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Effect of creatine and weight training on muscle creatine and performance in vegetarians

Darren G Burke, Philip D Chilibeck, Gianni Parise, Darren G Candow, Douglas Mahoney, Mark Tarnopolsky

Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003 35(11):1946-1955

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 14600563
DOI: 10.1249/01.MSS.0000093614.17517.79
Funding: PubMed classifies the article as Research Support, Non-U.S. Government. The exact funding source was not identified in accessible publication records during Biohack Blueprint's 2026-10-02 audit.
Competing interests: No explicit competing-interests statement was located in the accessible PubMed or publisher records during Biohack Blueprint's 2026-10-02 audit. This is an audit-status statement, not confirmation that no competing interests existed.

Study snapshot

Design	Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled resistance-training trial
Model	Human
Sample	42 participants; 18 vegetarians and 24 nonvegetarians
Intervention	Creatine loading then maintenance during an 8-week resistance-training program
Duration	8 weeks
Endpoints	Muscle total creatine; Phosphocreatine; Lean tissue; Muscle fiber area; Strength; Work performance

What the study showed, in plain terms

Landmark trial comparing vegetarians and omnivores and testing whether lower baseline muscle creatine predicts a larger response to supplementation.

Key findings

Vegetarians began with lower muscle creatine and showed larger increases in muscle creatine and some training-related outcomes when supplemented; creatine improved several outcomes versus placebo overall.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Small subgroups and short intervention; vegetarian response differences do not mean all plant-based people require supplementation or will experience larger clinical benefits.

Citation network

Articles citing this research paper

1 article

Biohack Blueprint analyses that reference this study in their evidence base.

Oct 2, 2026 Vegan Creatine: Plant-Based Diets, Lower Stores and Who Responds MostVegan and vegetarian creatine evidence: baseline muscle stores, response to supplementation, performance, cognition, vegan manufacturing and dosing.Read analysis

Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Last verified 02 October 2026

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction