Quick Answer
Creatine can cause mild dehydration as a side effect, so it is recommended to increase your water intake when supplementing with creatine. The general guideline is to drink about 0.6-0.7 liters (20-24 oz) of extra water per day, in addition to your normal water intake. However, the exact amount can vary based on factors like your body weight, activity levels, climate, etc. Listen to your body’s thirst signals and aim for light yellow urine to stay properly hydrated.
What is Creatine?
Creatine is one of the most popular sports supplements used to boost high-intensity exercise performance. It is a molecule produced naturally in the body that helps supply energy to cells, particularly muscle cells. Supplementing with creatine monohydrate powder can increase stores of creatine in your muscles, improving your ability to perform repetitive bursts of powerful activity like weight lifting or sprints.
Some of the key benefits of creatine supplementation include:
– Increased muscle strength and power output
– More reps/sets during workouts
– Faster sprint times
– Greater gains in muscle mass and lean tissue
– Enhanced overall exercise capacity and performance
Creatine works by helping regenerate ATP energy in muscle cells. ATP powers muscle contractions. With more creatine available, you can replenish ATP stores faster during and after workouts.
Why Creatine Causes Dehydration
When you supplement with creatine, your muscles can hold more water in order to increase creatine storage. This causes your cells to pull water from other parts of your body, which increases your fluid requirements.
In addition, creatine draws water into your muscle cells. This means there is less fluid available in the spaces between cells. This relative state of dehydration triggers your body to increase urine output. You end up peeing out more water as your kidneys work to re-establish fluid balance.
Factors like high doses of creatine, inadequate water intake, exercise and hot weather can make these mild dehydration side effects more pronounced.
How Much Additional Water is Needed?
Most experts recommend drinking an extra 0.6-0.7 liters of water per day when taking creatine supplements. This equals around 20-24 fluid ounces.
For example, if your normal water intake is 2 liters per day, you should aim for 2.6-2.7 liters on creatine days.
This dosage recommendation is based on research using 20g per day of creatine monohydrate, which is a typical supplement dose. The extra water is needed to account for the increased fluid loss caused by the creatine.
However, there are no strict guidelines. The amount of additional water required can vary based on several factors:
Body Weight
Larger individuals need more water in general, and may need more additional water when taking creatine.
Aim for at least 0.6 liters of extra water per day. Increase beyond that based on your own fluid needs.
Exercise Habits
Hard exercise sessions cause major fluid loss through sweat. The more you sweat, the more water you need to replace.
Bump water intake on workout days, especially when training for over an hour in a hot gym.
Climate & Temperature
Hot and humid weather causes heavy sweating, so summer or tropical climates call for increased hydration.
Likewise, creatine use in the winter tends to have less impact on hydration status.
Creatine Dosage
The standard creatine dose is about 5g, four times per day, equaling 20g total. This is the dosage most hydration recommendations are based on.
However, effects may be amplified if you take higher doses like 30g per day. In that case, increasing fluid intake beyond 0.6 liters may be wise.
Individual Response
Monitor your body and tweak water intake based on real-world results. If you get headaches, muscle cramps or dark urine, bump up water intake.
Aim to find the lowest dose that prevents dehydration symptoms. More water is not necessarily better.
Tips for Staying Hydrated
Here are some tips to optimize hydration when supplementing with creatine:
– Weigh yourself before and after workouts. Drink 16-24 oz of water for every pound lost through sweat.
– Drink a glass of water about 30 minutes before meals. This can aid digestion and prevent overeating.
– Set reminders to drink water throughout the day. Apps like Plant Nanny make it fun.
– Infuse your water with fruit or herbal teas to add flavor without calories or artificial ingredients.
– Always drink water before, during and after workouts. Don’t rely on thirst as your cue.
– Opt for lower caffeine teas and coffee so caffeine doesn’t act as a diuretic.
– Upgrade from a small water bottle to a 32oz or 64oz container. Bigger bottles encourage more sipping.
– Try coconut water or diluted sports drinks when doing very vigorous activity for over 2 hours.
Signs You Need More Water
Watch for these signs of mild dehydration, especially in the days after starting creatine:
– Increased thirst
– Fatigue and headaches
– Dizziness when standing up quickly
– Muscle cramps during your workout
– Decreased urine output or dark yellow pee
– Dry mouth and lips
– Constipation
Mild dehydration means your fluid loss exceeds your intake. Increase water and these symptoms should resolve. Severe dehydration requires immediate medical attention.
The Color of Your Urine
The color of your pee is a good way to gauge if you’re drinking enough water when taking creatine supplements.
Aim for light yellow or nearly clear urine. This shows you are well-hydrated.
Dark yellow, amber or honey colored urine indicates you need more fluids.
However, be aware that vitamins can turn urine bright yellow. The B vitamin riboflavin is a common culprit. If your pee is dark yellow despite drinking lots of water, ask your doctor to test for UTI’s or other conditions.
Water vs. Sports Drinks
For most people doing moderate activity, plain water is perfectly fine when taking creatine. However, sports drinks can provide an advantage in certain scenarios:
Very High Intensity or Endurance Exercise
When training hard for over two hours, sports drinks provide electrolytes, carbohydrates and fluids for better sustained performance. Water alone may not cut it.
Hot and Humid Weather
Losing electrolytes and minerals through heavy sweating can impair exercise capacity. Sports drinks replenish important salts and prevent cramps.
Poor Hydraters
Some people rarely feel thirsty. The flavor and electrolytes in sports drinks can promote better voluntary drinking before you get dehydrated.
Upset Stomach Issues
The sugars and salts in sports drinks may be easier to digest than plain water for some individuals.
Unless you fall into the above categories, save sports drinks for your heaviest training days when you need the extra electrolyte boost. Water should be your go-to fluid on most lower key workout days.
Can You Drink Too Much Water?
It is possible to overdo water intake, resulting in a dangerous condition called exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH). This happens when excessive water overwhelms the kidneys’ ability to excrete it. Sodium levels drop too low, causing cells to swell.
Symptoms of hyponatremia include:
– Nausea and vomiting
– Headache and confusion
– Fatigue
– Muscle cramps, spasms or weakness
– Seizures
This condition is most common in endurance athletes who drink very large amounts of plain water without adequately replacing salts lost through sweat.
To avoid hyponatremia:
– Don’t guzzle gallons of water beyond your thirst levels
– Include some sodium-containing fluids like sports drinks
– Monitor body weight changes during long training sessions
– Watch for early signs of overhydration
For most active individuals, drinking an extra 20-24oz of water daily with creatine supplementation will not put you at risk for water intoxication. Just tune in to your body’s signals and adjust as needed.
Creatine Loading Phase
When you first start taking creatine supplements, it is common to do a “loading phase” of about 5-7 days.
This involves taking relatively higher doses of 20-25g per day to help saturate your muscles with creatine faster.
During this loading period, increase your water intake proportional to the increased creatine dose. If you normally drink 2 liters per day, aim for 3 liters while loading 20-25g of creatine.
After the loading phase, lower your creatine intake to 3-5g per day as a maintenance dose. You can also lower water intake again, while remaining well-hydrated.
Weigh Yourself Before and After Workouts
Your body weight is made up mostly of water, so weighing yourself gives insight into your hydration status.
Weigh yourself nude before and after training sessions. Each pound lost is roughly equivalent to 16oz of fluid lost through sweat.
So if you lose 3lbs during an intense spin class, aim to replace about 48oz of water lost. Drinking based on objective weight changes is more accurate than drinking by thirst alone.
This strategy helps ensure you adequately recover from fluid losses after your workout. Proper rehydration is key to avoiding the unwanted side effects of creatine like cramps and fatigue.
Should I Cycle Creatine?
Cycling involves taking creatine supplements for a period of time, like 8-12 weeks, then taking a break from it for a while.
Cycling is not necessary. Creatine is one of the more extensively researched supplements and is considered very safe for long-term use.
That said, some people report greater benefits from periodically cycling off creatine for about 4 weeks before starting another round. Listen to your own body.
If you choose to cycle, reduce your water intake when you stop taking creatine supplements during your “off” periods. Then ramp water back up again when resuming creatine use.
Pre-Workout Creatine
Many pre-workout supplements contain creatine as one of the ingredients.
If taking a pre-workout on training days, monitor your hydration closely. Pre-workouts often have diuretic effects from ingredients like caffeine.
This can exacerbate the mild dehydration effects of creatine. Be diligent about drinking adequate water before, during and following exercise.
Consider lowering the pre-workout dosage or avoiding creatine-based pre-workouts on the hottest, most intense training days when sweat rates will be highest.
Creatine While Cutting Weight
Athletes who are cutting weight for competitions and using creatine need to take extra precautions to avoid dehydration:
– Increase water intake above the standard recommendation when decreasing calories and sweating heavily during training.
– Monitor body weight, urine color and hydration markers daily. Adjust water intake quickly at the first sign of underhydration.
– Lower the creatine dosage if inadequate fluid intake or high sweat rates persist.
– Avoid cutting weight and creatine loading simultaneously. Focus on one goal at a time.
– Take creatine after weigh-ins for weight-class competitions. Creatine before weigh-ins risks a performance letdown.
Losing weight demands a calorie deficit. Combine this with creatine and heavy training, and dehydration can happen easier. Keep up ample fluids and watch hydration metrics closely.
Can Creatine Increase Cramps?
Some people report increased muscle cramps when starting creatine supplements. This is likely due to the mild dehydrating effects of creatine.
Even a 2% drop in hydration status can impair exercise performance and make you prone to painful cramps. Make sure to amp up water intake when taking creatine to keep muscles happy and working smoothly.
If you still experience frequent cramps, try:
– Drinking an electrolyte sports drink while training
– Reducing your creatine dosage
– Limiting caffeine intake which acts as a diuretic
– Eating more fruits and veggies high in hydrating potassium like bananas and spinach
– Doing a proper cool-down and stretch post-workout
Proper hydration and electrolyte balance is key to preventing cramps with creatine use. Increase water and modify other factors until you find what works for your body.
Can Creatine Cause Bloating?
Some people report mild bloating or water weight gain when they first start taking creatine supplements. This is due to creatine pulling extra water into your muscles cells.
However, any increase in overall body water should be modest, around 2-3 lbs. If you experience pronounced bloating or rapid weight gain beyond this, assess other factors:
– Are you ramping workout intensity and carbs simultaneously with starting creatine? Hard training plus more carbs can increase water held in muscles.
– Does the bloating correlate with your period? Hormonal fluctuations can cause temporary water retention.
– Have you increased sodium or processed foods in your diet? High sodium intake causes water retention.
– Are you drinking adequate water? Low fluid intake concentrates urine solutes, increasing water reabsorption.
Aim to split the cause between creatine-driven muscle water gains and other lifestyle factors. Tweak your diet, exercise and hydration practices to find the right balance.
Creatine While Sick
Being under the weather increases your fluid needs, especially if you have a fever. When sick, avoid dehydrating supplements like creatine and caffeine.
Prioritize rest over intense workouts that leave you heavily sweating. Stick to light activity.
Drink extra fluids like water, broths and hydrating juices or smoothies. Monitor urine color and drink enough to keep it light yellow.
Consider lowering your creatine dose or going off it until sickness passes and normal hydration habits resume. Creatine can wait until you recover.
The Takeaway
When adding creatine supplements to boost your fitness gains, increase your water intake by around 0.6-0.7 liters (20-24oz) daily to stay hydrated. But tailor your fluid needs to your sweat rates, climate, urine color and other feedback from your body. Sip steadily throughout the day and drink more around workouts. With proper hydration habits, you can reap all the performance benefits of creatine with minimal side effects.