Best Creatine for Men
The best creatine for men is Naked Creatine: plain creatine monohydrate, 5 g a scoop, on a testing list from NSF, an independent lab. If you are drug-tested for sport, buy Thorne Creatine instead.
Buy Naked Creatine
$0.18 a day, less than any other tested creatine here except NOW Sports. Nothing in the tub but creatine monohydrate, and NSF checks the label is right.
Check price on Amazon- Drug-tested for your sport? Thorne Creatine is on NSF Certified for Sport, with more NSF-tested lots than any creatine here. It costs $0.47 a day in the 180-serving tub.
Tested creatine for men (5)
Every one is 5 g of creatine monohydrate a scoop. Tap a badge to see the list.
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$0.18 a day
Check price -
If you are drug-tested
Thorne Creatine
NSF Certified for SportNSF/ANSI 173
NSF screens it lot by lot for drugs banned in sport: 77 lots so far.
$0.47 a day
Check price -
NOW Sports Creatine
Every batch screened for banned drugs; the lowest price on a sport list.
$0.16 a day
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BulkSupplements Creatine
NSF Certified for SportNSF/ANSI 173
On both NSF lists, with 10 lots on the sport list. Sold in a bag.
$0.20 a day
Check price -
Momentous Creatine
NSF Certified for SportNSF/ANSI 173
On both NSF lists, with 28 lots on the sport list.
$0.48 a day
Check price
Updated November 4, 2026. A day = one 5 g scoop: Amazon price on November 6, 2026, divided by the scoops in the tub (Thorne: the 180-serving tub).
Questions men ask
How much creatine should a man take?
3 to 5 g a day, every day, which is one scoop of any powder here. The International Society of Sports Nutrition notes that larger athletes may need 5 to 10 g a day to keep their muscles full (Kreider 2017). A loading week of about 20 g a day only gets you there sooner. More in the creatine dosage guide.
Does creatine cause hair loss?
The best evidence says no: in a 2025 trial, 38 trained men finished 12 weeks of 5 g a day or a placebo, and the groups did not differ in DHT, a hormone linked to male-pattern baldness, or in hair density or thickness (Lak 2025). The worry came from a 2009 study of 20 rugby players whose DHT rose 56% during a week of 25 g a day and stayed 40% above baseline at 5 g a day, though hair was not measured (van der Merwe 2009); our creatine guide covers both studies.
Does creatine raise testosterone?
No. Testosterone did not change in the rugby study, and in the 12-week trial it moved the same way with creatine as with the placebo. Creatine works by storing more quick energy in muscle, so you can do a little more work each set.
What does each testing list check?
| List | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| NSF/ANSI 173 | Checks that the tub holds what the label says and stays under contaminant limits. It does not screen for banned drugs. |
| NSF Certified for Sport | Everything NSF/ANSI 173 checks, plus a banned-drug screen of each listed lot. |
| Informed Sport | Screens every batch for banned drugs before it is sold. |
More questions
Will creatine make me gain water weight?
A little. The only side effect studies report again and again is weight gain, and it tracks the extra water creatine pulls into muscle (Kreider 2017). That is water inside the muscle, not fat.
Is creatine hard on a man’s kidneys?
Not in healthy people, by the pooled studies. It does raise creatinine, the number a kidney blood test reads, a little, and that rise can look like a problem on a lab report. A 2025 review found that small rise and no significant change in GFR, the kidneys’ filtering rate (Naeini 2025). Tell your doctor you take it, and ask first if you have kidney disease.
What is the best creatine for men over 50?
The same creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5 g a day, taken with weight training: in 22 trials of 721 older adults (average age 57 to 70) who lifted 2 to 3 days a week, creatine added about 1.37 kg (3 lb) more lean mass than a placebo, plus some chest and leg strength (Chilibeck 2017). Our pick is the same Naked Creatine; if you want NSF’s sport screen too, Klean Athlete Klean Creatine is on both NSF lists at $0.57 a day. If you have kidney disease or a low eGFR on a blood test, ask your doctor first. More in creatine after 60.
Sources
- Testing lists: NSF/ANSI 173 and NSF Certified for Sport (lot counts read November 4, 2026; Klean Creatine listings 1121640 and 1780369, 315 g) and Informed Sport. Klean Creatine label: NIH DSLD 276540 (5 g a serving, 60 servings). Dated copies on third-party tested creatine.
- Kreider RB, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017.
- van der Merwe J, et al. Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clin J Sport Med. 2009.
- Lak M, et al. Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2025.
- Chilibeck PD, et al. Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: a meta-analysis. Open Access J Sports Med. 2017.
- Naeini EK, et al. Effect of creatine supplementation on kidney function: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Nephrol. 2025.