'Taking 20g Of Creatine Every Day Had A Massive Impact On My Mental And Physical Performance'

This piece originally appeared in The Source: The Anti-Optimisation Issue, Healf's print magazine.

If I told you to close your eyes and picture a person who takes 20g of creatine every day, I can assure you I’m not what you’d imagine. I’m not a biohacker or a super jacked guy who’s really into lifting. But I take this large dose of creatine every single day — and I am absolutely obsessed.

My fiancé is a very big gym-goer, and he’s been taking creatine for years, but until recently, I always treated it as a “boy thing”. To me, it was the “muscle man” supplement.
And I always thought, I don’t need this. I was more interested in being a Pilates Princess than a jacked gym bro.

So, for years, I just wrote creatine off as an unnecessary workout supplement. But that all changed about three years ago when I started doing more endurance workouts. I’ve always been sporty, but I had started running farther distances than I had before while training for the London Marathon. My physio started asking if I was doing strength training to support my long runs. The short answer? I wasn’t. His response to that changed everything. He explained that if I’m doing endurance sports and not much resistance training, it is really important that I protect the muscles I have.

I began taking a low dose of creatine, around 5g, using a cheaper brand. I took it two to three times a week after a run when I remembered. But I was never very consistent with it. 

It wasn’t until I started working at Healf that I began to hear more about the incredible cognitive benefits that creatine can have in larger doses. One recent study showed that six weeks of “high-dose creatine” (around 10g) could enhance cognitive function in healthy adults. Another found that following a 7-day creatine monohydrate loading protocol of 20g per day improved not only sleep quality but also cognitive performance and physical output during high-intensity intermittent exercise.

So, six months ago, I decided to start taking 20g every day.

I’m quite an “all or nothing” person, so I thought, let me try this and see what happens. Creatine isn’t that expensive, and my research didn’t reveal any major side effects (aside from some potential water retention, bloating, and digestive discomfort). 

I started mixing it into a big glass of water in the morning before brushing my teeth so I wouldn’t forget. I literally put the glass, the tub, and my whisking tool right on the counter so there was no chance of missing it. The intentional habit stacking helped me stay consistent — and consistency is where you’ll see the benefits. 

Some experts may tell you to slowly increase your dosage to avoid side effects, but personally, I just went for it. I guess I have a bit of an iron gut — or maybe I am just lucky. Either way, I had no side effects or issues with that higher dose whatsoever — zero, nothing. I don’t even remember feeling bloated!

Even so, my high-dose creatine experience was not particularly pleasant at first because the products I was using at the time were quite grainy. Adding in three massive spoonfuls to hit my 20g was a bit like drinking sand. 

Still, I felt a difference almost immediately. It wasn’t a placebo effect, either. In fact, one day, about three weeks into my high-dose creatine regimen, I couldn’t figure out why I was so sluggish and struggling to focus at work. I didn’t feel very sharp, and assumed I must have just slept poorly. But then the same thing happened a week later: I felt slow, mentally and physically, seemingly for no reason. And then it clicked. I’d forgotten to take my creatine that morning. 

That’s when I really started to recognise how massive this supplement can be for your brain and body.

It’s been, in every sense of the word, a total game-changer. I get into the office in the morning, ready to whiz through emails and tackle calls and meetings. I have been sleeping really well too (of course, it’s hard to parse the major factor there since I take a whole supplement stack, but I do think the creatine certainly helps). 

I quickly discovered that the type of creatine you take really matters. After lots of research, chats with co-workers, and an insightful conversation with Bare Biology founder Melanie Lawson, I shifted to higher-quality products. If you’re going to do it, do it right. In my opinion, it’s worth spending £30 and feeling the difference instead of spending £10 and feeling disappointed. These days, I love Creavitalis, a pure creatine monohydrate, and the gold standard when it comes to creatine powders. I absolutely adore the Bare Biology High Flyer Creatine Monohydrate, which uses Creavitalis® creatine monohydrate made in Germany. Unlike the five or six cheaper powders I previously tried from Amazon, this one’s texture is incredibly fine, almost like icing sugar, and mixes perfectly into my morning glass.

Right now, I’m training for an Ironman, so taking creatine is even more important. Just this morning, I had to do a 20km run before work. So, I woke up, took my creatine, did my training, and made it to the office feeling switched on and ready for the day. I genuinely think I would have been exhausted and brain-drained without it. 

I also look and feel so much stronger, which is amazing. I’m getting married next year, and when I was trying on wedding dresses, I caught a glimpse of my back in the mirror. Oh, I’ve got some muscle there! I thought. For the first time, I look toned and strong. It’s not just aesthetics, though. Maintaining and building muscle is especially important for women’s overall health and wellbeing as we age. I’ve even got my mum up to 20g now — and she absolutely loves it.

Of course, wellbeing is personal, so even though I’m an evangelist for creatine-maxxing, your body might respond totally differently. There’s no one right way, but I’ve certainly found the path for me.

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