Vegan Creatine vs Regular Creatine | What’s The Difference?

Regular creatine can be naturally found in animal tissue, while vegan creatine is a synthetically made substance. Practically all creatine supplements that do not come in a gelatin capsule are vegan-friendly.

Keep on reading to find out how to choose the right supplement and whether or not you should be taking vegan creatine in the first place. 

What Is Regular Creatine?

Creatine is an amino acid that is located mostly in the muscles and the brain within the body. Its main job is to supply energy to the muscles.

People usually choose to take creatine orally to increase their muscle mass and improve athletic performance.

But the substance can also be used, in some cases, to treat neuromuscular conditions, brain disorders, and congestive heart failure. In some instances, creatine is also applied topically to boost skin firmness and help get rid of wrinkles. 

The body can naturally make creatine in the liver and kidneys from amino acids. More creatine comes from the food you eat – red meat and seafood are especially rich in this substance.

As dietary sources of creatine are naturally found in animal tissue, it might be impossible for vegans to get the substance through diet. So, many may benefit from supplementation.

Are Creatine Supplements Vegan?

The good news is that most of the creatine supplements are vegan.

That is because the manufacturers use synthetically made creatine instead of the naturally-occurring ones.

The majority of supplements are made of a combination of sarcosine (a sodium salt and derivative of acetic acid) and cyanamide (an organic amide). 

In theory, manufacturers could have extracted creatine from biological raw materials, such as the muscle scraps of chicken and beef, for example, but such a method is simply not cost-effective. Furthermore, it can be unsanitary. 

But while the actual creatine supplement is vegan, there are supplements that might contain animal ingredients. You should be careful when choosing supplements that come in capsules as a lot of those are made out of gelatin – an ingredient typically derived from collagen taken from animal body parts.

With that being said, not all capsules are necessarily made out of gelatin. Nowadays there are capsule shells available on the market made out of cellulose or tapioca roots. Those can even hold a wider range of fill materials, by the way.

How to Choose the Right Creatine Supplement If You’re Vegan?

Here are a few things you should take into consideration before you get a brand-new vegan creatine supplement:

• Look for a vegan label or certification on the packaging
• Pay extra attention to the ingredients, especially if the supplement comes in capsules (look for the ones that are not made out of gelatin)
• If you don’t have time to read through the ingredients, go for creatine powder. But make sure that the creatine is synthetically made
• You might also want to buy from a company that is cruelty-free
• Don’t forget to consult your doctor before starting to take any dietary supplements.

If you’re looking to buy some vegan creatine but don’t want to engage in the research yourself, feel free to read up on our list of the best vegan creatine supplements.

Do You Need to Take Creatine Supplements?

You do not need to take this supplement even if you’re vegan as your body produces enough creatine for your day-to-day life (that is in case you follow a healthy diet, of course). But creatine supplements can be beneficial for those engaged in high-intensity sports as they can help improve overall performance.

At the moment, creatine is an unproven treatment and there is no established dosage of the supplement that needs to be used. However, it is one of the most popular and widely researched supplements and the general dosages appear to be perfectly safe.

A higher dose is typically recommended for vegans. The loading phase (5-7 days) involves taking about 7-10 grams four times per day and the maintenance dose includes 5-7 grams per day.

Some studies show that vegans are more sensitive to creatine supplementation. That might be due to the fact they do not get extra creatine from the diet.

Those who suffer from any form of kidney disease might not want to take a creatine supplement as the organs would have to process a lot more creatinine.

If you’re overall healthy, the chances are that prolonged supplementation of creatine will have no detrimental effect. However, that might simply mean that, at the moment, we do not have any data to support negative health claims. 

What’s The Bottom Line?

The main difference between regular and vegan creatine is the fact that the former can be found in seafood and red meat.

Plant foods do not contain any creatine and that’s exactly why vegans who need to maintain optimum performance as an athlete typically choose to consume synthetically-made creatine supplements.

Remember that you do not need to take these supplements unless you engage in high-intensity training. Otherwise, just stick to a healthy diet, and your body will manage to produce all the creatine that it might need on a daily basis on its own.