Kidney Health and Supplements: What You Should Know About Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound found in your muscles and brain. It helps your body produce energy during high-intensity exercise or heavy lifting. Many athletes and fitness enthusiasts take creatine supplements to increase strength, improve exercise performance, and build muscle mass.

But how does creatine affect your kidneys, especially if you already have health concerns? Let’s explore what creatine does, who it’s safe for, and what you should know if you or a loved one has chronic kidney disease (CKD) or other kidney issues.

What is Creatine?

Creatine is a natural compound your body makes and stores in your muscles. It helps supply energy during short bursts of activity like lifting weights or sprinting. Your body makes most of its creatine, and you also get some from foods such as meat and fish.

When people talk about creatine supplements, they are referring to powder or pills people take to help with muscle strength and growth. These are popular with athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

How Creatine Works in Your Body

Creatine lives mainly in your muscles.

• When you use your muscles, especially during intense activity, creatine helps create energy that your muscle cells need right away. 

• A small amount of creatine in your muscles turns into a waste product called creatinine, which your kidneys normally filter out of your blood. 

Creatine vs. Creatinine: What’s the Difference?

It’s easy to mix these up, but they’re not the same:

🟢 Creatine helps provide energy to your muscles.

🔴 Creatinine is a waste product the body makes as creatine breaks down, and it’s used to measure how well your kidneys are working. 

So when doctors talk about your creatinine level, they’re not talking about how much creatine you have in your muscles, they’re talking about how much waste your kidneys are clearing from your blood.

How Creatine Affects Muscle Growth

Many people take creatine supplements to support:

✔ Improved muscle strength
✔ Better performance in high‑intensity exercise
✔ Increased muscle size over time

This is because extra creatine in muscles can help them produce energy more quickly during intense activity; helping people train harder and potentially build more muscle. 

What Happens to Creatinine Levels?

Creatine supplements can cause a small increase in your blood creatinine level, but this doesn’t automatically mean your kidneys are damaged.

Studies have shown that when people take creatine at normal doses, this increase is a normal result of how creatine breaks down, and not a sign of kidney damage for otherwise healthy individuals.

Kidney Health and Creatine

Here’s what you should know:

🔹 Healthy kidneys: Research shows that creatine doesn’t appear to harm kidney function when taken at recommended doses by people with normal kidney health. 

🔹 People with kidney disease: If you have chronic kidney disease (CKD) or are on dialysis, your kidneys already struggle to remove waste like creatinine. Since creatine supplements can raise creatinine levels, they can make it harder for your care team to interpret kidney function tests, and they may place extra strain on kidney systems.

For this reason, supplements like creatine are not generally recommended for people with kidney disease unless a healthcare provider specifically approves their use. Always talk to your doctor before starting any new supplement.

What This Means for You

If you’re reading this as a patient, caregiver, or everyday person curious about creatine:

• Understand that creatine and creatinine are related but different; one helps muscles, the other tells us how the kidneys are filtering waste. 

• If you have kidney disease or reduced kidney function, don’t take creatine supplements without medical guidance.

• If you are healthy and interested in creatine for muscle support, studies suggest it’s safe for most people when used correctly.

Talk With Your Health Care Team

Your kidney care team or dialysis clinic can help you understand:

✨ What your creatinine numbers mean
✨ Whether supplements are safe for you
✨ How diet and exercise fit into your overall kidney health

Healthcare professionals interpret creatinine levels along with other tests like the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) to get a complete picture of kidney function. 

If you have questions about creatine, creatinine, or kidney health, ask your care provider, they’re there to help you make sense of what’s best for your body.