Creatine for vegans: is creatine monohydrate vegan?
For many vegans, it can be difficult deciding what foods are best to eat in order to ensure a healthy and balanced diet. In light of this, for vegans attempting to stick to a workout regime in a catabolic state, many struggle to find foods and supplements that will ensure their body remains in an anabolic state, which will increase muscle mass and help to aid muscle repair.
Can vegans take creatine?
Many vegans ask the question: is Creatine vegan friendly? The simple answer to this question is yes, it is.
Creatine is naturally produced in the body, and is made from methionine, glycine and arginine, which are the building blocks of protein.
During an intense workout session, creatine levels in the muscles you utilise decrease. This is evident during repeated bursts of high intensity exercise – however, creatine can increase your exercise performance when 3g of creatine is consumed per day and can help prolong creatine depletion.
As vegans are unable to eat creatine rich foods, such as red meats and fish, an alternative method to increase creatine levels in the body pre-and post-workout is by using a creatine monohydrate supplement – which can be taken as a powder mixed with a drink or as a tablet.
Vegans and vegetarians have lower resting creatine muscle stores in the body, because of a lack of meat in their diets. If you are looking to supplement Creatine monohydrate as a vegan, learn more about how to take creatine.
