Unlocking Performance: Creatine Supplementation Benefits for Vegetarian Athletes

Creatine is a compound that helps provide energy for muscles during intense, anaerobic exercise. It is naturally found in foods like meat, fish, and poultry. Vegetarians and vegans consume little to no creatine in their diets since they avoid animal products. This potentially puts them at a disadvantage for athletic performance requiring short bursts of power.

This review looked at 9 studies on creatine supplementation in vegetarian versus omnivorous athletes. The goal was to see if vegetarians might benefit more from creatine supplements due to their lower natural creatine levels.

The studies found that when vegetarians took creatine supplements:

Their blood and muscle creatine levels increased more compared to omnivores, often to higher levels than omnivores even after supplementing. This suggests vegetarians may better absorb and store supplemental creatine.

Lean muscle mass, muscle fiber size, strength, and anaerobic power output improved more versus omnivorous athletes also taking creatine.

Effects on endurance exercise were minimal, which was expected since creatine primarily aids anaerobic performance requiring quick bursts of power.

Memory and brain function enhanced in vegetarians but not omnivores, possibly helping athletic strategy and skills.

However, results were mixed regarding if vegetarians had greater gains in actual exercise performance compared to omnivorous athletes after both groups supplemented with creatine. Some studies found omnivores improved similarly or slightly better.

In conclusion, vegetarian athletes are likely to benefit from creatine supplementation due to their naturally lower creatine stores. With proper dosage, they may increase blood and muscle creatine levels beyond those achieved by meat-eating athletes taking supplements. More research is still needed, particularly studies on elite competitive vegetarian athletes. But so far most evidence suggests creatine can help offset potential disadvantages vegetarians may have for power-based sports.

Kaviani M, Shaw K, Chilibeck PD. Benefits of Creatine Supplementation for Vegetarians Compared to Omnivorous Athletes: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 27;17(9):3041. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093041. PMID: 32349356; PMCID: PMC7246861.