How Much Creatine Per Day? 3g, 5g or 10g, Worked Out by Bodyweight

7 min read Written by KUDU Nutrition TeamReviewed by Georgie Harris, Health CoachPublished 15 October 2026

Most adults need 3 to 5g of creatine monohydrate a day. 3g is the daily amount behind the authorised performance claim, and 5g is the most-studied maintenance dose, so a single 5g serving covers almost everyone. You don't need 10g unless you are a very large athlete, and you don't need a loading phase.

Below is a calculator that works your dose out from your bodyweight, followed by the research behind each number and the honest cases where more creatine, less creatine or a cheaper product makes sense.

How much creatine do you need a day?

Creatine is made in your liver and kidneys and eaten in meat and fish. About 95% of it sits in your skeletal muscle. A 70kg adult stores roughly 120g in total and breaks down around 1–2% of that every day, so you need about 2g a day just to stand still. Meat eaters get roughly half of that from food and make the rest.

Supplementing tops those stores up. Studies typically see muscle creatine rise by about 20–40% from where it started, and once your muscles are full, extra creatine is simply excreted. That is why the dose question has a ceiling: more than your muscles can hold does nothing.

The research gives three useful numbers:

• 3g a day is the amount the UK authorised claim is built on: creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise.
• 3–5g a day is the maintenance range recommended by the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) after, or instead of, loading.
• 0.03g per kg of bodyweight is the ISSN's bodyweight version of the maintenance dose. For most people it works out below 3g, which is why 3–5g suits nearly everyone.

Is 5g of creatine enough?

Yes, for almost everyone. Here is how the maths plays out across bodyweights. The middle column is the 0.03g per kg figure; the right-hand column is what we would actually take.

A 5g dose sits above the 3g authorised-claim amount for every bodyweight in that table. If you weigh 55kg and take 5g, the excess is not harmful; your muscles fill to capacity and the rest leaves in your urine.

When does 10g of creatine a day make sense?

The ISSN position stand notes that larger athletes doing heavy training may need 5–10g a day to keep stores full. In practice that means people well over 100kg, or very high-volume athletes such as rugby forwards and throwers. For a 70kg recreational lifter, 10g a day is just expensive urine.

If you do take 10g, split it. A 2008 study of 59 professional footballers compared one 10g dose with two 5g doses a day for 28 days. Diarrhoea was reported by 56% of the single-dose group and 29% of the split-dose group, and the split group was no different from placebo.

An honest note on cost: two KUDU sachets give you 10g of creatine plus 20g of collagen for £4 a day. If all you want is the extra creatine, a scoop of plain creatine monohydrate on top of one sachet is far cheaper. We compare the formats properly in creatine sachets vs powder vs gummies.

Do you need a creatine loading phase?

No. Loading is a shortcut, not a requirement. The classic 1996 study by Hultman and colleagues showed two routes to the same place:

• Loading: 20g a day (four 5g doses) for 6 days raised muscle creatine by about 20%, and 2g a day kept it there.
• No loading: 3g a day for 28 days reached the same level, just more slowly.

The bodyweight version of loading is 0.3g per kg a day for 5–7 days, which is about 22g for a 75kg person. Loading makes sense if you have an event in under a month and want full stores quickly. It costs you more creatine, a higher chance of stomach upset and, for most people, 1–2kg of extra water weight in the first week. If that sounds unappealing, read does creatine cause bloating before you start.

A daily 5g sachet is the no-loading route by design. Take one every day and you reach full stores in roughly three to four weeks.

Does it matter when you take it?

Much less than people think. Some small studies suggest taking creatine close to training, with carbohydrate and protein, may give a slightly bigger uptake, but the differences are small and inconsistent. What matters is taking it every day, including rest days, because your stores fill over weeks, not hours.

Pick a moment you will never miss: breakfast, your post-training drink, or the walk to the gym. Our guide to taking collagen and creatine together covers timing when you take both.

Do you need to cycle creatine, and what if you miss a day?

There is no good evidence that you need to cycle creatine on and off. Your body makes a little less of its own while you supplement, but normal production returns after you stop, and long-term studies of daily use in healthy adults have not found a reason to take breaks.

Missing a day does almost nothing. Muscle stores fall slowly, taking roughly four to six weeks to drift back to baseline after you stop completely. Just take your normal dose the next day. Don't double up.

Who should check before taking creatine?

Creatine monohydrate is one of the most researched supplements in sport, and doses of 3–5g a day are well tolerated by healthy adults in long-term studies. Still:

• If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a kidney condition, or take regular medication, speak to your GP before you start.
• Creatine raises blood creatinine, which is a routine kidney marker. If you are having blood tests, tell your doctor you take it so the result is read correctly.
• Under-18s should get advice from a doctor or sports dietitian first.

What one KUDU sachet gives you

Each Collagen + Creatine sachet contains 5g of creatine monohydrate, 10g of hydrolysed bovine collagen and vitamin C, at 44 kcal and 0.1g of sugar. You mix it with water. Because the 5g is pre-measured, there is no scoop guesswork, and 5g clears the 3g a day needed for the authorised claim.

It is £59.95 for 30, or £2.00 a sachet (about £1.50 on subscription). That is more than plain creatine, because you are also getting a 10g collagen serving. If you compete in a drug-tested sport, note that the Collagen + Creatine sachet is not Informed Sport certified, so choose a batch-tested creatine instead.

FAQ

Is 3g of creatine a day enough?

Yes. 3g a day is the amount the authorised performance claim is based on, and in the 1996 Hultman study 3g a day filled muscle stores in about four weeks. 5g simply gives you a margin, especially if you are on the heavier side.

Can I take 5g of creatine twice a day?

You can, and splitting is the right way to take 10g. Most people don't need it. Under about 100kg, 5g once a day is enough.

Is 10g of creatine a day safe?

Studies have used 10g a day and more without serious problems in healthy adults, but a single 10g dose raised the rate of diarrhoea in one study. If you take 10g, split it into two doses.

Do women need a different creatine dose?

No. The dose is driven by bodyweight and training, not sex, and 3–5g a day suits most women. Our post on creatine for women covers the myths.

Do vegetarians need more creatine?

Vegetarians and vegans start with lower muscle stores because they eat little or no dietary creatine, so they often see a bigger rise when they start. The ongoing dose is the same 3–5g a day.

Should I take creatine on rest days?

Yes. The aim is to keep your muscle stores full, which depends on a daily intake, not on when you train.

Related reading

• Can you take collagen and creatine together? Dose and timing for both.
• Collagen + Creatine hub: the research on each ingredient in one place.
• Creatine sachets vs powder vs gummies: which format actually delivers your dose.
• How much collagen should you take per day?

Sources

• Kreider RB et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14:18.
• Hultman E et al. (1996). Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 81(1):232–237.
• Ostojic SM, Ahmetovic Z (2008). Gastrointestinal distress after creatine supplementation in athletes: are side effects dose dependent? Research in Sports Medicine, 16(1):15–22.
• Antonio J et al. (2021). Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 18:13.
• GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register: creatine and physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise (condition: 3g creatine a day).