Does Coffee Ruin Your Creatine? What the Evidence Actually Says

Episode Summary
In this solo Monday episode, Mikki takes on the creatine claims that do the rounds on social media: that stirring it into hot coffee destroys it, that caffeine cancels it out, and that plain creatine monohydrate is the wrong kind unless it is "water-washed" or buffered. She starts with the chemistry. Creatine "breaking down" means converting to creatinine, and how fast that happens depends on acidity, temperature and time. Creatine is very stable as a powder, and only loses meaningful amounts when it sits in liquid for days.
From there she looks at what a hot coffee actually does to your scoop, why the 1996 caffeine study that started the worry doesn't look much like your morning routine, how creatine monohydrate is made and what impurities can turn up in poorly made products, and what the trials show for buffered creatine and creatine HCl. She finishes with practical takeaways for anyone who just wants to take their creatine and stop worrying about it.
Key Topics
  • What "creatine breaking down" means: losing a water molecule and becoming creatinine, the same marker measured in kidney function blood tests
  • Why the tub is not the problem: creatine monohydrate powder stays stable for years, even when stored warm, so a hot car or gym bag won't hurt it
  • How acidity, temperature and time drive conversion once creatine is dissolved, and why very little is lost in the very acidic stomach
  • Creatine in hot coffee: no study has measured it directly, but Mikki's estimate from published stability data puts the loss at around 1–5% for a coffee you finish, a fraction of a gram on a 5 g scoop
  • Where real losses come from: making a batch days ahead or reheating a forgotten coffee, and why baking creatine into food isn't a good idea, based on a 2025 lab study where temperature was the biggest driver of degradation
  • Does caffeine cancel creatine? The 1996 study in nine men used very high loading doses, and muscle creatine rose regardless. Possible explanations include opposite effects on muscle relaxation time, gut discomfort and caffeine withdrawal, and later trials and a 2022 systematic review found little or mixed interference
  • How creatine monohydrate is made, the impurities poorly controlled production can leave behind, and why third-party testing and a certificate of analysis matter more than "100% pure" on a label, plus what micronised and anhydrous labels do and don't mean
  • The "acid-washed" claim: Mikki found no peer-reviewed evidence it exists as a product category or causes bloating, and a large safety analysis found GI complaints at rates similar to placebo
  • Buffered creatine and creatine HCl: why their pitch runs against the chemistry, and trials showing neither beat plain monohydrate
  • The practical bottom line: third-party tested monohydrate, 3–5 g a day, stir it in and drink it, and don't bake it or make it days ahead
Chapters
00:00 Introduction: creatine, coffee and online claims
01:45 How creatine breaks down, in the tub and in liquid
04:45 What hot coffee actually does to creatine
07:46 Does caffeine cancel out creatine?
10:11 How creatine is made and what's in the tub
12:11 The acid-washed and buffered creatine claims
14:11 Creatine HCl and the practical takeaways
Guest / Resources
  • Kreider, Jäger and Purpura (2022), Bioavailability, Efficacy, Safety, and Regulatory Status of Creatine and Related Compounds: A Critical Review, Nutrients
  • Saiki et al. (2025), Multi-analytical characterization of creatine degradation for dietary supplement safety assessment, Food Research International
  • Harris, Söderlund and Hultman (1992), Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation, Clinical Science
  • Vandenberghe et al. (1996), Caffeine counteracts the ergogenic action of muscle creatine loading, Journal of Applied Physiology
  • Hespel, Op't Eijnde and Van Leemputte (2002), Opposite actions of caffeine and creatine on muscle relaxation time in humans, Journal of Applied Physiology
  • Trexler et al. (2016), Effects of Coffee and Caffeine Anhydrous Intake During Creatine Loading, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
  • Elosegui et al. (2022), Interaction Between Caffeine and Creatine When Used as Concurrent Ergogenic Supplements: A Systematic Review, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism
  • Moret, Prevarin and Tubaro (2011), Levels of creatine, organic contaminants and heavy metals in creatine dietary supplements, Food Chemistry
  • Kreider et al. (2025), Safety of creatine supplementation: analysis of the prevalence of reported side effects in clinical trials and adverse event reports, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
  • Jagim et al. (2012), A buffered form of creatine does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations than creatine monohydrate, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
  • Londoño-Velásquez et al. (2025), Creatine monohydrate versus creatine hydrochloride on strength and body composition in elite team-sport athletes, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
  • Creapure, German-made creatine monohydrate
  • Creatine researchers Darren Candow, Scott Forbes and Jose Antonio
  • Find Mikki on Instagram, Threads and X at @mikkiwilliden, Facebook at Mikki Williden Nutrition, and at mikkiwilliden.com

Contact Mikki:
https://mikkiwilliden.com/
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https://www.instagram.com/mikkiwilliden/
https://linktr.ee/mikkiwilliden
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