How do you take Creatine ? And how much for what age group and weight?
5g/day is the general recommendation and most packaging will come with an appropriately sized scoop, notably this is one of the rare ones where dose doesn’t seem to be adjusted by age or bodyweight. I presume because it’s cheap, well-studied, and there don’t appear to be downsides for overdoing it. They’re testing it at up to and possibly above 25g/day for Alzheimer’s.
Some people recommend a higher “loading” dose for the first two weeks to build up reserves in your body more quickly, but if the goal is to start taking it daily, this is really unnecessary.
There may or may not be a downside depending on what one considers a downside.
In one of my other comments I just made in this thread, I mentioned my experience taking relatively large doses of 20g a day. While I found it has cognitive benefits, it did interfere with my sleep, though not catastrophically. If a person happens to enjoy sleep, then it's probably best they stick to 5 or 10 grams. On the other hand, if you need to pull an all-nighter, the sleep interference (as well as the better recovery the following day) may not be seen as a downside but beneficial.
But yeah, from a toxicological perspective, creatine does seem very safe even at those doses.
Any of the rare issues that people do experience—especially at the 5g/day level across age and weight—are minor, acute, and easy to resolve by simply lowering the dose.
There is the build up period where you take a higher dose for a week, 8g, in order to saturate the body faster.
I wouldn’t bother with the “loading phase” you often see recommended online. Just be consistent.
My favourite mixer is something slightly acidic or sharp tasting, like kefir which also holds the crystals in suspension and somehow is a little less gritty as a result, and masks the bitterness quite well.
Or a taste.
It literally dissolves in the water, meaning, you can't tell it's there.
If there's something uncomfortable about the extra bits that don't dissolve (?), then just add more water.
Beyond that, this may be psychosomatic, you're possibly reacting to the 'thought' of the creatine, not the substance.
Much of the reactions here are that. "Creatine made me feel this and that" <- highly doubtful in almost every case. It doesn't make you feel anything and takes a while to have any real measurable effects other than water retention, moreover.
Merely following the instructions to 'drink a lot more water' could bring about benefits.
The biggest factor, is that most of the time when people are embarking on 'creatine' - they are changing other lifestyle habits, esp. working out - and so the 'creatine effect' is really hard to isolate.
Only way to know for sure is to keep a log of lifestyle stuff and check that objectively.
If I take creatine too late in the day, it definitely wrecks my sleep. It is good when taken as early in the day as possible.
As for the age group, I think it could be fine for anyone who is 18 or older.
As for a second dose, that's of possible value for intense exercise, but again be mindful of insomnia.
Note that some sensitive brains, e.g. those with excitotoxicity/inflammation pressure/headache/migraine issues, may not always tolerate creatine well. Such people need to fix their underlying brain issue first before using creatine.
Creatine requires you to increase your daily water intake, and actually do it.