Creatine raises the amount of creatine stored in muscle, which researchers link to better performance in short, repeated bursts of hard exercise and to greater gains from strength training. In Great Britain, the main claims register lists two authorised creatine health claims a label may make, both tied to 3 g a day.
This is an evergreen explainer. This desk read the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register page, its 19 May 2026 spreadsheet and the abstract of the International Society of Sports Nutrition’s position stand on 8 October 2026.
What does creatine do in the body?
The ISSN position stand, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2017, says studies have consistently shown that supplementation increases intramuscular creatine, which “may help explain” improvements in high-intensity exercise performance and training adaptations.
Beyond the gym, the authors say research has shown creatine may enhance post-exercise recovery, injury prevention, thermoregulation and rehabilitation, and that clinical uses have been studied in conditions including Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease and diabetes. Studied is the operative word. Several of the ten listed affiliations are commercial firms, among them Vitargo Global Sciences and Supplement Safety Solutions.
The abstract also says significant health benefits may come from ensuring a habitual low dietary intake of creatine throughout life, giving 3 g a day as its example, the same figure the GB register attaches to both of its authorised claims.
What does creatine do, according to the UK register?
The register page says it “sets out all authorised and rejected nutrition and health claims”, and that only authorised claims may be used in Great Britain. The creatine rows in the 19 May 2026 spreadsheet:
| Effect | Register status | Conditions or reason |
|---|---|---|
| Performance in repeated short bursts of high-intensity exercise | Authorised for use in Great Britain (Regulation (EU) 432/2012) | 3 g a day, stated on the label; adults doing high-intensity exercise only |
| Muscle strength from resistance training, adults over 55 | Authorised for use in Great Britain (Regulation (EU) 2017/672) | 3 g a day with training at least three times a week for several weeks at 65-75% of one-repetition maximum |
| Improved cognitive function (004UKNHCC) | Non-authorised, added 27 February 2025 | Not substantiated |
| Mental attentiveness, including in the elderly (1524, 1528) | Non-authorised | Not substantiated |
| Working capacity at fatigue threshold (1527) | Non-authorised | Not substantiated |
| Muscle power and speed; energy to muscle (1963) | Non-authorised | Not substantiated |
| Energy reserves; building muscle (1521) | Non-authorised | Not substantiated |
| Better muscle uptake with carbohydrate (544, 545) | Non-authorised | Not a beneficial physiological effect |
The register also carries a refused brand wording for EAS Phosphagen, an entry in the register’s text rather than a comment on anything sold today. This desk did not search the separate annex of claims authorised on proprietary data, so the count of two applies to the main register.
Who may a creatine claim be aimed at?
The conditions are the narrow part. The burst-exercise claim may be used only on a food providing 3 g of creatine a day, the pack must tell the buyer that the effect comes at that intake, and the claim may target only adults doing high-intensity exercise. The strength claim is for people over 55 already in regular resistance training whose workload rises over time. A pack aimed at a sedentary reader, or at a teenager, sits outside both.
Does a refused claim mean creatine does not work?
No. A non-authorised wording is a rule about what a label may print, reached on the evidence assessed at the time. The brain research the ISSN describes may yet mature; until the register changes, a GB pack cannot claim it. The gap between the shelf and the register is a familiar one, and how the format of a creatine product bears on its label is reviewed separately.
Frequently asked questions
What does creatine do to your body?
Supplementing raises the creatine stored in muscle. The ISSN’s 2017 position stand says this may help explain better high-intensity exercise performance and greater training adaptations, and lists recovery and neuroprotection among effects research has explored. On a GB label, the main register authorises only the high-intensity and over-55 strength claims.
Is it good to take creatine every day?
Both authorised GB claims assume a daily intake of 3 g, and the burst-exercise claim requires the label to say so. The ISSN authors write that supplementation of up to 30 g a day for five years has been safe and well tolerated in healthy people. That is their position, not a UK regulator’s recommendation.
What are the side effects of creatine?
The ISSN abstract read here lists no side effects; it states that short- and long-term use was safe and well tolerated in the populations studied. This desk did not read NHS guidance on creatine for this piece, so anyone with a medical condition or taking medicines should ask a pharmacist or GP first.
Is creatine good for women?
Neither authorised GB claim is limited by sex: one targets adults doing high-intensity exercise, the other adults over 55 in regular resistance training. The ISSN abstract lists pregnancy among clinical applications that have been studied, without drawing a conclusion in the text read here, so anyone pregnant should take advice from a midwife, pharmacist or GP.
The register above governs what a creatine label in Great Britain may claim; how a product is classed is a separate question, as with melatonin. Nothing above is medical advice.