Should you take creatine supplements to build or retain muscle?

Muscle loss is like death and taxes: Pretty much inevitable. Beginning around age 30, we all begin to lose muscle mass and — depending on overall health and level of activity — will continue

to lose 3 to 8 percent per decade. By age 50, most of us have likely lost up to 10 percent of our muscle mass, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. That steady decline

accelerates, increasing to as much as 15 percent per decade after age 70. While everyone loses muscle over time, people with age-related muscle loss, a condition known as sarcopenia, lose it

more quickly. People on Ozempic, Wegovy, and other GLP-1 weight loss drugs are also at risk for greater muscle loss, since reduced muscle mass is a side effect of these medications. Here’s

why that’s a big deal: “If you lose too much muscle mass, you become weaker, you lose your balance, which leads to injuries from falls,” says Richard Kreider, director of the Exercise &

Sport Nutrition Lab at Texas A&M University. What’s more, he adds, people with sarcopenia who end up in the hospital are at a higher risk of mortality. “So keeping muscle is critical to

maintain effective aging and quality of life," he says. To that end, there’s plenty you can do about shrinking muscles. You likely already know about the importance of strength

training. Lifting weights, practicing yoga, doing Pilates, or some other form of muscle-strengthening exercise two to three times per week can help maintain muscle mass. The same goes for

getting enough protein in your diet. To stimulate protein synthesis, the process for building and maintaining muscle, women 50 and older need at least 25 grams of protein at every meal; men

need 30. You may be wondering whether the popular supplement creatine plays a role. Is it essential for anyone looking to retain and regain muscle? Or is it just another over-hyped health

fad? Here’s what you need to know about supplementing with creatine. WHAT IS CREATINE? If you know about creatine only from the creatine-labeled bottles and jars lining drugstore shelves or

from bodybuilders talking it up at the gym, you might be surprised to discover that creatine is a substance made naturally by the body. “It’s synthesized from three amino acids and primarily

found in muscles, with a small quantity in the brain,” says Kathryn Porter Starr, a registered dietitian and an associate professor in the division of geriatrics at Duke University School

of Medicine. It’s essential for producing and regenerating ATP (short for adenosine triphosphate), the main carrier of energy in our cells, she adds. And even though we get creatine from our

diet, we only really observe improvements in physical performance when we consume it in higher amounts, typically through supplements, Starr says.    In fact, your body produces enough

creatine to supply about half of what you need, while the rest comes from your diet — through protein-rich foods like red meat, chicken and fish — or through dietary supplements.