Creatine has spent decades being associated with gyms, strength and muscle. But research continues to suggest that its role in the human body may extend considerably further.
A 2025 study published in Frontiers in Nutrition has added another intriguing piece to that picture, finding that higher dietary creatine intake was associated with a lower prevalence of cancer in a large sample of US adults.
That does not mean creatine has been proven to prevent cancer. But the findings are interesting enough to warrant attention — particularly alongside emerging research into creatine's role in cellular energy metabolism and immune function.
What did the study find?
Researchers analysed data from 25,879 adults aged 20 and over who participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, between 2007 and 2018.
They compared estimated dietary creatine intake with participants' history of cancer while statistically adjusting for a range of potential confounding factors.
The headline result was striking.
For every one standard-deviation increase in dietary creatine intake, the researchers found approximately a:
5% reduction in the adjusted odds of having cancer.
The adjusted odds ratio was 0.95 (95% CI 0.91–0.99; p=0.025).
The association appeared to be stronger in some groups. Among men, the adjusted odds ratio was 0.93, while among overweight participants it was 0.92. In older adults, higher dietary creatine intake was associated with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.86.
In simple terms, people consuming more creatine through their diet were statistically less likely to report having had cancer.
Before everyone reaches for the creatine tub...
There is an important distinction.
This was an observational, cross-sectional study.
Researchers weren't giving one group creatine and another group a placebo and then waiting to see who developed cancer. They were looking for relationships within existing population data.
That means the study can show an association, but it cannot establish that increased creatine intake caused the reduction in cancer prevalence.
Dietary creatine intake may also reflect other differences between people — including diet, protein intake, lifestyle or general health — which are difficult to completely remove statistically.
The researchers themselves conclude that prospective studies are needed to better understand the relationship between creatine intake and cancer.
So the message isn't:
“Take creatine and you won't get cancer.”
The more accurate conclusion is:
Higher dietary creatine intake was associated with lower cancer prevalence in this large population study, and scientists now need to investigate why.
Why could creatine potentially matter?
This is where the research becomes particularly interesting.
Creatine isn't simply a bodybuilding supplement.
Creatine and phosphocreatine form part of one of the body's fundamental systems for rapidly recycling cellular energy in the form of ATP.
Muscle cells are obvious users of this system, which explains creatine's well-established relationship with physical performance. But other highly energy-dependent cells also use creatine.
That includes cells within the immune system.
Experimental research published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine found that creatine uptake plays an important role in the activity of CD8+ T cells, immune cells involved in identifying and attacking abnormal cells.
Researchers found that reducing the cells' ability to take up creatine impaired their anti-tumour activity in experimental models.
They described creatine as effectively acting like a “molecular battery”, helping T cells buffer their energy supply and maintain the energy required for their immune response.
In mouse models, creatine supplementation also enhanced anti-tumour T-cell activity and suppressed tumour growth. These are preclinical results rather than evidence that creatine treats cancer in humans, but they offer a plausible area for further investigation.
Creatine is becoming much bigger than muscle
For years, the public perception of creatine was incredibly narrow:
Creatine = gym supplement.
That picture is rapidly changing.
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound involved in energy metabolism throughout the body. We manufacture some ourselves and obtain additional creatine through foods, particularly meat and fish.
Supplementation simply provides another source.
What is becoming increasingly fascinating is the number of areas in which researchers are investigating the creatine energy system.
Muscle and strength remain the areas with the strongest established evidence, but research now stretches into ageing, cognition, brain function, cellular energy and immune biology.
The cancer findings should therefore be viewed as part of a much wider scientific question:
Could maintaining adequate creatine availability matter to health in ways we have historically underestimated?
The answer isn't yet clear.
But it's a question increasingly worth asking.
What does this mean if you already take creatine?
Probably not much should change on the basis of this study alone.
Creatine should not be taken as a cancer prevention or cancer treatment based on this research.
The study looked primarily at dietary creatine intake, not a controlled creatine supplementation intervention. And anyone undergoing cancer treatment should discuss supplements with their clinical team because individual circumstances and treatments differ.
What this research does provide is another reason to reconsider creatine's outdated reputation as something used purely by bodybuilders.
Nearly three decades after Bio-Synergy began selling sports nutrition products, creatine remains one of the most interesting ingredients in nutrition science.
We know a great deal about what it does for physical performance.
We may still only be beginning to understand what else it does.
The bottom line
A study involving 25,879 US adults found that greater dietary creatine intake was associated with approximately 5% lower adjusted odds of cancer for every standard-deviation increase in intake.
That is an association — not evidence that creatine prevents cancer.
However, combined with experimental research showing that creatine metabolism can influence the energy supply and activity of tumour-fighting CD8+ T cells, it opens up an intriguing area for future human research.
Creatine may have made its name through muscle.
Its wider biological story could turn out to be considerably bigger.
Research referenced
Jiang J, Zhao H, Chen J, et al. The association between dietary creatine intake and cancer in U.S. adults: insights from NHANES 2007–2018. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2025;11:1460057. PMID: 39867555.
Di Biase S, Ma X, Wang X, et al. Creatine uptake regulates CD8 T cell antitumor immunity. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2019;216(12):2869–2882.
This article is for educational purposes and should not be interpreted as suggesting that creatine prevents, treats or cures cancer. Anyone receiving treatment for cancer should discuss supplements with their healthcare team.
