Does creatine increase testosterone?

October 5, 2026

Supplement bottle with water and capsules

No. At doses of 3 to 25 g a day for up to 12 weeks, 12 trials measured creatine's effect on testosterone: 10 found no change, two found small increases the researchers called physiologically insignificant. The study usually cited as proof actually measured DHT, not testosterone, and no later trial has repeated it. [1][2]

Search "creatine testosterone" and you'll find the hope before the evidence: forum threads calling it a natural test booster, supplement roundups that repeat each other, and one study from 2009 that keeps getting recirculated without the context that makes it mean almost nothing. The actual trial record is quieter and more consistent than any of that.

What did the trials actually measure?

Beyond the 2009 outlier, 12 separate trials have tested creatine's effect on testosterone, using daily doses of 3 to 25 g for anywhere from six days to 12 weeks. Two of them found small increases in total testosterone after six or seven days, increases the researchers themselves called physiologically insignificant. The other 10 found no change at all. Five of those 10 also measured free testosterone, and none found an increase there either. [1]

That's an unusual amount of agreement for sports nutrition research, a field where studies on the same supplement often contradict each other. Here, the trials ran at different doses and over different timeframes, and still landed on the same answer.

The 2009 study everyone cites, and why it doesn't hold up

If you've seen a claim that creatine raises testosterone, it almost certainly traces back to one trial: 20 college-aged rugby players, given 25 g of creatine a day for a week, then 5 g a day for two more weeks, with hormone levels checked against a placebo crossover. [2]

Total testosterone in that trial did not change. What did change was DHT, dihydrotestosterone, a different androgen made from testosterone. DHT rose 56% after the loading week and stayed about 40% above baseline through the maintenance phase. The ratio of DHT to testosterone went up too. [2]

Two things about that result matter more than the headline number. First, testosterone stayed flat while a downstream hormone moved, so "creatine raises testosterone" was never what the study showed. Second, the dose that produced it was a 25 g loading week, five times the standard daily dose on most labels, including AUROM's. In the 16 years since, nobody has reproduced the finding. [1][2]

We've written separately about what that DHT number does and doesn't mean for hair, since that's the question it actually gets used to answer. A 12-week randomized trial published in 2025 retested the same hormones at the standard 5 g daily dose, with 38 resistance-trained men, and found no significant difference in DHT, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or hair growth between creatine and placebo. [3]

Creatine doesn't raise testosterone or DHT. So what does it change?

Quite a bit, just not by raising those hormones. Creatine works on muscle energy. We've covered that distinction on its own, since it's a question people ask for a reason.

What creatine actually does is more mundane and much better supported. It raises the phosphocreatine stored in muscle, which your body draws on to regenerate ATP during short, hard efforts. [4] That's the core of the mechanism, and it's why the research on strength and power is so much larger and so much more consistent than anything on hormones.

A 2025 meta-analysis pooling 69 randomized trials and nearly 2,000 participants found creatine supplementation, combined with resistance training, added about 5.6 kg to squat strength and 1.4 kg to bench press strength compared with placebo, along with real gains in vertical jump height and sprint power. The effects weren't identical across every lift or every group, strength gains on leg press didn't reach significance, and the power gains were clearer in men than in women, but the pattern across compound lifts was consistent. [5] The International Society of Sports Nutrition's position stand goes further and calls creatine monohydrate the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes for increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training, with evidence it can also reduce muscle damage and support recovery between hard sessions. [4]

That's the actual case for creatine. It's a strength and recovery tool, not a backdoor way to raise your hormones.

What this means if you're already taking it

If you started creatine hoping it would move your testosterone, there's no adjustment to make. A higher dose or a loading phase doesn't get you to an effect the trials never found. It just gets you to the 25 g dose that found a DHT shift nobody has reproduced. If you started it for strength, recovery, or lean mass, there's no reason to go above the standard 5 g daily dose.

AUROM's creatine monohydrate is a single ingredient, 5 g of micronized creatine per scoop, the same maintenance dose used in both the 2009 study's later phase and the 2025 hair-loss trial, not the 25 g loading dose that produced the 2009 DHT finding. Every batch comes with a Certificate of Analysis, so what's on the label is what's in the tub.

FAQ

Does creatine lower testosterone? No. Across all the trials that have tested it, including the study most often cited for a hormone effect, creatine has never been shown to lower testosterone. Most found no change, two found small increases, and none found a decrease, at doses from 3 to 25 g a day for up to 12 weeks. [1][2]

Does creatine raise DHT? In one 2009 trial using a 25 g loading dose, yes, measurably. In a 2025 trial at the standard 5 g dose, no. The result has not held up outside that single study. [2][3]

What study made people think creatine raises testosterone? A single 2009 trial in 20 college-aged rugby players, given a 25 g loading dose, five times the standard maintenance dose. It found a rise in DHT, not testosterone, and no trial since has reproduced it. [1][2]

Is creatine a hormone or a steroid precursor? No. Creatine has a completely different chemical structure from anabolic steroids, and it works through energy metabolism rather than hormone receptors: it's stored in muscle as phosphocreatine and used to help regenerate ATP during short, intense effort. [1][4]

Does the 2009 DHT finding mean creatine causes hair loss? No, that's a separate question with its own evidence. A 2025 randomized trial gave 38 resistance-trained men the standard 5 g daily dose for 12 weeks and found no significant difference in DHT, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or hair growth compared with placebo. [3]

Creatine and hormones aside, anyone starting a new supplement with a diagnosed hormonal or endocrine condition should run it by a clinician who knows their labs, rather than deciding from an article.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.