Does creatine raise blood pressure or affect your heart?

In studies of healthy people, creatine has not been shown to raise blood pressure, and it has not caused harmful changes in heart rate, heart structure, or cholesterol. The main gap is that almost no trials have tested creatine in people who already have high blood pressure. If you have a heart condition or take blood pressure medicine, check with your clinician first.

By Creatine Today · Editorial policy

Does creatine raise blood pressure?

The research in healthy people says no. In a randomized, double-blind study from 2000, 15 men and 15 women took 20 g of creatine a day for 5 days. Their blood pressure did not change compared with placebo, even though they gained lean mass.

A 2025 review by the International Society of Sports Nutrition collected the wider evidence. Short studies of 5–31 days, using 10–20 g a day in young healthy adults, found no effect on blood pressure. In a 2-year trial in postmenopausal women, part of the group had blood pressure measured before and after, and creatine did not differ from placebo. The review concluded that there is no evidence that short-term or long-term creatine use harms blood pressure.

Why do people think creatine raises blood pressure?

There are two main ideas. The first is water: creatine draws water into muscle, and people assume that extra fluid must raise blood pressure. The water creatine holds is mostly inside muscle cells, and the trials above did not find a blood pressure rise. Our guide to creatine and water retention explains where that water goes.

The second idea comes from creatine kinase, an enzyme involved in muscle energy. Higher blood levels of this enzyme have been linked with higher blood pressure in population studies. But blood creatine kinase mostly reflects muscle damage from exercise. It is not a measure of how much creatine you take.

Can I take creatine with high blood pressure?

We do not know from trials. The 2025 review states plainly that studies of creatine in people who already have high blood pressure are missing. A 2011 Cochrane review searched for randomized trials of creatine in people with essential hypertension and found none.

If you have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor before starting. This matters most if you take medicine for it. Some blood pressure medicines, such as ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and diuretics, are often checked with kidney blood tests. Creatine can raise creatinine on those tests, which can make results harder to read. Your doctor can plan for that if they know. Do not change or stop any blood pressure medicine on your own.

Does creatine increase heart rate or affect the heart?

Creatine is not a stimulant, and it is not known to speed up the heart. In a 2005 placebo-controlled study, 18 men took creatine or placebo for 28 days and had heart scans (echocardiograms) before, during, and after. There were no changes in heart structure, heart function, or blood pressure. The creatine group's maximum heart rate during exercise was slightly lower at the end, but this was a small study and the finding should not be overread.

If you notice a racing heart or palpitations after a "creatine" drink, check the label. Many pre-workout products combine creatine with caffeine or other stimulants, and those ingredients are a more likely cause. Our guide to creatine and caffeine covers this. Any chest pain, fainting, or an irregular heartbeat needs medical attention, whatever you think the cause is.

Does creatine raise cholesterol?

The best current evidence suggests it does not change cholesterol in a meaningful way. A 2026 meta-analysis pooled 8 randomized placebo-controlled trials in adults. It found no significant effect of creatine on total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, or triglycerides. The authors rated the certainty of the evidence as low to very low, mainly because the trials were small and had methodological limitations.

The 2017 position stand of the International Society of Sports Nutrition also describes a study of college football players who took creatine for 21 months and showed no meaningful differences from non-users in blood lipids. Taken together, creatine does not appear to raise or lower cholesterol, and it should not be used as a cholesterol treatment.

Is creatine good for heart health?

It is too early to say. Researchers are interested because heart muscle uses the creatine system for energy, and creatine levels in the heart fall in heart failure. A 2011 Cochrane review found 11 small trials of creatine or related compounds in 1,474 people with heart failure, heart attack, or ischemic heart disease. Only two of these trials used oral creatine. The rest used creatine phosphate or related compounds, often given by injection, which is not the same as the creatine powder sold as a supplement. The review found the evidence inconclusive: it could not show an effect on survival or heart pumping, though there were signs that heart rhythm problems and breathlessness might improve.

That is a reason for more research, not a reason to self-treat. If you have heart disease, creatine is a question for your cardiologist.