Should you take creatine with electrolytes?

Does taking creatine with electrolytes help?

Not that any trial has shown. Creatine works at 3 to 5 g a day on its own. The UK claim for it needs just 3 g a day, with no salts added.

The idea comes from sodium. Creatine gets into muscle through a doorway that runs on sodium. But no trial shows that adding salt to your drink gets more creatine in.

Already like an electrolyte drink? Stirring creatine into it is fine, as long as you drink it straight away. Just don’t pay extra for a tub that pairs the two.

Your next step: pick plain creatine monohydrate and settle on how much creatine to take a day.

What should you mix creatine with?

One add-in may help muscles take up more. That add-in is carbs.

A sports nutrition society, the ISSN, says carbs, or carbs with protein, appear to help muscle take up more creatine. But your results in the gym may be no better than with creatine alone.

Whatever you pick, drink it once it’s mixed. Creatine breaks down in liquid, faster when the drink is warmer or more acidic. The dry powder keeps for years.

For shakes, see creatine and protein together. For timing and loading, see how to take creatine.

Does creatine dehydrate you or cause cramps?

No. A 2021 review of the research says creatine does not cause dehydration or muscle cramping. That fear is the main reason people reach for electrolytes.

In one US college football season, 38 players taking creatine had less cramping, heat illness and dehydration than 34 who took a sports drink instead.

Heat was tested too. Twelve active men, already 2% dehydrated, took creatine for a week. It did not upset their hydration or body temperature during 80 minutes of exercise at 33.5°C.

What does happen is water weight. Loading at 20 g a day for 5 to 7 days usually adds 1 to 3 kg, mostly water.

Think of a sponge holding water, not a leak losing it. The scales may go up, but you’re not drying out. More in creatine and weight gain.

When do you need electrolytes?

It depends on the session, not on creatine. The British Dietetic Association says water is suitable for most activities.

A UK sports drink that claims to help endurance must hold 460 to 1,150 mg of sodium a litre. At the top of that range, a litre has about 2.9 g of salt.

That’s nearly half the NHS limit of 6 g of salt a day for adults. Too much salt can cause high blood pressure.

To turn sodium into salt, times it by 2.5. The NHS counts 0.6 g of sodium as 1.5 g of salt.

So check the sodium on a sachet before it becomes a daily habit. See electrolyte drinks and how much salt a day.

How to take creatine with electrolytes

Prefer food to sachets? See natural electrolytes.

Having a blood test while on creatine? See does creatine raise creatinine.

When to speak to a GP

• You have kidney disease. The ISSN notes some experts advise asking your doctor first.
• You’ve been told to limit fluids. The BDA says only a doctor or dietitian should set that.
• You have high blood pressure and want to add electrolyte sachets, since too much salt can raise it.
• You feel unusually tired, dizzy on standing that doesn’t pass, have dark yellow pee or pee less, or breathe fast or have a fast heartbeat. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call 111.

Call 999 or go to A&E if someone shows signs of dehydration and has blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, lips or tongue. On brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet.

The same goes for cold skin, trouble breathing or lots of quick breaths, confusion, or being sleepier than normal or hard to wake.