The Creatine Global Initiative

Can adding creatine to widely consumed foods promote better population health and climate-friendly agriculture?
Find out
The Creatine Global Initiative - Fortifying food with creatine to tackle climate change
CREATINE GLOBALSpotlight

Fortifying food with creatine to tackle climate change

Creatine can be produced industrially by several environmentally friendly processes (requiring no isolation from meat extracts), and the raw materials of these reactions are readily available as basic chemical components. As an odourless white powder, creatine could be efficiently added to foods commonly consumed by the general public (e.g., wheat flour, maize flour, rice). This could begin as a market-driven fortification, allowing for food manufacturers to voluntarily enrich convenient foods available in the market with creatine. (...) If this initiative takes effect, other value-adding ingredients from meat can be similarly utilized to support adequate nutrition while preventing animal agriculture-driven greenhouse-gas emission.
Clin Nutr. 2020 (39) 2320
CREATINE GLOBALRationale

Protect climate and health

Eating less meet is beneficial. But ...

UN climate-change report calls for meat reduction in human diet to tackle climate and human health; however, cutting meat might put the world population at risk of inadequate intake of several meat-specific nutrients.

Meat-free diets lessen creatine. Risk alert!

Creatine is a semi-essential nutrient available only in animal-based foods, and insufficient consumption of creatine from meat can be associated with various health risks in the general population.

Creatine fortification for global health?

Food fortification with creatine could be a promising public health intervention that prevents a large-scale creatine deficiency while reducing meat consumption and promoting greenhouse-gas mitigation.

The Creatine Global Initiative - Protect climate and health
CREATINE GLOBALMission

Creatine goes all-and-sundry

Our mission is to bring together professionals, companies, and regulatory authorities to scrutinize scientific data and provide evidence-informed context for justifying, developing, scaling-up, and putting into safe use effective food vehicles for delivering creatine to the general population to support less animal production, and human and global health.

We envision the world with a variety of ecologically friendly foods enriched with creatine, having a proven impact on public health and global sustainability, for everybody to choose. From cereals and dairy products to food seasoning and condiments, creatine fortification could enable all people to be able to obtain creatine they need to enjoy a healthy and productive life.

CREATINE GLOBALVision

Eco-friendly foods with creatine

CREATINE GLOBALMission

Creatine goes all-and-sundry

Our mission is to bring together professionals, companies, and regulatory authorities to scrutinize scientific data and provide evidence-informed context for justifying, developing, scalling-up, and putting into safe use effective food vehicles for delivering creatine to the general population to support less animal production, and human and global health.

CREATINE GLOBALVision

Eco-friendly foods with creatine

We envision the world with a variety of ecologically friendly foods enriched with creatine, having a proven impact on public health and global sustainability, for everybody to choose. From cereals and dairy products to food seasoning and condiments, creatine fortification could enable all people to be able to obtain creatine they need to enjoy a healthy and productive life.

CREATINE GLOBALRoadmap

Steps to take for achieving our goals

We identified at least six domains to trigger off creatine fortification
  • 1
    Creatine and public health

    Summarize evidence for creatine intake and health at the population level

  • 2
    DRIs for creatine

    Collect and discuss data about creatine dietary reference intakes across groups

  • 3
    Selection of food vehicles

    Consider pros and cons for specific food vehicles for supplemental creatine

  • 4
    Fortification regimens

    Choose appropriate fortification programs to supply sufficient creatine

  • 5
    Regulatory aspects

    Comply with national and international food laws and requirements

  • 6
    Implementation

    Enact sustainable creatine fortification programs and monitor regularly

Learn more
CREATINE GLOBALEvidence

Relevant scientific papers and more

Collected, classified, and presented to help the community to make better informed decisions
CREATINE GLOBALWorld

Taking action on the Global Goals

Our initiative adheres to several Sustainable Development Goals (The Global Goals), set up in 2015 by the UN General Assembly and intended to be achieved by 2030, including Goal 2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture), Goal 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), and Goal 13 (take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts).
The Global Goals
The Creatine Global Initiative - Global Goals
CREATINE GLOBALPartnership

Teaming up with a range of experts

Unite academia, industry, and regulatory authorities for building a case for Creatine Global

Get involved

Entice regulatory authorities and public to ensure relevance

Work together

Secure sustainable cooperation with creatine manufacturers

The foundation

GC Initiative was created by Dr. Sergej M. Ostojic, Professor of Nutrition at UIA and UNS, who has been involved in creatine research for many years

The fact that meat consumption is recommended to be lowered globally for health (...) and ecological reasons lends additional support to the argument for creatine supplementation of the diet.
Theo Wallimann ETH Zürich
The health and ergogenic effects of dietary taurine, creatine, carnosine, anserine, and 4-hydroxyproline are expected to reverse the drastic decline in consumption of red meat (e.g., beef) in the U.S. due to an inadequate understanding of animal-source foods to provide functional amino acids, peptides, and creatine.
Guoyao Wu Texas A&M University College Station
Adequate provision of dietary creatine may be necessary for maintaining homeostasis and optimal health in humans.
John Brosnan Memorial University of Newfoundland
Creatine supplementation can increase cellular energy availability and support general health, fitness, and well-being throughout the lifespan.
Rick Kreider Texas A&M University College Station
CREATINE GLOBALFAQs

Frequently asked questions

How dietary creatine is linked with population health?

Several U.S. population-wide studies suggest a significant link between low dietary creatine intake and poor general health. It appears that the suboptimal intake of creatine is associated with higher risk of depression in adults, poor liver and cardiovascular health in elderly, or impaired growth in children. More studies are highly warranted to further evaluate the relationship between food-driven creatine and population health.

How much creatine is required daily?

Not well established yet. Most studies suggest the daily creatine requirements are approximately 2.0 grams for an average young man and 1.4 grams for an average young woman. About half of this amount is obtained from a typical omnivorous diet, with the remainder being synthesized inside the human body.

What's the best method for supplying creatine widely?

This has yet to be established for creatine. Food fortification might be a convenient large-scale strategy to add creatine and improve the nutritional quality of the food supply. However, food fortification is usually carried out in front of severe symptoms of intake shortage in large shares of the population.

What is the optimal creatine fortificant?

A wide variety of creatine compounds could be used as food fotificants, and creatine monohydrate might be recognized as the most favorable candidate molecule due to its superior bioavailability, efficacy, and safety. Still, creatine monohydrate may be unstable under certain conditions (e.g., low pH, high temperature, aqueous solutions), which requires scrupulous food processing and storage, and inventing more resilient alternatives.

Is creatine fortification feasible?

Creatine can be produced industrially by several environmental-friendly and straightforward processes. The raw materials of these reactions are readily available as basic chemical components, and creatine could be efficiently added to foods commonly consumed by the general public. Even so, weigh production and retail costs to devise and offer affordable creatine-enriched foods to the general population have yet to be decided.

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