Expert Position

What does Peter Attia say about creatine?

Physician focused on longevity and healthspan, host of The Drive

Peter Attia puts the dose at 3 to 5 grams a day - the amount that fully saturates muscle stores, beyond which he says the curve flattens. He recommends creatine monohydrate and calls elevated creatinine on a blood test a common false alarm: it usually reflects muscle mass, not kidney damage.

On the record (2)

Attia's own dose, in his own words

“and and basically research shows that once muscle stores are fully maximized um you know which can be achieved with 3 to five grams per day”

Peter Attia · Mar 2025 · watch @ 12:09 →

The dose evidence, from guest Layne Norton

“they basically showed we take five grams a day you get increases in lean mass and strength and performance you take more than five grams a day you also get increases in lean mass and performance”

Layne Norton, on Peter Attia's show · Dec 2022 · watch @ 8:51 →

What Peter actually says

  • • His own number is 3 to 5 grams a day. The reasoning is saturation - once muscle stores are maxed, he says you do not need to go much beyond that.
  • • The 20-gram loading phase is history, in his telling. He describes it as what the zeitgeist used to demand before dropping to a maintenance dose, not what people do now.
  • • He flags a practical trap: creatine raises blood creatinine, which doctors can misread as kidney injury. He points to cystatin C as the better kidney measure.
  • • Loading phases are optional rather than necessary, and can cause GI irritation; cycling off is unnecessary.
  • • The detailed dosing evidence on his channel is delivered by Layne Norton, not by Attia - see the receipt below, which is attributed accordingly.

Where the other four land

All 4 other experts also take a positive position on Creatine.

Andrew Huberman Strongly Recommends
Rhonda Patrick Strongly Recommends
Bryan Johnson Includes in Blueprint Stack
Mark Hyman Recommends as Essential Supplement

Common Questions

How much creatine does Peter Attia recommend?

3 to 5 grams a day, which he describes as enough to fully maximise muscle stores. Layne Norton, reviewing the meta-analysis on Attia's show, adds that both 5 grams and higher doses produce gains in lean mass and strength - so 5 grams is a practical floor rather than a ceiling.

Does creatine damage your kidneys?

Attia addresses this directly: creatine raises blood creatinine because of muscle mass, and that rise is routinely misread as kidney damage. He points to cystatin C as the measure that is not confounded this way.

Do you need to load or cycle creatine?

No. Loading is optional - it saturates muscle faster but can cause GI irritation - and cycling off is unnecessary for long-term use.

See Peter Attia's full supplement stack.

Related: elevated creatinine from creatine, how much creatine per day, is creatine safe long term