Impact of creatine supplementation on menopausal women’s body composition, cognition, estrogen, strength, and sleep

BACKGROUND: Despite extensive research on creatine, evidence for use among females is understudied. Understanding the effects of creatine metabolism in peri- and post menopause yields important implications for creatine supplementation regarding performance and health in females. This repeated-measures quasi-experimental study analyzes the effects of Creatine Monohydrate on performance, body composition, cognitive function, estrogen levels, mood and sleep of females in perimenopause and postmenopause. METHODS: TFifteen females with a mean age of 54 with 5 in perimenopause and 10 in postmenopause participated in this 14 week study. The participants in each group attended 9 sessions over the 14 weeks, following a twice-weekly training schedule based total body strength training program written by the college conditioning coach. The study used a Bod Pod® to analyze body composition, an estradiol spit test to observe estrogen levels, cognitive function assessments, a weekly mood and sleep questionnaire, and an isokinetic dynamometer to examine muscle strength. RESULTS: Creatine supplementation led to significant increases in lower body strength across peri- and postmenopausal participants, particularly in the test of the isometric concentric extensor peak torque at 60° for 3 seconds (p < .05). Perimenopausal women demonstrated positive improvements in sleep quality (p = .0181). There were no significant results observed in estradiol levels or non-Humac tests.