everyone should take creatine

especially the geriatric Buttercups

When I first heard of creatine in high school, I somehow thought it was an illegal performance-enhancing drug. And because I believed that, I repeated the falsehood that it stunted natural testosterone production.

Fifteen-year-old Vance was never short on opinions. But boy, was I short on facts. In retrospect, I wish I had been supplementing with creatine. The very “drug” I once defamed.

More than that, after researching the topic a few years ago and talking to some of the world’s leading researchers on creatine, I came to the opinion (this one fact backed) that everyone should be on creatine.

Its benefits for the geriatric Buttercups can be especially significant.

Creatine is a God-designed compound found exclusively in animal foods. It’s best known as an incredible performance enhancer for strength and power. And while I’ll do take creatine for that reason, there’s many other reasons to give creatine attention.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Strength: Creatine is the most studied compound for strength and athletic performance, and it has repeatedly proven itself to be a modulator of gains. I love that gym bros take it. But there’s also a lot of great research showing it improves strength in older adults, who have a harder time maintaining muscle as they age.

The key here is to ensure you're doing resistance or weight training. Creatine is really only activated if you're stressing your muscles. Shout-out to my mom who weight trains and takes creatine. Be like Lisa, everyone.

Memory and cognition: Many studies have shown that creatine improves memory and cognitive function in older adults. Yet most adults—especially the elderly—don’t get enough of it. This is the natural outcome of decades of telling them to avoid red meat, the richest dietary source of creatine.

So sad. The greatest generation deserves the greatest food and nutrition.

Blood sugar: There’s a growing body of research indicating that creatine supplementation can help regulate blood sugar. In one study, researchers divided individuals with type 2 diabetes into two groups: one received daily creatine supplements, the other a placebo. In 12 weeks, the creatine group showed significant improvements in A1C levels.

I think the multifaceted benefits of creatine are a testament to the complexity and interconnectedness of the human body.

We divide the body into “systems” (immune, cardiovascular, nervous, etc.), and modern medicine has largely been built on the flawed idea that health and disease exist in silos.

Memory issues? See a neurologist. Cavities? Go to the dentist. Stomach pain? Off to the GI specialist. Cancer? You’ll be passed off to an oncologist.

Now, I’m extremely grateful for Western medicine’s brilliant specialists. I had an appendectomy when I was younger, and I’m thankful for the surgeon’s skill and precision.

But as the medical world has evolved into an age of hyper-specialization, it’s too often treated the body as a collection of disconnected parts rather than one fluid, integrated organism.

Creatine’s wide-ranging benefits across multiple systems—from muscle to brain to metabolism—highlight just how interconnected our biology really is.

The great thing about creatine is that it’s relatively cheap and extremely safe. You don’t need more than 5 grams a day, and ideally, you want to go with creatine monohydrate.

I take Elite Fuel’s creatine daily. And if you use the code BUTTERCUP at checkout, you’ll get 15% off your order.

And I’ll say it again because it can’t be overstated: creatine is for everyone. From young athletes to pregnant moms to 80-year-old grandparents. Get on the gain train, Buttercups.