Re-thinking creatine and electrolytes

Creatine and electrolyte supplements have recently been in the spotlight, with growing interest around their impressive benefits for multiple areas of health. Once seen mainly as a bodybuilder’s secret weapon, new research reveals that creatine’s potential goes far beyond muscle and plays a vital role in supporting energy production, cognitive function, and overall vitality.

Electrolytes, often only used in times of dehydration, hangovers, or illness, are actually composed of essential minerals, including sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride, which are vital for maintaining fluid balance, supporting nerve and muscle activity, and regulating energy and hydration on a cellular level. Did you know that every heartbeat, muscle contraction, and thought relies on the proper balance of electrolytes?

In those times when we’re struggling to stay energised, whether due to stress, lack of sleep, intense exercise, or simply burning the candle at both ends, we don’t have to rely solely on our cells to generate new energy. One way we can do this is by combining creatine with electrolytes to help restore energy from spent ATP, our body’s main energy molecule.

What is creatine?

Creatine is far more than just support for muscle function and growth; it plays a key biochemical role in cellular energy metabolism. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound synthesised from arginine, glycine, and methionine. It can be obtained through eating animal-based foods but is mainly synthesised endogenously in both the liver and pancreas. Most of the total creatine pool in the human body is contained within the skeletal muscle as phosphocreatine, but this is subject to continuous degradation to creatinine, a waste product excreted into the urine.

Creatine acts as a rapid energy reserve within cells, facilitating the regeneration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the body’s primary energy currency. By donating a phosphate group to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), creatine helps sustain ATP levels, enabling cells to perform efficiently under periods of high energy demand.  This helps all cells supply more readily available energy, enabling them to work more effectively for longer, improving cognitive and muscle performance, and reducing everyday fatigue. Creatine’s presence in cells also helps to draw water in via osmosis, keeping them hydrated, which improves their function by preventing dehydration.^[1] Creatine furthermore improves cellular antioxidant status and has anti-apoptotic properties to support growth, repair, and recovery.^[2]

Creatine monohydrate, the most extensively studied and biologically effective form, has consistently been shown to enhance both physical and mental performance by supporting efficient energy recycling within the body.

What are electrolytes?

Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals that are fundamental to countless physiological processes within the body. They help regulate fluid balance by drawing water into cells for optimal hydration, support the transmission of nerve impulses, enable proper muscle contraction, and contribute to maintaining healthy blood pressure and vascular function. Key electrolytes include sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, and each plays a distinct yet interconnected role in sustaining cellular and systemic health.

Electrolytes are lost through everyday activities such as sweating, physical exertion, illness, and dehydration. Individuals who engage in regular exercise, live in hot climates, or experience vomiting or diarrhoea are particularly at risk of developing electrolyte imbalances. When this occurs, symptoms such as muscle cramps, fatigue, dizziness, or dehydration can arise, reflecting the body’s struggle to maintain proper cellular function.

Beyond fluid loss, metabolic dysfunction, including obesity, can also predispose individuals to disrupted electrolyte balance. This occurs through mechanisms such as hyperinsulinemia, increased inflammatory cytokine activity, oxidative stress, and dysregulation of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, all of which interfere with the body’s ability to regulate fluid and mineral equilibrium.

Maintaining optimal electrolyte balance is therefore essential not only for hydration and energy but also for supporting efficient cellular metabolism, cardiovascular stability, and overall physical and cognitive performance.^[3]

What does the research say about the benefits of creatine and electrolytes?

A common reason people use creatine is to enhance exercise performance, particularly for building muscle and supporting recovery during weight training.^[4] However, research has found that creatine can have many other benefits in multiple areas of health. In one study, creatine improved fatigue and cognitive function in just 6 weeks in those with chronic fatigue syndrome,^[5] a condition that involves disruption in energy metabolism, including mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced ATP production, along with chronic low-grade inflammation, altered cytokine activity, and disturbances in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

Creatine has been investigated for its potential cognitive-enhancing properties, with studies suggesting that supplementation may improve cognitive performance in adults, particularly in areas such as memory, attention span, and information processing speed. The mechanisms through which creatine enhances memory are thought to involve multiple interrelated biological pathways.

Firstly, creatine boosts the brain’s energy reserves by increasing phosphocreatine availability, which helps sustain ATP levels in the highly energy-demanding neural environment. This ensures that neurons have a consistent energy supply to support cognitive processes.

Secondly, creatine may improve neurotransmission by facilitating the synthesis of key neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, which is essential for attention, learning, and memory.

In addition, creatine may act as a neuromodulator, influencing synaptic efficiency and plasticity, critical mechanisms underlying information storage and retrieval. Finally, creatine exhibits neuroprotective effects by reducing oxidative stress and shielding brain cells from metabolic and free radical-induced damage, thereby supporting long-term cognitive health.^[6]

Other research highlights include:

• Creatine improves immune function by enhancing neutrophils, cytokine, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, phagocytosis, and NETosis.^[7]
• Creatine helps balance excess inflammation by reducing interferons in autoimmunity and helps reduce muscle catabolism in sarcopenia.^[8]
• Creatine improves muscle performance and endurance in strength training.^[9]
• Creatine may potentially support cognitive function in cases of stress, sleep deprivation, trauma/concussion, hypoxia, aging, neurodivergence, and ADHD.^[10]
• Magnesium malate reduces tenderness and pain in primary fibromyalgia.^[11]
• Low levels of electrolytes are predictive of fibro fatigue scores in long covid.^[12]

Summary

Creatine and electrolytes work together to support energy, hydration, and overall cellular health, both in and out of the gym.

Creatine enhances the body’s ability to regenerate ATP, the primary energy molecule, helping cells function more efficiently under physical or mental stress. This translates to improved strength, endurance, recovery, and even cognitive performance.

Electrolytes, meanwhile, maintain fluid balance, regulate nerve and muscle activity, and ensure nutrients and waste move effectively in and out of cells.

Together, they help sustain energy levels, prevent dehydration and fatigue, and promote resilience during exercise, stress, or busy daily life. Whether for athletic performance, mental clarity, or everyday wellbeing, creatine and electrolytes provide a powerful foundation for optimal energy and function at the cellular level.

References

[1] Ostojic, S. M., & Grasaas, E. (2025). Dietary Creatine and Hydration Biomarkers in the General Population: NHANES 1999-2023. Food science & nutrition, 13(7), e70524.

[2] Gaddi, A. V., Galuppo, P., & Yang, J. (2017). Creatine Phosphate Administration in Cell Energy Impairment Conditions: A Summary of Past and Present Research. Heart, lung & circulation, 26(10), 1026–1035.

[3] Crintea, I. N., Cindrea, A. C., Mederle, O. A., Trebuian, C. I., & Timar, R. (2025). Electrolyte Imbalances and Metabolic Emergencies in Obesity: Mechanisms and Clinical Implications. Diseases (Basel, Switzerland), 13(3), 69.

[4] Mills, S., Candow, D. G., Forbes, S. C., Neary, J. P., Ormsbee, M. J., & Antonio, J. (2020). Effects of Creatine Supplementation during Resistance Training Sessions in Physically Active Young Adults. Nutrients, 12(6), 1880. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061880

[5] Godlewska, B. R., Sylvester, A. L., Emir, U. E., Sharpley, A. L., Clarke, W. T., Martens, M. A. G., & Cowen, P. J. (2024). Six-Week Supplementation with Creatine in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Feasibility Study at 3 Tesla. Nutrients, 16(19), 3308.

[6] Xu C, Bi S, Zhang W, Luo L. The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2024;11. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1424972

[7] Saito, S., Cao, D. Y., Okuno, A., Li, X., Peng, Z., Kelel, M., & Tsuji, N. M. (2022). Creatine supplementation enhances immunological function of neutrophils by increasing cellular adenosine triphosphate. Bioscience of microbiota, food and health, 41(4), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.12938/bmfh.2022-018

[8] Amezcua-Castillo, E. et al. (2025) Creatine supplementation as a dual therapeutic strategy for sarcopenia and immune dysregulation in systemic lupus erythematosus: A hypothesis-driven approach. Medical Hypotheses; 201,111710.

[9] Mills, S., Candow, D. G., Forbes, S. C., Neary, J. P., Ormsbee, M. J., & Antonio, J. (2020). Effects of Creatine Supplementation during Resistance Training Sessions in Physically Active Young Adults. Nutrients, 12(6), 1880. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061880

[10] Roschel, H., Gualano, B., Ostojic, S. M., & Rawson, E. S. (2021). Creatine Supplementation and Brain Health. Nutrients, 13(2), 586.

[11] Abraham, Guy & Flechas, Jorge. (2009). Management of Fibromyalgia: Rationale for the Use of Magnesium and Malic Acid. J. Nutr. Med.. 3. 49-59.

[12] Al Masoodi, W. T. M., Radhi, S. W., Al-Hakeim, H. K., & Abdalsada, H. K. (2024). Electrolytes as predictors of fibro fatigue scores in Long-COVID patients. PloS one, 19(8), e0309348.

All of our blogs are written by our team of expert Nutritional Therapists. If you have questions regarding the topics that have been raised, or any other health matters, please do contact them using the details below:

nutrition@cytoplan.co.uk
01684 310099

Find out what makes Cytoplan different

Last updated on 24th October 2025 by cytoffice