Creatine - I know, you are thinking about all of the “jocks” in high school and college trying to get “jacked”. The cliches are endless. I am here to tell you that if you have a uterus and ovaries, you should keep an open mind to creatine; the benefits may surprise you.

Creatine is a compound naturally made in our bodies. It can be in free form or in creatine phosphate (I promise to keep the science speak to a minimum!). If you remember anything from high school biology it is probably the Krebs Cycle (AKA the citric acid cycle) and how it makes ATP (adenosine triphosphate) in the mitochondria (the little power plants that fuel our bodies). That “tri” means 3 and that matters because there is an ADP (adenosine diphosptate) and “di” means 2. To make more ATP creatine phosphate donates its phosphate group to ADP which - ta daaaaah - makes ATP. Phew, what a doozie.

Why do you even care?? Well, do you know where your biggest store of mitochondria in the body is? The ovaries - a mature egg has several hundred thousand.). For comparison, your heart has 5,000 - 8,000 per cell. Ok, great what does that even mean??  It means as an ovary owner, you can supply extra energy to that system.  The research is newer - historically women have been understudied because of our monthly cycles - but it suggests that creatine supplementation is supportive for fertility and pregnancy including fetal development. Which leads me to brains!

Creatine is also notable for its cognitive benefits. It has been shown to significantly enhance memory and cognitive function, especially in older adults. You know how? It improves the brain’s energy metabolism through the production of ATP!

Let’s say you are over having a period and don’t really care about brain health (seriously, you should reconsider, your brain is amazing!). Creatine supplementation improves muscle strength in postmenopausal women - BOOM! Why do you care? The best way to prevent frailty, osteoporosis (bone loss disease), osteopenia (bone loss before osteoporosis), and sarcopenia (muscle loss) is by resistance training - aka lifting weights. Maybe all of those jocks were onto something? What does creatine do? It helps enhance muscle strength through, you guessed it, ATP.

“Aging women in the US are two, five, and eight times more likely to break a bone than they are to have a heart attack, get breast cancer, or have a stroke, respectively.” Michael Easter, The Comfort Crisis

As an ovary owner, your entire body is fueled by the little mitochondrial powerhouses that produce ATP. Mitochondrial dysfunction (when the little power plants stop working as well) is a major hallmark of aging and disease. Creatine is an important compound to support your energy production. It is found naturally in pork, beef, chicken, seafood fish, and dairy. Supplementing I recommend 5 g daily - this is what I take and what I recommend to my clients.

Brands I recommend:

Thorn Creatine Monohydrate - 90 servings

Con-Cret HCL - 64 servings