Creatine used to belong to one world: young men, gyms, and bodybuilding.
Now it’s everywhere else.
Brain health.
Women’s aging.
Menopause.
Cognition.
Longevity.
At first glance, it looks like a breakthrough.
In reality, it’s a clue.
Not about creatine—but about the supplement industry itself.
What Is Creatine and Why Is It So Widely Studied?
Creatine is one of the most researched non-prescription compounds in human physiology. It plays a direct role in how cells store and recycle energy through the phosphocreatine system, which supports ATP regeneration.
That matters because ATP is not a “fitness” concept. It is a life concept.
Muscle contraction, nerve signaling, brain function, reaction time, resilience to stress, and recovery all rely on rapid energy availability. Creatine helps buffer that energy demand.
This has been known for decades.
So why does creatine suddenly feel “new”?
Because the story around it changed.
How to Use Creatine (The Part Most Articles Skip)
Most people searching for creatine aren’t asking philosophical questions. They want to know:
• How do I take it?
• How much do I use?
• What form is best?
• Is it safe long term?
Here’s the straightforward version.
Typical dosing • 3–5 grams per day is sufficient for most people
• No loading phase is required for non-athletes
• Consistency matters more than timing
Timing • Any time of day works
• Some prefer morning or post-exercise
• Cognitive or aging applications do not require workout timing
Hydration • Adequate fluid intake matters
• Water retention is formulation-dependent, not universal
So far, nothing controversial.
The real issue is which creatine.
Creatine Is Not All the Same
Most people assume creatine is a single product. It isn’t.
What you see on store shelves is mostly creatine monohydrate because it is cheap, stable, and easy to mass produce. That does not make it optimal for every use case.
Different forms exist for a reason.
Creatine monohydrate • Well studied
• Inexpensive
• Can cause GI discomfort or bloating in some people
• Relies heavily on digestive absorption
Buffered or modified creatines • Marketed to reduce side effects
• Mixed evidence
• Often more marketing than mechanism
Liposomal creatine • Encapsulated for enhanced cellular delivery (top choice)
• Reduced digestive burden
• Potentially better uptake for neural and mitochondrial applications
• More expensive and less commoditized
For people using creatine for brain energy, aging, cognitive resilience, or mitochondrial support rather than maximal muscle loading, liposomal delivery likely makes more physiological sense.
It just doesn’t make as much business sense.
And that distinction matters.
Why Creatine Is Being Rebranded for Aging and Women’s Health
Creatine did not suddenly become relevant to older adults or women.
The supplement industry simply ran out of safer, scalable alternatives.
Creatine checks every box the modern market needs: • Decades of human data
• Strong safety profile
• Inexpensive manufacturing
• Legal defensibility
• Measurable outcomes
So the industry didn’t innovate. It repositioned.
The same molecule once sold to bodybuilders is now sold to menopausal women with different packaging and different language.
That doesn’t make creatine bad.
It makes the industry predictable.
The Bigger Pattern: Why Supplements Keep Recycling
Most supplements fall into three broad categories: • Stimulants that create temporary sensation
• Deficiency fillers that correct basic gaps
• Signal molecules that don’t change structure
Creatine is different. It alters energy buffering at a foundational level.
That’s why it never disappears.
you’re about to see the same thing happen with a small group of other compounds.
The “New Old” Supplements That Will Dominate the Next Decade
Because the supplement industry is constrained by regulation, cost, and liability, the next wave of “innovation” will mostly be re-education.
Expect increasing attention on compounds that are cost affordable, deeply studied, and unavoidable. We're not saying these are "bad", in fact their use can be well supported with the right quality of product and guided instructions:
Magnesium (see our recommendations)
Central to nervous system regulation, mitochondrial enzymes, sleep quality, and metabolic efficiency. Long underdosed and poorly formulated.
Glycine (see our recommendations)
Plays roles in collagen synthesis, neurotransmission, detoxification, and sleep architecture. Safe, inexpensive, and foundational.
Taurine (see our recommendations)
Often misunderstood due to energy drink marketing. Involved in cellular hydration, membrane stability, mitochondrial function, and longevity signaling.
Choline
Critical for membrane integrity, cognition, and methylation. Historically ignored due to poor messaging, not poor biology.
These compounds are not exciting because they are new.
They are exciting because they survived scrutiny.
The Quiet Truth About the Supplement Industry
This article is not anti-supplement.
It is anti-illusion.
The supplement industry is not overflowing with undiscovered miracles. It is largely maxed out. What remains are a handful of molecules that actually work, endlessly recycled for new demographics because there are very few legal, scalable alternatives left.
Creatine’s rise in the aging and wellness market is not a scientific breakthrough.
The supplement industry has exhausted its creative and scientific runway. Be prepared for impact—and likely implosion—at a broader market level. Innovation has stalled, pipelines are thin, and most “new” products are recycled ideas dressed in fresh branding. Discernment matters more than ever. Choose supplements deliberately.
What was once niche has become mainstream—not because it was fringe, but because it was foundational.
Now that foundation is being overused. The industry is in decline, and once you see the pattern, it’s hard to unsee. Take creatine: old, well-studied, inexpensive—and suddenly hyped again as if it were new. This isn’t a breakthrough; it’s a signal that brands have run out of ideas. Benefits are stretched, claims are amplified, and guidance on why, how, or for whom it should be used is often missing.
The science hasn’t changed. The marketing has.
If you choose to use it, form and delivery matter—liposomal versions, for example, are meaningfully different—but that nuance is rarely discussed. The reality is simple: the industry is recycling what’s cheap, familiar, and defensible, because there’s little else left to offer at scale.
And that tells you everything you need to know.