How much creatine per day: 3 g, muscle and the brain claim

Creatine has left the gym. In 2026 the press treats it as a general wellbeing supplement rather than a bodybuilding product, and the searches that reach a shop like ours no longer ask about sets and reps: they ask about memory, brain fog and the menopause. The problem is that European regulation has moved in exactly the opposite direction, and it did so this year.

On 26 May 2026 the European Commission published a regulation refusing to authorise the claim "daily creatine supplementation can contribute to improved cognitive function". At the same time, two authorised claims for creatine remain in force, and both of them are about muscle. This article explains what each one says, what the dose with legal backing is — 3 grams a day — and why that figure is precisely what makes the brain story undemonstrated. The creatines we sell are all monohydrate, and by the end you will see why that matters.

In short

• The dose with legal backing is 3 g of creatine a day, and it is the same in both authorised European claims.
• Both authorised claims are about muscle: performance in short, intense exercise, and muscle strength in people over 55 who train.
• The cognitive function claim was refused by Regulation (EU) 2026/1118 of 26 May 2026. The United Kingdom had rejected it in August 2024.
• It is not that the brain does not matter: it is that the claim was requested for 3 g a day while almost every study showing a signal used 5 g or more.
• In the most cited meta-analysis, memory improves in people aged 66 to 76 and the effect in young adults is zero.
• 3.41 g of creatine monohydrate deliver 3 g of creatine: 12% of the powder is water. AESAN states that exact figure.
• Food supplies between 0.25 and 1 g a day on a Mediterranean diet. For 3 g you would need about 670 g of salmon.

What creatine is and where it comes from

Creatine is a molecule the body makes in the liver, kidneys and pancreas from three amino acids. In muscle it is stored as phosphocreatine and works like a starter battery: it hands over a phosphate group to regenerate ATP in the first seconds of a maximal effort. That is why its measured effect sits in short, repeated bouts and not in a long run.

The body synthesises between 1 and 1.7 grams a day, roughly half of what a 70 kg adult spends, which is around 2 grams. The rest comes from food, and only from animal food: a standard Mediterranean diet supplies between 0.25 and 1 gram a day. Red meat and fish contain on the order of 3 to 5 grams per kilo raw; per 100 grams, salmon has about 0.45 g, tuna 0.4 g, cod 0.3 g, beef 0.45 g and chicken 0.34 g (ACHIPIA, 2025).

That gives the first useful fact: anyone who eats no meat or fish takes in almost no creatine, because plant foods contain practically none. This is the group in which a supplement changes muscle stores the most, and also the one that notices any effect the most. It is no accident that several of the studies with the most visible results were run in vegetarians.

And it gives the second: the body already covers most of it. A creatine supplement does not correct a deficiency the way iron does when it is genuinely low. What it does is fill a tank that normally sits at 60-80% of capacity. That difference between "correcting" and "topping up" is what separates a necessary supplement from an optional one.

The sum the label does not do: creatine versus monohydrate

Here is the detail almost nobody checks, and it is the same pattern we have already seen with milligrams of curcuminoids and with grams of beta-glucan: the regulator measures creatine and the tub prints creatine monohydrate, which is not the same thing.

Monohydrate is creatine with a water molecule attached. That water weighs something, and it weighs 12%. The AESAN Scientific Committee quantified it in its 2024 report with two exact figures: you need 3.41 g of creatine monohydrate — or 3.84 g of the hydrochloride — to deliver the 3 g of creatine in the European claim, and it considers those amounts acceptable from a safety point of view in healthy adults.

Translated into scoops: a tub recommending "3 g of monohydrate" stops at 2.64 g of creatine and does not meet the condition of the claim. One recommending 3.5 g of monohydrate does. The difference is small in grams and total in legal terms, and it is the kind of sum we do over the counter with the tub in hand.

With the hydrochloride the ratio is worse: only 78% of the powder is creatine, against 88% for monohydrate. It is sold as "more soluble", and it may be, but per gram of powder it delivers less creatine and costs more. If you are only going to compare one thing between two tubs, compare grams of creatine, not grams of powder.

What European law says, claim by claim

There are three European decisions on creatine and it is worth knowing what each says, because all three ask for the same dose and reach different conclusions. The first two are authorised and can be printed on a label; the third is not, and it is five months old.

One detail that explains a lot of the current noise: all three applications come from the same German company, AlzChem, which manufactures creatine. It won the muscle claim in 2017 and has just lost the brain claim in 2026.

Six things to settle before buying a tub

None of the six is a brand recommendation. They are the six questions that answer themselves once you have the figures in front of you.

1. The dose: 3 grams of creatine, not of powder

That is the figure in both authorised claims and the maximum AESAN considers acceptable in a supplement for healthy adults. Look at the label and check whether the grams it recommends are creatine or monohydrate: if they are monohydrate, multiply by 0.88 to know what actually reaches you.

Creatine in 3,000 mg tablets has a practical advantage here: the dose is counted, not estimated with a scoop. Powders are cheaper per gram and allow fine adjustment; both formats are in the proteins and amino acids section.

2. The form: monohydrate, and little else

Monohydrate is the form the studies were done with and the one the regulatory opinions name. Creapure is monohydrate from one specific German plant with purity control, not a different form: the 500 g tub is that.

The "advanced" versions — hydrochloride, malate, nitrate, buffered — have no comparable dossier, and the hydrochloride also delivers less creatine per gram of powder. If someone sells you a new form as superior, the reasonable move is to ask for the study.

3. The loading phase: optional, not compulsory

The classic protocol is 20 g a day for 5 to 7 days split into four doses, then maintenance. It fills the tank in a week instead of a month, and it is the cause of most of the digestive discomfort people associate with creatine.

With 3 g a day you reach the same place, just more slowly. If you are not competing next week there is no reason to load. And note: a 20 g load is well above what AESAN considers acceptable for continuous use, so it is not a regime to settle into.

4. If you are over 55, the claim asks you to go to the gym

The claim in Regulation 2017/672 is the most specific in the whole European list: it is addressed to adults over 55 who train, and the beneficial effect is obtained with 3 g a day in combination with resistance training allowing the load to be increased over time, performed at least three times a week over several weeks, at an intensity of at least 65-75% of one repetition maximum.

In other words: the law itself recognises that the tub alone does nothing. It is creatine plus strength work, with real load. For that age bracket the supporting cast is enough protein, vitamin D and whatever bone and joint need; without those three, the tub of creatine is the least important detail.

5. If you eat no meat or fish, you are the clear case

A vegetarian’s muscle stores start lower, because a plant diet supplies no creatine. This is the profile in which a supplement produces the biggest change and in which the question "will it do anything for me?" has the best answer.

If you eat fish, count what you already have: a drained tin of sardines or salmon runs around half a gram of creatine, and the canned fish section holds thirty-one references. With eggs, legumes and nuts you cover protein, but not creatine: that only comes from meat and fish.

6. What to take it with and when: the part that changes nothing

Time of day is not decisive in the studies, and creatine needs neither fasting nor sugar. The only thing that genuinely helps is taking it every day, because what matters is the full tank, not today’s dose.

Mix it with whatever makes the routine easy: water, yoghurt, a shake with vegan protein and creatine, or a breakfast of oat flakes. And drink water normally: creatine holds some fluid inside the muscle, which is part of the effect and not a problem.

Four things people say about creatine

Two of them work against our own sales, and the first works against the reason many people walk in to buy it today.

"Creatine improves memory"

This is what made creatine fashionable in 2026, and it is what Europe has just refused. The most cited meta-analysis (Prokopidis et al., Nutrition Reviews 2023;81(4):416-427) pooled 8 trials and 225 participants and found a small improvement in memory: SMD 0.29 (95% CI 0.04-0.53; p = 0.02). But split by age, the whole effect sits on one side: in people aged 66 to 76, SMD 0.88; in young people aged 11 to 31, SMD 0.03, which is zero with an interval crossing zero.

And the quality of that result is disputed: the journal itself published a letter to the editor arguing that double counting through inadequate statistics leads to false positives, with a reply from the authors. On top of that, a later trial (Brain Sciences 2023;13(9):1276) gave 30 young adults 10 or 20 g a day for six weeks with no cognitive effect at all. If you are twenty-five and buying creatine to study better, you are buying the one scenario in which the evidence says nothing happens.

"So the brain thing is nonsense"

Not that either. What the two regulators say is finer and more interesting. The UK committee put it in writing on 14 August 2024: the applicant submitted ten trials and the committee accepted only one as pertinent, because eight used doses above 3 g a day and another was in female Muay Thai fighters. The only one matching the requested dose, at 2.2 g, saw no difference against placebo.

In other words: the claim was requested for 3 g a day, which is the legal dose in a supplement, and the studies with any cognitive signal used 5, 10 or 20 g. It is not proven that it does nothing; it is that at the dose you can buy, it is not proven that it does anything. That sentence is longer than a headline and it is the true one.

"Creatine damages your kidneys"

This is the most widespread fear and it does not hold up in healthy adults at normal doses: AESAN considers 3 g a day acceptable and the safety dossier is broad. What creatine does do is raise blood creatinine, which is its breakdown product, and that can be alarming on a blood test and make the kidney look as if it is working worse than it is.

The practical point: if you are having a blood test, say so. And where there is kidney disease, pregnancy, breastfeeding or an age under 18, this is not settled by an article: the AESAN report refers to healthy adults and beyond that the conversation is with your doctor.

"The more the better"

Both claims and the AESAN report agree on 3 g a day, and in the cognition studies high doses did not beat low ones: neither ≤5 g (SMD 0.24; p = 0.09) nor >5 g (SMD 0.33; p = 0.11) reached significance, and the 20 g trial found nothing. Going above the dose does not buy more effect; it buys digestive discomfort and expense.

The muscle store has a ceiling, and once it is full the excess is excreted. What makes the difference is not the size of the dose, it is consistency and — in the over-55 claim — what you do in the gym.

Where to find 3 grams: food versus a tub

The table is not there to argue against the supplement, but to place it. Food comfortably covers normal creatine needs; what it does not do is reach the dose in the claim, because that would mean eating an amount of meat or fish nobody eats daily.

The food figures come from the ACHIPIA scientific bulletin of July 2025, in grams of creatine per 100 g of raw food.

The shopping list

The creatines are in protein and amino acid supplements, except one that lives in superfoods. As powder: the 250 g neutral-flavour tub, the 500 g Creapure and the organic monohydrate. In counted-dose tablets, the 3,000 mg ones. And two blends: vegan protein with creatine and the 175 g formula.

For the part you do not buy in a tub: canned fish — with sardines in extra virgin olive oil, frigate mackerel and wild salmon in water —, eggs, legumes, dried fruit and nuts, seeds, rice, flakes and muesli, vegetables, frozen food and the rest of the chilled section.

If what you are after is the over-55 training block, the categories that go with it are bones and joints, vitamins and minerals, fatty acids and circulatory system. For digestion, digestive system. And so you do not have to think about it every week, the organic baskets and the offers.

What usually ends up in the same basket when someone starts training seriously: nervous system for rest, and not much more. Creatine is probably the supplement with the best ratio between what it costs and what is demonstrated; the rest of the basket almost never is.

Do you need the tub?

It depends what you are after, and this is the part where we would rather lose the sale. If you are after performance in short, intense efforts, or you are over 55 and do strength training three times a week, creatine is one of the few supplements with a European claim behind it and 3 g a day is a reasonable, cheap purchase.

If you are after the brain, the honest answer today is that at 3 g a day it is not demonstrated, that Europe refused it five months ago and that in young people the measured effect is zero. In a few years there may be a new dossier with higher doses; today there is not. If you still want to try it, at least do so knowing what you are buying.

And if you do not train at all, the tub is last on the list. Creatine accompanies strength training, it does not replace it, and food already covers what your body needs to function. We have it on the shelf and we will happily sell it to you, but not if you think it will do something it does not: that is how you lose a customer for good.

Where to buy creatine in Barcelona and Sant Cugat

We stock creatine in all three shops, and the reason to come in rather than order online is very concrete: bring the tub and do the division over the counter. Check whether the grams on the label are creatine or monohydrate, multiply by 0.88 if needed, and see whether that product reaches the 3 g in the claim or not. It takes two minutes and it changes quite a few purchases.

The second thing you cannot do online is choose the format with the tub in front of you: powder or tablets, 150 g or 500 g, and how long each lasts at 3 g a day. A 500 g tub of monohydrate lasts about five months; the 150 g one, six weeks. That is where you decide whether the price per kilo is worth it.

We are at Provença 242, 08008 Barcelona (Eixample, between Enric Granados and Balmes), at Còrsega 78, 08029 Barcelona (Eixample, five minutes from Sants station) and at Antoni Bell 2, 08174 Sant Cugat del Vallès (Volpelleres, next to the FGC station). The phone number is +34 683 118 961 and the email is linverd@linverd.com. If you want us to hold a particular format for you, call before coming.

Frequently asked questions

How much creatine should you take per day?

Three grams of creatine a day. That is the condition in both authorised European claims and the maximum the Scientific Committee of AESAN, the Spanish food safety agency, considers acceptable in a supplement for healthy adults. As monohydrate that is 3.41 g of powder, because 12% of monohydrate is water.

Does creatine improve memory or concentration?

At 3 grams a day it is not demonstrated. The European Commission refused that claim on 26 May 2026 and the UK committee had rejected it in August 2024. In the most cited meta-analysis the memory improvement appears in people aged 66 to 76 and is zero in young adults.

Is the loading phase necessary?

No. Loading with 20 grams a day for 5 to 7 days fills the store faster, but 3 grams a day reaches the same point in a few weeks and with less digestive discomfort. Besides, 20 g a day is well above what AESAN considers acceptable on a continuous basis.

Is monohydrate or hydrochloride better?

Monohydrate: it is the form the studies were done with and it delivers 88% of its weight as creatine, against 78% for the hydrochloride. The hydrochloride is sold as more soluble, but per gram of powder it gives less creatine and usually costs more.

Is creatine bad for the kidneys?

In healthy adults at 3 grams a day, AESAN considers that amount acceptable. It does raise blood creatinine, which is its breakdown product, and that can make a blood test look worse than it is: it is worth mentioning before you have one. With kidney disease, pregnancy, breastfeeding or an age under 18, the decision is a medical one.

Where can I buy creatine in Barcelona or Sant Cugat?

In our three shops: Provença 242 and Còrsega 78 in Barcelona, and Antoni Bell 2 in Sant Cugat del Vallès. We have monohydrate powder in 150 and 500 g and tablets of 3,000 mg. If you bring the tub you already have, we will do the gram calculation with you. We also answer by phone on +34 683 118 961.

Is it any use if I do not train?

Little. Both authorised claims are tied to exercise: one to performance in short, intense efforts and the other to resistance training in adults over 55, with three sessions a week at 65-75% of one repetition maximum. Without training, creatine has nothing to work on.

Before you go shopping

Honest summary: creatine is cheap, safe in healthy adults at 3 g a day and has two European claims behind it, both about muscle. The brain claim was refused in May 2026 and the measured effect in young people is zero, so if that is why you are here, better to know first. If you are here for strength — and more so if you are over 55 —, it is one of the most sensible purchases on the shelf, and a tub of Creapure or some 3,000 mg tablets will cover months.

You can order from the online shop or drop into any of the three shops with your current tub and we will do the division together. And if the substance of it interests you, the blog has the supplementation manual, how much protein you need per day, how much oats per day and how to reach 25 grams of fibre. It is all in the health section of the blog.

This article is general information and does not replace advice from a healthcare professional. The AESAN report cited refers to healthy adults: if you have kidney or liver disease, take medication continuously, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are under 18, consult your doctor or a dietitian before taking creatine.