Now that we have high-quality creatine available in our supplement catalog, many people, especially women, tell us that they want to use creatine for its benefits but are afraid to use it and retain fluids… That brings us to the next question: is it true that creatine retains fluids? Now we will take a look at it.
Myth and reality
First of all we have to keep in mind that creatine is stored mainly within muscle cells, and that it is a substance classified as: “osmotically active” this means that the cells will attract circulating water by osmosis, therefore making that water is effectively retained. We have already seen that creatine does indeed retain water… but not as people think, water accumulates INSIDE the muscle cells, as can be seen in most clinical trials on the subject, intracellular water levels increased significantly with creatine but the extracellular fluid volume remained unchanged.
Subcutaneous VS intracellular retention
“Bad” water retention is at the subcutaneous level, which is, for example, the type of retention that occurs when a woman is on her period or after a bad night’s sleep. This water retention is noticeable aesthetically, unlike the retention of water at the intracellular level which does not produce any aesthetic changes and only improves performance levels. Therefore, creatine effectively retains water, but this retention will not cause any type of aesthetic alteration.
So remember, if you consume creatine and you look bloated/bloated… it’s not the water’s fault, it’s just that you have excess fat.
