Creatine raises muscle creatine but not sprint power in vegans
What it found
In 15 young adult vegans and vegetarians, 7 days of creatine monohydrate increased muscle creatine levels but did not improve peak or mean power during repeated sprints.
The authors say the study was too small to detect small changes in sprint performance.
What they found
Studies in people
Muscle creatine increase
The creatine group increased muscle creatine by 18.8 mmol/kg and total muscle creatine by 30.8 mmol/kg. The placebo group showed no changes.
Phosphocreatine unchanged
Phosphocreatine levels in muscle remained the same before and after supplementation in both groups.
Sprint power unchanged
Peak and mean power output during repeated 15-second sprints did not change in either group after supplementation.
Body mass and fat-free mass
The creatine group gained 1.56 kg of body mass and 1.15 kg of fat-free mass. The authors say this may be due to water retention, not muscle growth.
Blood lactate and pH
There were no differences between groups in capillary blood lactate, pH, or bicarbonate after the sprints.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that a seven-day creatine monohydrate loading phase in recreationally active vegan and vegetarian adults increases muscle total creatine but not phosphocreatine content.
- They state that despite the increased potential for anaerobic energy provision, peak and mean power output during repeated sprint cycling did not improve.
- They note that the study was powered to detect changes in muscle creatine, not sprint performance, and that a larger sample would be needed to detect small performance differences.
How it was done
Athletes use creatine to improve high-intensity exercise, and while it is known to raise muscle creatine in vegans and vegetarians, its effect on exercise performance in this group is uncertain.
Fifteen healthy vegans and vegetarians took either creatine monohydrate (0.3 g per kg per day) or a placebo for 7 days. Before and after, muscle creatine levels and repeated sprint performance were measured.
What it can’t tell you
- The study was small and not designed to detect small changes in sprint performance, so it cannot rule out a small effect.
- The results apply only to young adult vegans and vegetarians doing repeated 15-second sprints, not to other groups or types of exercise.
- The study did not include an omnivore comparison group, so it cannot show whether the response differs from omnivores.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest. The results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
- Authors work at
- University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Edith Cowan University, Australia; Aarhus University, Denmark
The paper
- Title
- Muscle creatine levels and sprint performance in young adult vegans and vegetarians after 7 days of creatine monohydrate supplementation
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Bonne TC, Arthemalle V, Doherty CS, et al (2025). Muscle creatine levels and sprint performance in young adult vegans and vegetarians after 7 days of creatine monohydrate supplementation. Physiological reports. doi:10.14814/phy2.70539Free full textPubMed 40939139DOI
Summary written 29 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error