The Daily News – July 3, 2025

As we all know, age related muscle loss is an unfortunate fact of life. And if you have an aging loved one in your life, chances are you’ve seen it happen. On today’s daily news, we’ll discuss creatine supplements and whether they can help older adults maintain strength and mobility. A recent article in the Washington Post reported on an analysis of 20 different studies on the effects of creatine for adults between the ages of 48 and 84. The findings were that the participants who took creatine while lifting weights gained more muscle and strength than those who did the same workouts without creatine. So as we age, maintaining muscle mass is vital. And this is where we come to the importance of this study because based on these results, researchers say that combining creatine with strength training could improve everyday mobility, ultimately helping with crucial tasks like standing up from a chair or even just walking, but is creatine right for everyone? Well, to find out, we have here with us Dr. Jen Bricks, a naturopathic doctor specializing in healthy aging. Hi Jen. Thank you so much for joining us. It’s a pleasure to be here. So we hear a lot about creatine for athletes, but how can it benefit older adults? Well, creatine plays a key role in energy production in our cells, specifically in our muscle cells. And as we age, we naturally lose muscle tissue. This is called sarcopenia, and this can lead to weakness and reduced mobility. Now, what the research is showing is that when older adults take creatine while doing resistance training, they tend to build, but also maintain more muscle mass than with exercise alone. Now, this can be really important, especially in even older adults because it can help prevent falls and maintain independence, uh, as we age. That’s interesting. But how about people who aren’t lifting weights? Does creatine still help them? Mm-hmm. That’s a really important distinction. So the studies suggest that without strength training, uh, creatine isn’t gonna do much for our muscle mass at all. So if someone is not doing any resistance exercises, they likely won’t see any benefit, um, from taking creatine in terms of their muscle mass. Now, that said, there are other potential benefits that creatine has, uh, in our, in our body, including brain health. And some early research is suggesting that it might help with cognitive function, particularly in, uh, people under stressful conditions. Uh, but more studies really need to be done to confirm this. Okay. Now, what should people look for in a creatine supplement? Yeah. The form that I’d wanna look for is creatine monohydrate. This is the most well studied and effective form. Uh, I usually recommend five grams per day. There’s no need for a loading dose or loading phase, um, in this case. And, you know, honestly, it, high doses can cause bloating. Um, so I just avoid all of that. Um, you also wanna look for third party testing certification on, on these sorts of supplements because they don’t have the same rigorous regulations that medications do. But you do wanna make sure that the, the supplement is being third party tested for, uh, contaminants. And are there any risks that people should be aware of here? Yes. Um, generally, honestly, creatine is very, very safe for healthy individuals. Um, one thing to note is that it can slightly raise, um, blood levels of a particular marker called creatinine. Now this is a marker that doctors use to assess kidney function. So if you have kidney concerns, uh, it is best to check with your healthcare provider before taking it. This information is really helpful. Jen, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to speak with us. Thank you so much for having me. So should older adults take creatine? Well, if you’re doing strength training, research suggests it could give you a small but meaningful boost in muscle mass and function, but without exercise, the benefits are much less clear. But what do you think? Would you try creatine to support healthy aging? Well, let us know in the comments below, and if you found this information helpful, please don’t forget to like, subscribe and hit that notification bell for more updates. As always, thank you so much for joining us on the Daily News.