(2), 153 to 162
• Kreider R.B. et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation

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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 →