Creatine is a popular athletic supplement that improves muscle health and exercise performance. If you’re bringing creatine into your workout routine, you might have questions about its interactions or what you can take it with. As a trainer and nutritionist, I am a fan of the supplement and recommend it to many clients looking to take things up a notch.
However, some common myths about creatine are being passed around without any scientific sources, like the idea that mixing creatine with coffee will reduce its effectiveness. Is that fact or fiction? Truth or myth? We’ll dive into the evidence today to help you figure out whether you can take creatine with your morning coffee or not.
What are the benefits of taking creatine?
Builds muscle
According to a recent review, “Many studies have demonstrated that creatine supplementation, in combination with various kinds of training, is effective at augmenting training workouts and increasing muscular strength.” Creatine has been widely proven to help people build muscle faster and be more effective in their workouts.
Helps with recovery
Similarly, creatine also helps muscles recover from a workout. It can even help you recover from injuries. These benefits of creatine are part of why it’s such a popular supplement for athletes in high-intensity sports, like running, which have a high injury rate.
Boosts the immune system
Studies on creatine’s effect on the immune system are still ongoing, but preliminary findings suggest that it may increase the body’s immune response and improve fatigue symptoms. Other immune boosts like vitamin C and zinc might be more useful, but the possible immune effects of creatine are a great bonus if you’re taking it already.
Can you have creatine with coffee?
Creatine is often taken as a powder with liquid. In warm liquids, like coffee, tea, or even hot water, it dissolves more readily than in cold liquids. Some supplements can’t be taken in warm liquid without losing some effectiveness, but creatine works just as well after being mixed in hot water as before, so mixing it into something warm like coffee will help it dissolve better with no ill effects.
Some people claim that the caffeine in coffee interacts with creatine and makes it less effective. We’ll go into this claim in more detail further down, but briefly, this is a complete myth. Caffeine has no impact on the effectiveness of creatine, and it’s perfectly reasonable to mix creatine with coffee. (If you drink decaf, of course, you don’t even have to worry about this.)
Does creatine in coffee boost performance?
Caffeine has some beneficial effects, like speeding up the body’s metabolism for improved weight loss. Most weight loss supplements contain caffeine for this reason. Coffee also contains a variety of antioxidants, including polyphenols, which also reduce inflammation. If you drink coffee without milk or sugar, it’s also low-calorie.
The most powerful combinations of nutrients work together to increase each other’s effectiveness. Creatine and coffee don’t supplement each other, but drinking both together will give you both sets of health benefits.
Are there any downsides to mixing creatine with coffee?
Some rumors claim that mixing creatine with caffeine can reduce its effectiveness, but a study to test this myth found no interaction. Creatine mixed with pure caffeine did cause more digestive discomfort, but creatine mixed with coffee did not have these effects.
(The fact that only pure caffeine and not coffee caused digestive effects might be purely coincidental. The coffee had the same amount of caffeine as the caffeine-only test, and the sample sizes were very small.)
What other beverages can you mix creatine into?
Creatine can be mixed into anything. Hot tea and coffee help the creatine dissolve, and plain water is good when you’re trying to keep your calories low. You can also try fruit juice, although acidic drinks may change the effectiveness of the creatine. Another great option is mixing creatine into a protein smoothie to really fuel your workout to the next level.
Frequently asked questions
What should you avoid mixing creatine with?
Alcohol can diminish the effectiveness of creatine. You might want to avoid mixing it with coffee, but only if you find it gives you digestive effects. It can also have interactions with NSAIDs, stimulants, and a few other medications, so do your research and ask your doctor if you take any prescription medications.
Does creatine affect sleep?
Some people say that taking creatine late at night can make it hard to sleep, but this is a myth not supported by scientific evidence. Creatine has no effect on sleep, and you can take it at any time of day.
What is the best time to take creatine?
You can take creatine at any time, but on workout days, you may want to try taking it within 30 minutes before or after your workout. If you have a protein shake or bar right before or after your workout, take creatine then, too – it’s best with food.
