Creatine does not meaningfully increase testosterone. Across more than a dozen studies testing doses from 3 to 25 grams per day over periods ranging from six days to 12 weeks, the overwhelming finding is no change in testosterone levels. Two studies found small, short-lived bumps in total testosterone after about a week of supplementation, but the increases were too minor to have any biological effect. The remaining ten studies found nothing at all.
What the Research Actually Shows
The most comprehensive review of the evidence, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, examined every available study on creatine and testosterone. The conclusion was unambiguous: creatine supplementation does not increase total testosterone, free testosterone, or DHT (a more potent form of testosterone linked to hair loss and prostate health). Five of those studies specifically measured free testosterone, the form your body actively uses, and none found an increase.
This holds true whether people used a high-dose “loading” phase of 20 to 25 grams per day or a standard maintenance dose of 3 to 5 grams per day. Neither approach shifted testosterone in a meaningful direction.
Why the Myth Persists
Much of the confusion traces back to a single 2009 study on 20 college-aged rugby players in South Africa. In that trial, participants loaded creatine at 25 grams per day for seven days, then dropped to 5 grams per day for two more weeks. Their testosterone levels didn’t change, but their DHT rose 56% during the loading phase and stayed about 40% above baseline during maintenance. The ratio of DHT to testosterone also climbed.
That finding spread quickly through fitness forums and eventually into mainstream health articles. The problem is that no study has replicated it. A 2025 randomized controlled trial specifically designed to test this question over 12 weeks found no significant differences in DHT levels, DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or any hair-related outcomes between the creatine and placebo groups. The original rugby study involved just 20 people over three weeks, which makes it a preliminary observation at best, not a reliable conclusion.
Creatine and Exercise Hormones
Heavy resistance training naturally triggers a temporary spike in testosterone. A reasonable question is whether creatine amplifies that spike, even if it doesn’t raise resting levels. Researchers tested exactly this by measuring testosterone before and after a heavy lifting session in people who had been taking creatine versus a placebo. The result: creatine made no difference. The hormonal response to the workout was the same whether or not creatine was on board. Growth hormone and cortisol were also unaffected.
How Creatine Actually Works
Creatine helps your muscles produce energy faster during short, intense efforts like sprinting or heavy lifting. It does this by increasing your stores of phosphocreatine, a molecule your cells use to rapidly regenerate ATP (the energy currency inside every cell). This is an entirely different pathway from how testosterone works. Testosterone enters muscle cells, binds to androgen receptors, and activates genes that build new muscle protein. Creatine doesn’t interact with that system at all.
Because both creatine and testosterone can independently improve strength and muscle size, people sometimes assume they work through the same mechanism. They don’t. Creatine is not a synthetic hormone, and the International Society of Sports Nutrition has stated clearly that there is no evidence short- or long-term creatine use has detrimental effects in healthy individuals. It’s classified as a legal nutritional supplement, not a hormonal one.
What About Hair Loss?
The hair loss concern stems directly from that 2009 DHT finding. Since DHT is the hormone most closely linked to male pattern baldness, the logic seemed straightforward: more DHT means more hair loss. But until recently, no one had actually tested whether creatine affects hair follicles. In 2025, a 12-week randomized controlled trial became the first to directly assess hair follicle health in people taking creatine. The researchers measured DHT, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, and multiple hair growth parameters. None of them changed.
This study provides the strongest evidence to date that creatine does not contribute to hair loss. The concern was always speculative, built on a single unreplicated hormone measurement from a small study that never examined hair at all.
The Bottom Line on Creatine and Hormones
If you’re considering creatine to boost testosterone, it won’t do that. Creatine is one of the most thoroughly studied sports supplements in existence, and its benefits are real: greater strength output, improved performance in high-intensity exercise, and faster recovery between sets. Those benefits come from enhanced energy production in your muscles, not from any hormonal shift. Your testosterone levels before and after taking creatine will look essentially the same on a blood test.