Can You Mix Creatine With Gatorade? What the Studies Show
Quick answer. Yes, you can mix creatine monohydrate into Gatorade or a similar sports drink; several clinical trials gave creatine exactly that way. The sugar is optional: creatine raised muscle creatine without it, and the clearest studies showing that sugar increases retention used about 90 to 100 g per 5 g dose, two and a half to three times what a 20-ounce bottle holds. Smaller amounts gave mixed results, and we found no trial showing better strength or performance from the sugar. Dissolved creatine slowly turns into creatinine, faster in acidic drinks; in a patent's tests (patents are not peer-reviewed), an acidic creatine drink lost about 1% in 8 hours at room temperature. The main safety points are the sugar in regular versions and creatine's own effects, such as weight gain and higher creatinine on kidney blood tests.
What the research says about creatine in Gatorade
It has been used as the mixer. Trials from one University of Oklahoma group mixed each creatine dose into 250 to 500 mL of Gatorade, and a 2005 heat study also used it. Placebo groups drank the same drink, so these trials show creatine can be taken this way, not whether the drink helped. We found no trial comparing creatine in Gatorade and in water.
Large amounts of sugar increase retention. In a 1996 study, 93 g of simple sugars after each 5 g dose gave a 60% larger rise in muscle creatine than creatine alone. In a 1998 infusion study, insulin raised muscle creatine only at high or above-normal levels. In a 2000 study funded by a supplement company, about 95 g of carbohydrate with each dose, or 47 g of carbohydrate plus 50 g of protein, raised whole-body creatine retention by about 25% over placebo; 50 g per dose did not significantly raise it. Standard Gatorade is a 6% carbohydrate solution, its maker says, so a 20-ounce (591 mL) bottle holds about 35 g by our calculation, a little over a third of the 1996 amount per dose.
Smaller amounts and performance: mixed or null. In 16 men split into four groups, 3-day retention was 80% with 18 g of dextrose per dose against 61% with creatine alone; an effervescent formula with the same dextrose plus sodium and potassium gave 63%. In another 16-man trial, only the group that added alpha-lipoic acid to creatine and 100 g of sucrose a day had a significantly larger rise in muscle creatine. About 100 g of sugar per dose did not improve swim speed in 10 international-level swimmers, or sprint-cycling power in 13 active men, beyond creatine alone.
Sugar-free versions. USDA FoodData Central lists Gatorade Zero at 0 g of sugars and under 0.3 g of carbohydrate per 100 mL, sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium, so it cannot supply the sugar studied above. Creatine raised muscle creatine without sugar in the 1996 and 2003 studies, and anaerobic capacity rose with artificially sweetened creatine in a 1997 trial of 26 people. We found no study of creatine with these specific sweeteners.
What human studies have tested
| Study | Who took part | What they took | Duration | What was measured | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green et al., 1996 (Am J Physiol) | 24 men | 5 g creatine in solution 4 times a day, alone or followed 30 min later by 93 g simple sugars | 5 days | Muscle creatine (biopsy), insulin | Muscle creatine rose in both groups; the rise was 60% larger with sugar; insulin rose sharply only with sugar |
| Green et al., 1996 (Acta Physiol Scand) | 22 men in 4 groups | 5 g creatine every 4 hours (20 g a day), alone or with 93 g simple sugars (one sugar group also cycled 1 hour a day); or a drink without creatine or sugar | 2 days | Blood and urine creatine, insulin | Lower blood and urine creatine with sugar, suggesting more was retained; exercise added nothing (sugar groups also ate a high-carbohydrate diet) |
| Steenge et al., 1998 | 7 men | 12.4 g creatine during insulin infusion at 4 rates | 300 minutes, 4 visits | Muscle creatine | Rose only at the two highest insulin rates (+4.5 and +8.3 mmol/kg dry muscle) |
| Steenge et al., 2000 | 12 men, each tested 4 times | 4 × 5 g creatine, each followed by 5 g carbohydrate (placebo), 50 g, 94 g (96 g in the abstract), or 47 g carbohydrate plus 50 g protein | About 1 day per condition | Insulin, whole-body creatine retention | About 25% more retained with 94 g carbohydrate or carbohydrate plus protein vs placebo; 50 g not significantly different; insulin's effect weakened within 24 hours. Funded by a supplement company |
| Preen et al., 2003 | 18 active men, 3 groups | 20 g creatine a day alone, with glucose (1 g/kg twice a day), or with 60 minutes of daily exercise | 5 days | Muscle creatine | +25% with glucose, +16% creatine alone, +18% with exercise |
| Burke et al., 2003 | 16 men | 20 g creatine a day alone, with 100 g sucrose a day, or with sucrose plus 1,000 mg alpha-lipoic acid | 5 days | Muscle creatine | Total creatine rose with creatine; significantly larger rise only in the alpha-lipoic acid group (abstract) |
| Greenwood et al., 2003 | 16 men in 4 groups | 4 times a day: 5 g dextrose; 5 g creatine; 5 g creatine plus 18 g dextrose; or effervescent creatine with 18 g dextrose, sodium and potassium | 3 days | Whole-body creatine retention | 61% with creatine alone, 80% with dextrose, 63% with effervescent creatine |
| Theodorou et al., 2005 | 10 international-level swimmers | 5 × 5 g creatine a day, alone or with about 100 g simple sugars after each dose | 4 days | Repeated maximal swim speed | Both groups swam faster; no difference between groups |
| Theodorou et al., 2017 | 20 active men (7 creatine, 6 creatine plus sugar, 7 control) | 5 × 5 g creatine a day, alone or each dose followed by 500 mL of a glucose drink with about 100 g sugars | 4 days | Three 30-second cycling sprints | Creatine alone improved more power measures; no added benefit from sugar |
| Masodsai et al., 2023 | 17 male soccer players, crossover | One glucose–electrolyte sports drink (25 g glucose) alone, with 5 g creatine, or with creatine plus 35 mg caffeine | One drink per visit | Repeated sprinting to fatigue in the heat | Creatine drink no different from the plain drink; creatine plus caffeine better than the plain drink |
| Bemben et al., 2001 (football) | 25 college football players | 20 g a day for 5 days, then 5 g a day, each 5 g in 500 mL of Gatorade; placebo in the same drink | 9 weeks of training | Body composition, strength, power | Greater gains in weight, lean mass and some strength and power tests with creatine |
| Bemben et al., 2001 (sedentary) | 19 sedentary men | 20 g a day for 5 days, then 5 g a day, each 5 g in 250 mL of Gatorade | 10 days | Isometric strength and endurance | No difference from placebo in strength or endurance (the authors suggested a possible endurance benefit) |
| Eliot et al., 2008; Bemben et al., 2010 | 42 men aged 48 to 72 | 5 g creatine in 480 mL of Gatorade after training 3 times a week, with or without 35 g whey; placebo was the drink alone | 14 weeks of training | Body composition, strength | All groups improved; no added benefit from creatine or whey |
| Harris et al., 2002 | 5 adults, plus a second small study | 2 g creatine as a solution, in meat, as a lozenge, or as a suspension in ice-cold water | Single doses | Blood creatine over 6 hours | Lozenge and suspension: 20% lower peak and 30–35% smaller area under the curve than the solution |
Amounts are those used in studies, not recommendations; follow your product label and ask a healthcare professional if you have a medical condition.
Practical points the evidence supports
Mixing ahead. Dissolved creatine slowly converts to inactive creatinine, generally faster at lower pH and higher temperature, a 2011 review states. Most figures come from a 1999 patent, which is not peer-reviewed: an acidic creatine sports-drink powder dissolved at pH 3.66 kept about 99% of its creatine after 8 hours at 25–26°C (77–79°F), 96% after 1 day, 88% after 3 days and 58% after 2 weeks. Separate solutions lost about 13% at pH 2.5 and 21% at pH 3.5 over 3 days; Gatorade Lemon-Lime measured pH 2.97 in a 2016 survey. Cold slowed the loss in the patent and in a peer-reviewed 2003 study, by very different amounts: 7.3% converted after 5 weeks at 4°C (39°F) in the patent, while an effervescent creatine solution (pH 3.6) lost 80% refrigerated and 90% at room temperature within 45 days in the 2003 study, though creatine also crystallized out of its refrigerated samples, possibly explaining part of that loss. None of these tests used Gatorade. So a drink finished the same day loses little; one kept for days loses more, even refrigerated.
Dissolving. About 6 g of creatine dissolves per liter at 4°C, 14 g at 20°C (68°F) and 34 g at 50°C (122°F), and more in acidic liquid, the 2011 review reports. By our calculation, a room-temperature 20-ounce bottle holds about 8 g in solution and an ice-cold one about 3.5 g, so part of a 5 g scoop may settle. Undissolved creatine is still absorbed: in a small 2002 study, a suspension in ice-cold water gave a 20% lower blood peak than a solution (muscle was not measured). Warm liquid dissolves more but speeds breakdown; we found no data on a warm drink drunk at once. In 1,911 public Amazon reviews of 11 creatine, HMB and creatine-plus-HMB products (including ours) that our team collected in September 2026, mixing complaints (clumps, grit, undissolved powder) made up at least 10% of critical-review weight for both plain creatine powders and 5 of 6 other brands' creatine-plus-HMB powders; mixing praise was as widespread.
Caffeinated drinks. Gatorade Lemon-Lime lists 0 mg of caffeine. With caffeine, results conflict: daily caffeine at 5 mg per kg of body weight cancelled creatine's gain in torque in 9 men, while in a 54-man trial neither creatine alone nor creatine with 300 mg of caffeine a day beat placebo. A 2022 review of 10 studies found mixed results but concluded that daily caffeine during loading could interfere.
Safety
Heat and hydration. In the 2005 trial, creatine with Gatorade (20 g a day for 5 days) did not impair temperature regulation in 16 adults cycling at 39°C (102°F), and a 2009 meta-analysis of 10 trials found no evidence that creatine hinders heat tolerance or fluid balance.
Creatine's own effects. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements says creatine often causes weight gain, from water retention and possibly added muscle; several strength-training studies found 1 to 2 kg in a month. Among 59 soccer players over 28 days, diarrhea was reported by 55.6% after one 10 g dose a day, 28.6% after two 5 g doses and 35.0% on placebo. Blood creatinine rose in every creatine group of the 54-man caffeine trial, so tell your doctor you take creatine before kidney blood tests. Health Canada's monograph, for adults 18 and older, advises consulting a health care practitioner first if pregnant, breastfeeding or with kidney disease. Our review of creatine monohydrate research covers kidney and other safety data.
Sugar and teeth. Regular versions add about 35 g of carbohydrate per 20-ounce bottle, which people managing diabetes or calories should count. The 2016 pH survey's authors class drinks below pH 4.0 as potentially erosive to teeth.
Medicines. A 2026 review, by an author with creatine-industry ties, found no controlled human studies of creatine–medicine interactions. Interaction databases listed mostly minor or theoretical kidney-related signals; one rated two drugs, pemetrexed and entecavir, as moderate. That does not rule interactions out; ask a pharmacist if you take medicines that affect the kidneys.
What research does not establish
- That creatine works better in Gatorade than in water over weeks of training.
- That the roughly 35 g of carbohydrate in one 20-ounce bottle changes creatine uptake.
- That sugar-free sports drinks, their sweeteners or their electrolytes change creatine uptake.
- How much creatine is lost in a commercial sports drink at room or refrigerator temperature.
How we reviewed the evidence
On October 25, 2026, we searched PubMed for creatine with carbohydrate or glucose (283 records, 40 screened), with Gatorade (5), with sports drinks (33), with sweeteners (4), with caffeine, with electrolyte drinks (3), creatine stability in solution (19) and drug interactions (7). On ClinicalTrials.gov, 78 records matched; none compared creatine in a sports drink and in water. We read all cited abstracts and eight full texts plus the patent; figures from the 1996, 1998 and three 2003 studies come from abstracts. We excluded animal and patient studies and checked cited trials for retractions. Vinatura ran no tests or trials. Gatorade is a trademark of its owner, which has no connection with Vinatura or this article.
Vinatura Research Perspective
We asked whether anyone has tested creatine in Gatorade, how much sugar the key studies used, whether more retention meant better results, and how fast creatine breaks down in acidic drinks. Three things stood out. First, the Gatorade trials gave the drink to every group, so they cannot answer the searched question; the earlier version of this page misread two of them, and took an 82% glycogen figure from a trial in which both groups drank 2 liters of a glucose drink daily. Second, matching the 1996 protocol would take about 10 bottles of a 6% sports drink a day, by our calculation, while 50 g per dose did not significantly raise retention. Third, the stability figures, including the 2011 review's, trace mainly to a 1999 patent later assigned to a creatine patent company; we found no peer-reviewed test in a sports drink, and the patent and a peer-reviewed study disagree on how much refrigeration helps.
Our assessment: consistent evidence that creatine can be taken in a sports drink; moderate evidence, from small, short studies, that large carbohydrate doses raise retention during loading; insufficient evidence that one bottle's sugar changes uptake or results; and limited evidence that dissolved creatine keeps for hours, not days, at room temperature. A trial of 4 weeks or more comparing creatine in water and in a typical sports drink, measuring muscle creatine and strength, would change this view, as would independent stability tests in sports drinks.
Where this ingredient appears in Vinatura products
HMB Leucine Creatine Powder with Vitamin D3 - Lemonade contains 5 g creatine monohydrate per serving (one scoop), with 3 g calcium HMB (myHMB®) providing 390 mg calcium, 3 g L-leucine and 40 mcg (1,600 IU) vitamin D3, in 30 servings; the product page states it is NSF Contents Certified. The studies above did not test this product.
Frequently asked questions
Can I mix creatine with Gatorade Zero? Yes. It adds almost no carbohydrate, and creatine raised muscle creatine without sugar in several trials.
Can I put creatine in Gatorade the night before? In a patent's tests (not peer-reviewed), an acidic creatine drink at room temperature lost about 1% in 8 hours and about 4% in a day. Cold slowed losses by widely varying amounts, and no test used Gatorade.
Can I take creatine with Gatorade after a workout? Several trials gave it right after training. A 2021 review found some evidence favoring intake after exercise, but said study limitations prevent firm conclusions.
References
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- Steenge GR, et al. Stimulatory effect of insulin on creatine accumulation in human skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol. 1998;275(6):E974–E979. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.1998.275.6.E974
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Editorial note: This article reviews published research for educational purposes. It does not establish the effects or safety of any specific supplement, including Vinatura products, and is not medical advice. Written by Vinatura Editorial Team. Last reviewed October 2026.
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