Creatine monohydrate does not meaningfully increase testosterone levels. Across 12 studies using doses ranging from 3 to 25 grams per day over periods of 6 days to 12 weeks, ten found no change in testosterone concentrations. The remaining two reported increases so small they were considered physiologically insignificant. The idea that creatine is a testosterone booster persists online, but the weight of the evidence simply doesn’t support it.
What the Research Actually Shows
The body of research on creatine and testosterone is fairly consistent. Of the 12 studies that have directly measured testosterone in people taking creatine, the vast majority found no effect on either total testosterone or free testosterone (the form your body actively uses). The two studies that did find slight increases saw them only during the first six to seven days of supplementation, during a high-dose loading phase, and the bumps were too small to have any real biological impact.
Five of those studies specifically measured free testosterone and found no increases at all. This matters because free testosterone is the more functionally relevant marker. If creatine were genuinely acting as a hormonal booster, you’d expect free testosterone to rise. It doesn’t.
A separate study looked at whether combining creatine with resistance training changed the picture. It didn’t. A weight training session, with or without creatine supplementation, produced no significant change in serum testosterone. Creatine helps you train harder by replenishing your muscles’ energy supply, but that performance benefit operates through a completely different pathway than hormonal signaling.
The DHT Study That Started the Rumor
Much of the confusion traces back to a single 2009 study on 20 college-aged rugby players. That study found something interesting but narrow: after seven days of creatine loading, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels rose by 56%, and the ratio of DHT to testosterone increased by 36%. After a further 14 days on a lower maintenance dose, DHT remained 40% above baseline. Testosterone itself did not change.
DHT is a more potent androgen than testosterone, and the body produces it by converting testosterone. So this study suggested creatine might speed up that conversion process. The finding got widespread attention, particularly because elevated DHT is linked to male pattern hair loss, and it fueled years of speculation that creatine could boost androgenic activity or cause balding.
The problem is that no subsequent study has been able to replicate those results. It remains a single, small, unreplicated finding. A 2025 randomized controlled trial specifically designed to test the DHT question found no significant differences in DHT levels, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or any hair growth parameters between creatine and placebo groups over 12 weeks. That trial was the first to directly assess hair follicle health during creatine supplementation, and it found no evidence of harm.
Why Creatine Still Builds Muscle
If creatine doesn’t raise testosterone, you might wonder why it’s so effective for building strength and muscle. The answer is that creatine works through energy metabolism, not hormones. It increases the amount of phosphocreatine stored in your muscles, which helps regenerate ATP, the molecule your cells burn for quick, intense efforts. This lets you squeeze out an extra rep or two, recover faster between sets, and accumulate more total training volume over time. That additional work is what drives muscle growth.
There is one anabolic signal that creatine does appear to influence. When combined with resistance training, creatine supplementation increased intramuscular levels of IGF-1 (a growth factor involved in muscle repair and growth) by 78%, compared to 54% with training alone. This effect is localized to the muscle tissue rather than circulating in the bloodstream like testosterone, and it likely contributes to creatine’s well-documented benefits for lean mass. But IGF-1 is not testosterone, and the mechanism is fundamentally different from what most people imagine when they hear “creatine boosts hormones.”
What This Means for You
If you’re considering creatine specifically to raise your testosterone, it’s not the right tool. No reliable evidence supports that use. If you’re already taking creatine for strength, endurance, or muscle recovery and wondering whether it’s giving your hormones a secondary boost, the honest answer is no.
That said, creatine monohydrate remains one of the most well-studied and effective sports supplements available for its actual purpose: improving high-intensity exercise performance and supporting muscle growth over time. It just does that through energy availability, not through your endocrine system. And if the hair loss concern has been keeping you away from creatine, the most recent and rigorous data suggests that worry is unfounded.