Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Oct 12;15(20):4343.
doi: 10.3390/nu15204343.

Resistance Exercise and Creatine Supplementation on Fat Mass in Adults < 50 Years of Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Darren G Candow  1 , Konstantinos Prokopidis  2 , Scott C Forbes  3 , Flavia Rusterholz  1 , Bill I Campbell  4 , Sergej M Ostojic  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Resistance Exercise and Creatine Supplementation on Fat Mass in Adults < 50 Years of Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Darren G Candow et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The combination of resistance exercise and creatine supplementation has been shown to decrease body fat percentage in adults ≥ 50 years of age. However, the effect on adults < 50 years of age is currently unknown. To address this limitation, we systematically reviewed the literature and performed several meta-analyses comparing studies that included resistance exercise and creatine supplementation to resistance exercise and placebo on fat mass and body fat percentage Twelve studies were included, involving 266 participants. Adults (<50 years of age) who supplemented with creatine and performed resistance exercise experienced a very small, yet significant reduction in body fat percentage (-1.19%, p = 0.006); however, no difference was found in absolute fat mass (-0.18 kg, p = 0.76). Collectively, in adults < 50 years of age, the combination of resistance exercise and creatine supplementation produces a very small reduction in body fat percentage without a corresponding decrease in absolute fat mass.

Keywords: adipose tissue; body composition; ergogenic aids; strength training.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

D.G.C. has conducted industry-sponsored research involving creatine supplementation and received creatine donations for scientific studies and travel support for presentations involving creatine supplementation at scientific conferences. In addition, D.G.C. serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Alzchem (a company that manufactures creatine) and as an expert witness/consultant in legal cases involving creatine supplementation. S.C.F. previously served as a scientific advisor for a company that sold creatine; has received creatine donations for scientific studies; sells creatine education resources; and is a sports nutrition advisor for the International Society of Sports Nutrition. S.C.F. is a scientific advisor for BearBalanced. B.I.C. has no conflicts in terms of financial or business interests related to this manuscript. B.I.C. has received grants and contracts to conduct research on dietary supplements; has served as a paid consultant for industry; has received honoraria for speaking at conferences and writing lay articles about sports nutrition ingredients and topics; is a member of the International Protein Board which disseminates knowledge on protein and protein products; has served as an expert witness on behalf of the plaintiff and defense in cases involving dietary supplements; and receives compensation for writing and providing educational services related to exercise and nutrition-related topics. S.M.O. serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Alzchem (a company that manufactures creatine). S.M.O. owns the patent “Sports Supplements Based on Liquid Creatine” at the European Patent Office (WO2019150323 A1) and an active patent application for “Synergistic Creatine” at the UK Intellectual Property Office (GB2012773.4). S.M.O. has served as a speaker at Abbott Nutrition, as a consultant of Allied Beverages Adriatic and IMLEK, and has received research funding related to creatine from the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development, Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research, AlzChem GmbH, KW Pfannenschmidt GmbH, ThermoLife International LLC, and Hueston Hennigan LLP. K.P. and F.R. declare no conflicts.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study selection flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plots for changes in absolute fat mass (kg) [13,14,18,19,21,22].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot for changes in body fat percentage [13,14,16,17,18,20,22,23,24,27].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Risk of bias assessment [13,14,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,27].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Souza N.A.B., Rimes-Dias K.A., Costa J.C., Canella D.S. Weight Gain and Change in Body Mass Index after Age 20 in the Brazilian Population and Associated Sociodemographic Factors: Data from the National Health Survey. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2022;19:2851. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19052851. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Frank A.P., De Souza Santos R., Palmer B.F., Clegg D.J. Determinants of body fat distribution in humans may provide insight about obesity-related health risks. J. Lipid Res. 2019;60:1710–1719. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R086975. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Simmonds M., Llewellyn A., Owen C.G., Woolacott N. Predicting adult obesity from childhood obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes. Rev. 2016;17:95–107. doi: 10.1111/obr.12334. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jakicic J.M., Powell K.E., Campbell W.W., Dipietro L., Pate R.R., Pescatello L.S., Collins K.A., Bloodgood B., Piercy K.L. Physical Activity and the Prevention of Weight Gain in Adults: A Systematic Review. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2019;51:1262–1269. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001938. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fruh S., Williams S., Hayes K., Hauff C., Hudson G.M., Sittig S., Graves R.J., Hall H., Barinas J. A practical approach to obesity prevention: Healthy home habits. J. Am. Assoc. Nurse Pract. 2021;33:1055–1065. doi: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000556. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources