Creatine is a widely used performance supplement associated with intense training and muscle growth. This popularity has led to a common question, particularly among younger individuals, regarding its safety: Does taking creatine negatively impact natural growth or final adult height? The concern is rooted in a misunderstanding of how the compound works and how human height is biologically determined. Science confirms that the mechanism of creatine is entirely separate from the processes that regulate skeletal development and growth.
How Creatine Works in the Body
Creatine is a naturally occurring organic compound synthesized in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas from amino acids. The majority of the body’s creatine, approximately 95%, is stored within skeletal muscle tissue. Its primary role is to facilitate the rapid recycling of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, which is the body’s universal energy currency.
When muscle cells contract during short, high-intensity efforts, ATP is broken down to release energy, leaving behind adenosine diphosphate (ADP). The body needs to quickly convert ADP back into usable ATP to sustain the effort. This is where creatine’s phosphorylated form, phosphocreatine (PCr), steps in.
PCr acts as an immediate energy reserve by donating its phosphate group to ADP, rapidly regenerating ATP through a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme creatine kinase. By supplementing with creatine, individuals increase the stores of PCr in their muscles, which enhances the capacity for this rapid energy regeneration, supporting activities like weightlifting, jumping, or sprinting. Creatine’s function is strictly metabolic and muscular, focused on energy transfer within the cell, and it does not involve the hormonal or skeletal systems.
The Science Behind Determining Height
Human height is a complex trait primarily determined by genetics, with DNA accounting for a large percentage of an individual’s final stature. The actual lengthening of bones occurs at the epiphyseal plates, commonly known as growth plates, which are located at the ends of long bones. These plates are composed of cartilage that multiplies and then gradually hardens into new bone tissue, a process called endochondral ossification.
This process is tightly regulated by hormones. The pituitary gland secretes Growth Hormone (GH), which stimulates the liver to produce Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1). Both GH and IGF-1 are primary drivers of growth plate activity, promoting the creation of new cartilage cells that lengthen the bone. Other hormones, including thyroid hormones and sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone, also play significant roles in modulating the rate of growth.
The cessation of vertical growth occurs when the growth plates undergo epiphyseal fusion. This fusion is largely accelerated by sex hormones during and after puberty, which is why growth typically stops in late adolescence. Therefore, final height is the result of the speed and duration of growth plate activity, governed by genetics, hormones, and environmental factors like nutrition.
Does Creatine Affect Growth Plates
The question of whether creatine makes you shorter is answered by the lack of any scientific link between the supplement and bone development. Creatine’s action is confined to the cellular energy cycle in muscle tissue, a mechanism entirely separate from the hormonal pathways that regulate skeletal growth. There is no clinical evidence to suggest that creatine supplementation interferes with the function of growth hormone, IGF-1, or the timing of growth plate fusion.
The misconception often arises from confusion with anabolic steroids, which are synthetic hormones that can prematurely accelerate the closure of growth plates, thus stunting final height. Creatine is not a hormone, nor does it mimic hormone activity in a way that would trigger this skeletal response. Studies that have examined creatine use in adolescent populations consistently report no adverse effects on natural growth trajectories.
To the contrary, some data has observed that a higher natural dietary intake of creatine is associated with greater height in children and adolescents, though this is likely a correlation reflecting greater meat consumption and overall nutrition. The consensus among researchers is that creatine is a safe supplement regarding skeletal development and final adult height. Any side effects associated with creatine are minor, such as gastrointestinal distress or water retention within muscle cells, which are unrelated to bone structure or growth plate function.