Creatine for vegans and vegetarians: do they get a greater effect?

Vegans and vegetarians get almost no creatine from meat and fish, so the logic seems simple: if starting stores are lower, the supplement should work harder. This is partly true—but only if by “work” you mean increasing muscle creatine stores. When it comes to strength, power, muscle growth, or cognitive tests, the picture becomes much less clear.

Where does creatine come from in omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans?

Creatine in the body has two sources: some comes from food, and some is synthesized endogenously from amino acids. Most dietary creatine is found in meat and fish, so when switching to a diet without these products, external intake decreases sharply. This does not mean that the body is "left without creatine": its own synthesis continues.

In omnivores, dietary intake of creatine supplements their own synthesis. In vegetarians, it is sharply lower due to the lack of meat and fish, and in vegans, it is practically absent from traditional food sources. At the same time, endogenous synthesis is preserved in all three groups, so low intake from food does not equal a complete absence of creatine in the body.

We have examined the mechanism of the creatine-phosphate system in detail in the article on how creatine monohydrate works. For this topic, something else is more important: does your own synthesis have time to fully compensate for the lack of creatine from food.

Are creatine stores in muscles really lower without meat?

One of the most illustrative experiments was conducted by Blancquaert et al. (2018). Forty women who were omnivores before the study began were divided into three groups: some maintained their usual diet, some switched to a vegetarian diet without creatine, and the third group combined a vegetarian diet with creatine and beta-alanine supplements.

After three months, both plasma creatine concentration and total muscle creatine content decreased in the vegetarian group without creatine, suggesting that endogenous synthesis did not fully compensate for the removal of dietary sources in this particular sample.

This suggests that diet type can affect the initial creatine pool in the muscles. However, such data does not prove that every vegetarian or vegan is “deficient” in creatine, nor does it automatically lead to greater gains in strength, power, or cognitive performance.

Lower starting level — greater gains after creatine?

A systematic review by Kaviani, Shaw, and Chilibeck (2020) collected nine studies that examined creatine in vegetarians. The overall picture was fairly consistent at the tissue level: total creatine, free creatine, and phosphocreatine increased in muscle, plasma, and erythrocytes after supplementation, with some studies showing greater increases than in omnivores.

The most consistent signal is for creatine and phosphocreatine in muscle: lower starting levels are often accompanied by more pronounced increases after supplementation. For strength, power, and cognitive tests, the results are much less consistent, and no consistent advantage over omnivores has been shown.

The review itself has an important limitation: the authors assessed the included studies as having a moderate to high risk of bias. Therefore, the thesis “vegetarians respond more strongly” is correct to apply to tissue creatine stores, but not directly to all possible outcomes.

Does a greater increase in reserves give a greater sporting effect?

This is where the intuitive pattern begins to break down. Having more creatine and phosphocreatine in the muscles creates better conditions for repeated short bursts of intense effort. But strength, power, endurance in sets, and muscle mass are different endpoints that are influenced by training, baseline fitness, duration of intervention, and the specific test.

A review by Kaviani et al. (2020) found positive changes in strength, muscular endurance, average Wingate power, and body composition in selected vegetarian samples. However, studies have been mixed on the key question: whether vegetarians gain greater athletic benefits than omnivores.

Why these indicators should not be mixed is discussed separately in the article about what creatine really changes in training: strength, power, and muscle mass are formed through different mechanisms and measured differently.

What a direct study of vegans in 2026 showed

In 2026, López-Moreno et al. published a small, triple-blind, placebo-controlled study specifically in physically active vegans. Twenty adults received either creatine monohydrate at a dose of 0.1 g/kg/day or placebo for four weeks.

The creatine group improved some lower body explosiveness measures, including countermovement jump and repeated jumps, but no changes were seen in sprinting, grip strength, or isometric mid-thigh pull.

The brain doesn't react the same way as muscles

One of the most common mistakes is to extrapolate the logic of muscle to the brain. If a vegetarian diet is associated with lower creatine pools in skeletal muscle, it seems natural to expect the same deficit in the brain. But the data do not support this so directly.

In a systematic review by Kaviani et al., supplementation did not show a convincing increase in brain phosphocreatine in vegetarians. Sandkühler et al. (2023) also noted that the brain synthesizes creatine locally and may be less dependent on dietary intake than skeletal muscle.

Why old memory studies looked so convincing

In 2003, Rae et al. conducted a double-blind crossover study in 45 young vegetarian adults. After 5 g of creatine per day for six weeks, performance on working memory tests and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices improved. This became one of the best-known arguments in favor of the cognitive effects of creatine in people without meat in their diet.

But this study did not have a parallel group of omnivores. It shows that vegetarians may have a cognitive response, but it does not answer the question of whether it is greater than that of omnivores.

In 2011, Benton and Donohoe directly compared young vegetarian women with those who ate meat. Participants were given 20 grams of creatine or a placebo for five days. Memory improvements were observed in the vegetarian subgroup, while there was no such signal in the omnivorous group.

What changed the big study of 2023

Sandkühler et al. conducted a pre-registered, double-blind, randomized, crossover study in 123 people—approximately half vegetarians, half omnivores. Participants received 5 g of creatine or placebo daily for six weeks in each phase.

Bayesian analysis supported the possibility of a small overall positive effect, but in individual frequency tests the effect was weak or statistically insignificant. Most importantly for our question: vegetarians did not gain a greater cognitive benefit than omnivores.

The authors directly addressed the difference with Benton and Donohoe. They noted that the older study had many cognitive tests, so a positive result in a subgroup should be interpreted with caution. This is a good example of how one bright early result can be more convincing than the collection of later data.

Vegan and vegetarian are not the same group

In the scientific literature, these groups are often lumped together, although dietary patterns may differ significantly. This has implications for interpreting the results.

A vegetarian, depending on the type of diet, may consume eggs and/or dairy products, while a vegan excludes animal products, so the traditional dietary intake of creatine is practically absent. However, there are fewer studies specifically on vegans than on works where various meat-free groups are combined under the broader term "vegetarian".

Therefore, one should not automatically extrapolate any result “in vegetarians” to all vegans — and vice versa. The most recent study from 2026 partially closes this gap, but its sample is still too small for definitive conclusions.

Does all this mean that vegans definitely need creatine?

No. The scientific evidence does not allow us to turn observations of lower muscle reserves into the claim that every vegan or vegetarian should necessarily take creatine.

Without meat and fish, dietary creatine intake is dramatically reduced. Some vegetarians and vegans have lower baseline muscle stores, so their gains after supplementation may be greater. But a greater increase in stores does not guarantee greater gains in strength, power, muscle mass, or cognitive performance compared to omnivores.

What to look for when interpreting research

In this topic, it is easy to draw a conclusion stronger than the data allow. The main limitations are:

• many works have small samples;
• Vegans and different types of vegetarians are often lumped together;
• studies use different doses and durations;
• some works do not have a direct omnivorous group;
• Increased creatine stores and functional outcome are different endpoints;
• Data from healthy, physically active adults should not be automatically extrapolated to children, pregnancy, or people with chronic conditions.

If you have kidney disease, other chronic conditions, or ongoing medication, decisions about any supplements should be discussed with your doctor.

Frequently asked questions

In a typical plant-based diet, dietary intake of creatine is very low or virtually nonexistent. However, the body also synthesizes creatine on its own from amino acids.

Do vegetarians have lower creatine levels?
In many studies, lower levels have been found specifically in skeletal muscle and plasma. This does not mean a universal "deficiency" in every person and does not necessarily apply to the brain in the same way.

Do vegetarians respond to creatine more strongly than omnivores?
In terms of muscle mass gains, it often is. But studies don't show a consistent advantage in strength, power, or other functional outcomes.

Do vegans get a greater athletic effect?
Direct comparative studies are still scarce. A 2026 RCT showed improvements in some explosive performance measures in vegans, but without an omnivorous group, it cannot prove a greater effect of the type of diet.

Does creatine improve memory in vegetarians?
Some older studies showed a positive signal, but a large 2023 study found no greater cognitive response in vegetarians compared to omnivores. So the conclusion remains cautious.

Is creatine lower in the brains of vegans and vegetarians?
This is not as well documented as the difference in muscle. The brain synthesizes some of the creatine locally, so muscle data cannot be automatically transferred to the brain.

Are the terms "vegan" and "vegetarian" the same in research?
No. Diets vary, and many studies lump different meat-free groups together. This is one reason why the results should be interpreted with caution.

Does a plant-based diet mean you have to take creatine?
No. The lower dietary intake of creatine does not in itself make supplementation mandatory for every person.

Sources

• Kaviani M., Shaw K., Chilibeck PD (2020). Benefits of Creatine Supplementation for Vegetarians Compared to Omnivorous Athletes: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. PubMed
• Blancquaert L. and others. (2018). Changing to a vegetarian diet reduces the body creatine pool in omnivorous women, but does not appear to affect carnitine and carnosine homeostasis: a randomized trial. British Journal of Nutrition. PubMed
• Rae C. and others. (2003). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. PubMed
• Benton D., Donohoe R. (2011). The influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and omnivores. British Journal of Nutrition. PubMed
• Sandkühler JF and others. (2023). The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive performance — a randomized controlled study. BMC Medicine. PubMed
• López-Moreno M. and others. (2026). Does creatine supplementation improve strength and power in physically active individuals on a vegan diet? a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial. European Journal of Applied Physiology. PubMed

Dietary supplement. Not a medicine. Consult a doctor before use.