By Sara Ashley O'Brien

If you are a woman on the internet, you are likely being inundated with content about creatine.

The ads are on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Your favorite podcast hosts are talking about it, influencers are singing its praises and group chats are lighting up between friends.

"I have my little creatine on the side of my smoothie," Ivanka Trump said in a January episode of the podcast "The Skinny Confidential: Him & Her Show."

"I am the face of creatine, at this point, for Brentwood moms," actress, producer and entrepreneur Sara Foster said in a February episode of the podcast she co-hosts with her sister.

Then came Mel Robbins, calling creatine "one of the most important supplements you should be taking as a woman" in a post promoting a March episode of her podcast. Robbins' guest was an advisor to the supplement company Momentous. The episode helped spur an uptick of female customers buying its creatine product, according to the company, which said the cohort had surpassed male buyers online for the first time since it started selling it in 2020 .

Purchases by women were up 320% in the first quarter of 2025, when compared with the same quarter one year prior, the company said. By comparison, sales to men were up 85%.

The pitch is that a supplement long associated with bodybuilding men now demands a place in every woman's routine. That has led to a crop of women-focused supplement companies that have introduced creatine products in recent months, some with names like "Tone" and "Sheatine."

"I've had so many clients asking me about it as it's gotten trendy," said Mia Rigden, a 39-year-old nutritionist in Los Angeles. Rigden said she'd seen the benefits of creatine firsthand but told clients that it should be used in tandem with healthy eating and exercise. "It is still important to eat a balanced diet, to get protein. If you just take creatine, you're literally just wasting your money if you're not also focused on these other things."

Creatine, which is naturally produced in the body as well derived from meat and seafood, energizes muscles, but many don't get enough of it from their diets. Capsules, powders and gummies offering the amino acid-based compound have stepped in. When used with workouts, creatine can help boost energy and strength, which in turn can contribute to muscle-building. Supplements aren't subject to approval by the Food and Drug Administration. But creatine is generally considered safe, and various studies have suggested it may help with everything from muscle recovery to maintaining bone density to enhancing cognitive function, depending on the amounts.

The feminization of universal products is a well-known business playbook, as companies target female consumers with everything from "made for women" razors, deodorants and anti-chafing balms. Creatine is no different: For the "Pilates girlie" in her 20s and 30s, ads promote it to help get toned quicker. For the middle-aged and older, product ads say it's a must-have for tackling menopausal-related issues and aging gracefully.

These companies say their products target unpleasant side effects of creatine that may particularly bother women.

One of the most complained-about side effects is bloat. As creatine saturates the muscles, it may cause some water retention. That can lead to a bloated feeling and increased pounds from water weight on the scale.

"A guy goes up 2 pounds and some of them are celebrating it. A woman goes up 2 pounds, she's like, 'I'm out,'" said JJ Virgin, a nutrition and fitness expert behind the supplement brand, Reignite Wellness.

She began selling a creatine product several years ago and the issue arose in the form of customer complaints. In November, she introduced Sheatine, which uses a different formulation of creatine that she says is better tolerated than the original product (and which her husband named). It also incorporates magnesium and taurine, which she says is based on other studies about possible benefits like improving high-intensity-exercise capacity when combined with creatine.

"A lot of people complained about weight gain, about gas. I've been in the supplement industry for 30 years, but never this consistent of a complaint," she said of the original product.

That was Siffat Haider's experience, too, which inspired her company, Arrae, to launch its own take on creatine called Tone. Like several entrepreneurs who launched women-focused creatine products in the past few years, Haider had started taking note of new research and chatter about creatine a few years ago. Not only did creatine help women with their gym routines, it could also preserve muscles and protect against cognitive decline, she said. Studies have found that creatine supplements have potential benefits for women, ranging from maintaining bone density to improved sleep in naturally menstruating women, when combined with resistance training. (Much creatine research includes authors who have financial ties to the industry.)

"For the mass majority of women, being told to take something that is basically like addressing the gym bros -- when it comes to marketing, that's just not gonna cut it," said Haider. "We were really excited to kind of make this something that was palatable for women."

She spent two years working on the product that she says would be easier on a woman's system. Tone, a gummy, launched in January. It contains ginger root, intended to help with bloat reduction, as well as "slimbiotics," a probiotic ingredient for weight management.

The women-focused products are part of a broader ecosystem of supplement companies trying to break creatine from its association with bodybuilding men. Gender-neutral brands are also popping up to appeal to a wide-range of consumers.

"Our view at a high-level is that there's no such thing as creatine for women or creatine for aging populations or creatine for men," said Dan McCormick, who co-founded Create Wellness with his wife, Sienna Mori. "Creatine is creatine."

It sells gummy and powdered creatine products in colorful packaging, intended to appeal to everyone. According to McCormick, men and women are buying it in equal measure. Last year, it generated $20 million in net revenue, he said.

Rigden, the Los Angeles-based nutritionist, said she had been taking creatine daily since January in addition to working with a personal trainer.

"I've just never seen this level of progression. I'm going up in weights every single week," she said, adding that her goal is to do 10 unassisted pull-ups by her birthday this summer. (She's up to 8.)

But, Rigden, who also recently got her mother on creatine, said she also practiced what she preached to clients. "My diet's pretty dialed in. I prioritize sleep. I do all the things. I'm doing the work in the gym," she said. "Creatine's given me this little extra edge."

Write to Sara Ashley O'Brien at sara.obrien@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 06, 2025 22:00 ET (02:00 GMT)

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