Creatine for Exercise Recovery
Creatine modestly speeds biochemical recovery after muscle-damaging exercise, lowering creatine kinase around 48 hours, but it does not reliably reduce soreness or restore strength and range of motion. The evidence is mixed and graded preliminary.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
Two 2021 meta-analyses anchor this grade. The larger one (PMID 33631721, 13 trials, n=278) found no effect on strength, soreness, range of motion, or inflammation at any timepoint, with creatine kinase reduced only at 48 hours and high heterogeneity (I-squared over 75%). A second meta-analysis (PMID 34472118) likewise found creatine kinase significantly lowered overall, while lactate dehydrogenase was not. So a biomarker of muscle damage improves, but functional recovery largely does not.
Two recent small double-blind RCTs (PMID 40507040, n=40; PMID 38542807, n=20) did report faster strength recovery and reduced stiffness. However, both were industry-funded by the same manufacturer and underpowered, so they are weighted cautiously and flag a conflict-of-interest concern.
Regulators are silent on recovery specifically: FDA grants GRAS status and EFSA confirms a strength benefit, but only for resistance-trained adults over 55, not recovery. Clinics split: Harvard, Cleveland Clinic, and the ISSN say creatine can hasten recovery, while Mayo Clinic is cautious and calls for more research. This consistent biochemical-versus-functional divide lands the verdict at preliminary B rather than higher.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.613
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高階證據未達主導 (1 positive vs 1 negative)，由 raw_score 決定
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 1 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status