Last Updated On September 20, 2023
Creatine supplements are some of the most popular nutritional supplements available. Creatine makes you strong, so you'll likely find it in many muscle-building supplement regimens, and its primary function is related to energy production in the body.[1]
However, most people aren’t aware of all of the benefits of a daily creatine supplement.
Creatine supplements benefit you inside and outside the gym and maybe even in the bedroom. Wait, does creatine affect sexually active athletes? Let’s find out.
How Does Creatine Affect Sexual Performance?
Creatine supplements can help you get a "workout" in the bedroom, even if it is indirectly. There's a bit more to understand, though.
Creatine is produced naturally in the body using:
Your body can fill up to 80% of its creatine stores if you eat a protein-rich diet or take a creatine monohydrate powder supplement. The key player in this cycle is adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which fuels nearly every process in the body.
In the cycle, ATP loses a phosphate when it's used for energy, and it becomes ADP (adenosine diphosphate). ADP sits around and waits to be converted back into ATP. Creatine phosphate donates a phosphate to make this happen.
Energy production is creatine's main function, which is especially useful during high-intensity and resistance training and other intense activities.
For example, when you're working out and fatigue starts to set in, creatine gives your body an energy boost by transferring energy to adenosine triphosphate.
Creatine is also used to increase muscle mass and muscle strength. Creatine kinase is a protein stored in the muscles and bonds to a phosphate group to create creatine phosphate until it's used for muscle building.
It's obvious that creatine does a lot for us in the gym, but it can also help with better focus and higher productivity outside the gym. Creatine helps muscle cells create more energy and muscle, and it does the same for your brain cells.
So creatine will help your brain have more energy, too. Higher energy production impacts your entire body, including your sexual health.
Learn More - Creatine Brain Benefits (Does It Help Brain Function?)
Only some people will respond to creatine, but you should know within at least a week whether it's working out for you.
Benefits Of Taking Creatine
Creatine is an amino acid, and amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Creatine is naturally produced in your body, and you can get it from meat and fish, but you have to eat a lot of creatine-rich food to get a decent amount of creatine.
Even a high-quality creatine supplement won’t be of much use for athletes into endurance training or aerobic exercise.
However, if you’re into heavy-weight training, high-intensity training, and resistance training, and you just want to see a boost in your athletic performance, you’ll love creatine supplementation.
You may also like creatine if you’re looking to improve sexually.
Other creatine benefits include:
- Good for adding more muscle mass
- Reduces fatigue
- Helps to increase training volume
- Improves brain function
- Speeds muscle growth
- Helping muscles produce more energy
- Fights neurological diseases
- Lowers blood sugar levels
Potential Side Effects Of Taking Creatine
Although no hard data is challenging the safety of creatine, not all of the effects of creatine are positive.
It could cause kidney and liver damage, and weight gain mainly due to water retention, dehydration, cramping, and gastrointestinal issues.
However, these side effects are relatively uncommon and likely caused by any artificial ingredients and additives in the supplement.
One of the best ways to avoid these adverse side effects is by taking creatine supplements without any additives and only high-quality, clean ingredients.
Creatine And Sexual Function
Creatine works to enhance energy production, benefitting the entire body. That means a slightly lesser-known potential benefit of creatine has to do with sexual health.
Creatine supplements have a positive effect not only on physical performance but also on mental performance, mood, and cognitive performance.
So people who take creatine, even if they don’t frequent the gym, can feel better, be more relaxed, and even notice that their lower libido is starting to rebound.
In general, creatine can have a noticeable positive impact on your physical performance, so it can help you last longer in bed.
In addition, using creatine in conjunction with exercise and resistance training elevates androgen levels and increases your sex drive.
Related Article - Does Creatine Make You Hornier & Increase Your Sex Drive?
How Does Creatine Impact Testosterone Levels?
Your hypothalamus and pituitary gland are in charge of testosterone production. The hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland, which controls testicular activity.
If there’s reduced activity or inactivity of the hypothalamus or the pituitary gland, testosterone levels will decrease. Testosterone is responsible for the following:
These characteristics are more attributed to men than women. Testosterone levels will typically start decreasing for men once they hit thirty.[2]
Lower testosterone levels will impact libido, and sometimes erectile dysfunction (ED) will occur. With a dip in testosterone, many men notice decreased:
- Sex drive
- Endurance
- Mental sharpness
- Overall energy
- Strength
Testosterone helps regulates sex drive. Therefore, a significant decrease can cause decreased sexual desire. However, there are ways to increase testosterone.
Related Article - Does Creatine Increase Testosterone Levels? (Find Out!)
One common practice is testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) with injections or a patch. A less risky solution is creatine.
One study examined the effects of taking a creatine supplement in conjunction with a 10-week resistance training program.
Compared to a placebo group, researchers found that the group of participants taking a creatine supplement experienced more significant strength improvements and significantly increased their resting testosterone levels.
Another study with male rugby players looked into creatine supplementation and levels of DHT, the more active form of testosterone. The participants' DHT levels increased by 56% after creatine loading, with 25 grams per day for a week.
Does Creatine Cause Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction is the inability to get or maintain an erection suitable for sexual intercourse. The research so far has been in favor of creatine affecting sex drive positively by raising the testosterone level.
In addition, research has shown that creatine enhances physical activity and mental performance, which is vital to a healthy sex life and avoiding erectile dysfunction.
There is NO conclusive evidence proving that creatine causes erectile dysfunction. On the contrary, creatine helps erectile dysfunction by raising testosterone.
However, some studies suggest long-term daily usage of creatine could lead to an overload of the detoxification systems in the kidneys and the liver. This could cause your body to make fewer enzymes responsible for synthesizing hormones.
See More - How Much Creatine Should I Take? | Garage Gym Pro
If the production of hormones slows, your body will struggle to send the correct brain signals needed to produce an erection, which could lead to erectile dysfunction. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use creatine.
Always use it according to the instructions, and never go over the recommended dose. You should also take breaks between using the creatine supplement, known as creatine cycling. When you use creatine, you'll get stronger, bigger muscles, and it can help your sex drive.
Frequently Asked Creatine And Sex Questions
Regular resistance training accompanied by creatine supplementation can increase testosterone. Higher levels of testosterone can improve your sex drive and can make you hornier. However, there is no evidence that creatine alone can increase arousal and sexual desire.
You can take creatine if you also take Viagra. Creatine will not negatively react with Viagra.
Given how well-researched it is, there is little research on creatine concerning fertility. There's no reason to believe creatine will negatively impact fertility, but there is no reason to think it improves fertility either.
There is no convincing evidence that creatine alone can increase testosterone levels in women. However, studies do suggest that creatine supplementation is beneficial for women, particularly regarding estrogen
Conclusion
Creatine amplifies energy production and is credited with benefits related to strength and muscle building. However, creatine has benefits that travel beyond the gym as well.
Creatine provides more energy, which spreads throughout the body, affecting productivity and hormone regulation. That is especially beneficial for men whose testosterone level is lowered due to age or other reasons.
So, taking a creatine supplement can improve sex drive or serious issues like erectile dysfunction, especially when paired with exercise.
References:
- https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/16/4/article-p430.xml
- https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/91/7/2509/2656285
