Benefits of Creatine for Women Over 40: More Than Muscle

One of our clients noticed something the other day. There was a moment during a meeting when she needed to use a specific word and it simply wasn’t there. She knew the word and she used it many, many times. It sat somewhere in her brain and, by the time it surfaced, the conversation had already moved on.

That same night, while scrolling through a wellness forum at 10pm, she saw the same word come up again and again: creatine can help. And the most surprising thing is that these posts were being written by women her age, talking about brain fog, strength and about sleep they’d stopped expecting to get back.

She was skeptical. Creatine always seemed like something for bodybuilders, but the more she read, the more she realized the story she was told wasn’t the full picture.

Why creatine deserves a second chance

Creatine was, for decades, marketed for young male athletes chasing to lift even bigger weights, however, a 2025 review in the Journal of the International Society of Sports and Nutrition states that creatine may actually matter more for women, not less. Women synthesize 30-40% less dietary creatine and that gap can become especially significant as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone begin to be unpredictable during perimenopause.

It is within this transition that you can start feeling shifts in body composition, increased vasomotor symptoms and declines in mental health and cognitive function. Creatine was identified as a nutrient with potential to help across several of these questions at once.

It protects muscle and strength

Muscle loss often accelerates during the menopause transition and it is mainly caused by the drop in estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Researchers have estimated that this period of lean mass loss can amount to roughly to 1.5 pounds per year, and creatine may help mitigate that loss and support strength.

Of course it needs to be paired with resistance work, as creatine is just a tool that appears to make that work more effective, helping muscles recover and adapt.

It supports bone health

Bone density decline is one of the most undermined consequences of menopause and it is directly tied to fracture risk later in life. The review notes that creatine may support bone health indirectly, by enhancing muscle strength and improving balance. Research suggests that creatine can positively influence bone mineral density when combined with resistance exercise in postmenopausal women. The authors also point out that, in ages where bone density begins to recede, it is recommended to start using creatine so its potential could have the most long-term payoff.

The longest study to date found that creatine supplementation, combined with resistance training had a positive impact on bone geometric properties and lean mass in postmenopausal women.

Creatine can help clear the brain fog

As you saw with our client, it is possible to start feeling less mentally sharp during perimenopause. Brain fog is characterized by memory lapses and difficulty concentrating. In fact, it is one of the most commonly reported symptoms of the menopause transition.

Creatine comes here as an energy mechanism. A review of 23 randomized controlled trials found that creatine supplementation improved memory compared to placebo, an effect thought to stem from increased creatine stores in the brain and improved mitochondrial function.

A possible mood and mental boost?

Perimenopause can be recognized as a period of higher vulnerability to depression, with risk rising during the transition and declining again afterward. Well, creatine is not a treatment for depression, but a controlled trial found that creatine supplementation enhances the effectiveness of an SSRI in women being treated for a depressive disorder.

It’s good for your sleep

Sleep gets harder during this phase and poor sleep has ripple effects on everything from mood to appetite to recovery. Emerging research found that women following resistance training days showed increased total sleep time, compared to non-training days when supplementing with creatine, which can be connected to creatine’s role in brain energy metabolism

How much and what kind?

According to the ISSN review, there’s no meaningful difference in dosing strategy required between men and women, but the typical protocol looks something like this:

• A steady 5 grams per day for 3-4 weeks achieves a similar increase in muscle creatine stores, just more gradually.
• After that, maintain 3-5 grams per day as it appears sufficient to maintain tissue saturation
• For brain-specific effects, the evidence is still developing, but slightly higher doses (15-20 grams per day for 5-7 days, followed by 5-10 grams daily) appear to be what’s needed to meaningfully raise brain creatine concentrations

What does Papayya have to say about this?

Well, none of this is efficient without proper training. Every benefit shown by research is amplified by resistance training and diminished without it. One of Papayya’s strongest cores is to help women over 40 understand that this stage isn’t necessarily a decline, but one where informed and consistent strength work can meaningfully change the trajectory of how you feel and function for decades to come. Creatine is simply a complement for a bigger picture.

As always, talk to your doctor before starting any new supplement, especially if you have existing kidney issues or take other medications.

Sources

• Smith-Ryan, A.E., DelBiondo, G.M., Brown, A.F., Kleiner, S.M., Tran, N.T., & Ellery, S.J. (2025). "Creatine in women's health: bridging the gap from menstruation through pregnancy to menopause." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 22(1), 2502094. 
• Chilibeck, P.D., Candow, D.G., Gordon, J.J., et al. (2023). "A 2-year randomized controlled trial on creatine supplementation during exercise for postmenopausal bone health." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 55(10), 1750–1760.
• Prokopidis, K., Giannos, P., Triantafyllidis, K.K., et al. (2023). "Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Nutrition Reviews, 81(4), 416–427.
• Lyoo, I.K., Yoon, S., Kim, T-S., et al. (2012). "A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral creatine monohydrate augmentation for enhanced response to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in women with major depressive disorder." American Journal of Psychiatry, 169(9), 937–945.
• Aguiar Bonfim Cruz, A.J., Brooks, S.J., Kleinkopf, K., et al. (2024). "Creatine improves total sleep duration following resistance training days versus non-resistance training days among naturally menstruating females." Nutrients, 16(16), 2772.

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