What does creatine do for people over sixty?

Creatine helps older adults get stronger, especially when combined with resistance training. Both upper- and lower-body strength increase, and lean muscle mass and muscle size go up. That matters because muscle loss after the age of sixty is one of the biggest risk factors for losing independence. Improved strength also translates into everyday activities: getting up from a chair more easily, walking better, and staying more mobile.

A striking finding comes from research on memory. In adults aged 66 to 76, creatine demonstrably improved memory. The effect was considerably larger than in younger people, in whom no difference was measured. This suggests that the brains of older people benefit more from additional creatine, possibly because brain energy declines somewhat with age.

For women after menopause there is an additional reason to consider creatine. At a higher dose (around 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight per day) combined with resistance training, not only muscle size and function improved, but also bone mass. The latter is important given the increased risk of osteoporosis after menopause.

The safety concern heard most often is that creatine puts a strain on the kidneys. This is not the case at the usual dose of 3 to 5 grams per day. There is no evidence of kidney damage in healthy people at that dose. People with an existing kidney condition are wise to discuss this with their doctor first, as that group has not been well studied.

There are also early indications that creatine may have a favourable effect on blood sugar metabolism in older adults, but this has been studied very little so far and the conclusions are preliminary.