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Does Creatine Boost Power for Vegans? A Look at Recent Research

By the CreatineIQ Research Desk
New Research
Vegan
Musculoskeletal

For physically active individuals on a vegan diet, creatine is a topic of intense interest. Because creatine is naturally found in meat and seafood, vegans typically have lower baseline levels of it in their muscles. A recent 2026 study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology investigated whether supplementing with creatine could level the playing field for vegan athletes.

Key Takeaways

  • Muscle Mass and Body Comp: Four weeks of creatine supplementation (at 0.1g per kg of body weight daily) significantly increased skeletal muscle mass and total body water while reducing body fat compared to a placebo.
  • Explosive Power Improved: The creatine group saw notable improvements in lower-body explosive power, particularly in jumping height and flight time.
  • Strength Unchanged: Despite the authors' conclusions, the actual study data showed no significant changes in maximum strength or sprint times over the four-week period.
  • More Research Needed: The study provides a solid foundation but was small (20 participants) and brief (four weeks), meaning long-term effects still need to be studied.

The Study Design

The researchers recruited 20 physically active vegan adults (10 women and 10 men, aged 18-45) and divided them into two groups. One group received daily creatine monohydrate (0.1 grams per kilogram of body weight), and the other received a placebo.

To ensure the results were reliable, the study was a triple-blind1, placebo-controlled2 trial. All participants also adhered to a normocaloric3 vegan diet throughout the four weeks.

The researchers tested body composition, renal (kidney) biomarkers, and physical performance using various methods, including the countermovement jump test (CMJ)4, sprinting, repeated jumps, and the isometric mid-thigh pull5.

The Findings

After the four-week period, the results were mixed but promising for those seeking to build muscle and explosive power:

  • Body Composition: The creatine group gained an average of 0.3 kg of skeletal muscle mass and 1.4 kg of total body water, and lost 1.4 kg of body fat compared to the placebo group.
  • Explosive Power: Participants taking creatine jumped higher and stayed in the air longer during the repeated jump tests and CMJ.
  • Strength and Speed: Interestingly, the researchers found no changes in sprint performance or maximum strength tests.

Analyzing the Study: Strengths & Limitations

Strengths and Reputability

The study boasts high reputability. It was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, a well-respected peer-reviewed journal. Furthermore, the trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06483321), which promotes transparency.

Methodologically, the triple-blind, placebo-controlled design is the gold standard in clinical research. By ensuring that nobody involved knew who was getting the creatine until the end, they effectively eliminated placebo effects and researcher bias.

Limitations

  1. Contradictory Conclusion: The study's abstract concludes that creatine "enhances muscle strength," yet the actual results section plainly states there were "no changes in sprint or strength tests." This is a significant discrepancy; readers should note that while power (jumping) improved, raw strength did not change in this short timeframe.
  2. Small Sample Size: With only 20 participants, the study is relatively small. Small sample sizes make it harder to generalize the findings to the broader vegan population.
  3. Short Duration: Four weeks is enough time to saturate the muscles with creatine, but it is relatively short for observing massive changes in strength or sprint performance, which often take longer training cycles to develop.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors do disclose relevant commercial relationships. Co-author Scott C. Forbes reports serving as a scientific advisor to Bear Balanced, a creatine gummy company, and having received creatine donations from Creapure for research purposes. Lead author M. López-Moreno reports consulting fees from Danone and Foods For Tomorrow, both outside the submitted work. The remaining authors report no conflicts.

These are worth knowing, though two features of the study limit how much they should colour the result: the trial was registered in advance on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06483321), and the headline strength claim is one this summary already disputes on the study's own data — an industry-friendly conclusion is not the same as industry-friendly evidence.

Conclusion

For active vegans, a modest daily dose of creatine monohydrate over four weeks appears to be a highly effective way to increase muscle mass and lower-body explosive power. However, those looking for immediate gains in raw strength or sprinting speed might need to look at longer-term supplementation and training strategies.

The actual impact of this study is minimal and its findings are merely incremental. While it confirms the basic hypothesis that vegan athletes can rapidly improve body composition and explosive power with creatine (due to lower baseline levels), its incredibly small sample size (20 participants) makes it difficult to generalize. Furthermore, the authors' contradictory claims regarding strength improvements—despite their own data showing no significant changes—severely undermine the study's overall significance. It serves as a very preliminary data point, but is far too poorly supported to definitively shift scientific consensus on vegan strength training.

References

  1. López-Moreno M, Muñoz A, Aguilar-Navarro M, et al. Does creatine supplementation improve strength and power in physically active individuals on a vegan diet? a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial. European journal of applied physiology (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s00421-026-06323-5

Glossary

  1. Triple-blind: The participants, the researchers, and the data analysts do not know who received the real supplement versus the placebo until the study is over. ↩

  2. Placebo-controlled: A study where one group receives an inactive substance to compare against the effects of the active supplement. ↩

  3. Normocaloric: A diet where you eat exactly the number of calories your body burns, meaning you maintain your weight. ↩

  4. Countermovement jump test (CMJ): A test measuring explosive lower-body power by having a person jump as high as they can after a quick downward squat. ↩

  5. Isometric mid-thigh pull: A test of maximum strength where a person pulls as hard as possible on a fixed barbell placed at mid-thigh height. ↩