Can You Take Collagen Peptides With Creatine?

Quick answer

We found no trial that gave collagen peptides and creatine together, and no source says one changes how the other is absorbed. Creatine trials used 3 to 5 g a day, while collagen trials used 2.5 to 15 g, each as a daily amount with no spacing rule between them.^1,2,3

Key facts

Creatine trials mostly used 3 to 5 g a day, with an optional loading week of about 20 g a day.^1,4
Collagen trials with training mostly used 15 g a day, and skin trials used 2.5 to 10 g a day.^3,5
Creatine is made in the body from glycine, arginine and methionine, and collagen is rich in glycine, but no trial we found tested whether one changes the other.^1,6
Most skin research on collagen is in women, while the lean-mass gain from creatine was about 0.3 kg in women, which was not statistically significant, against 1.5 kg in men.^3,7
Creatine raises blood creatinine slightly on lab tests, so mention it before a kidney blood test.^1,8

Why people ask

Both come as powders, both are measured in grams, and both turn up in routines built around training. That makes them natural companions on a shelf, and some people mix them into one drink. The question is whether anything in the research says that is a good idea, a bad one, or neither. For this pair the honest answer is mostly silence.

The liver and kidneys make about 1 g of creatine a day from three amino acids: glycine, arginine and methionine.¹

Collagen is rich in glycine: 20 g of collagen protein raised blood glycine to about 2.6 times the peak seen after the same amount of dairy protein, while dairy gave the higher leucine peak.⁶

That shared building block is why the question comes up. It is not a finding. We did not find a randomized trial that tested whether collagen changes creatine stores in muscle, or whether creatine changes what collagen does.^1,6

Separate jobs, separate evidence

The two have been studied for different outcomes. Creatine's graded claims are about strength and short, hard efforts, while collagen's are about skin, with weaker findings on joints and tendons. Here are the strongest graded claim for each, word for word.

Supports muscle strength during resistance training*^1,4,9

Strong evidence

A 2025 meta-analysis of 69 randomized trials (1,937 people) found that creatine plus resistance training added about 1.4 kg to bench or chest press and 5.6 kg to squat strength over placebo. Strength gains were seen at maintenance doses of 8 g a day or less and were clearest in younger adults, men and people who already train.

Amount studied: 3 to 8 g a day, with or without a loading phase

May support skin hydration and elasticity*^3,10

Moderate evidence

A 2023 meta-analysis of 26 randomized trials (1,721 people, mostly women) found better skin hydration and elasticity with hydrolyzed collagen, usually 2.5 to 10 g a day for 8 to 12 weeks, though only one trial used bovine collagen like this product. A 2025 meta-analysis of 23 trials (1,474 people) found the benefit only in company-funded trials; trials without company funding, and higher-quality trials, showed no effect.

Amount studied: 2.5 to 10 g a day for 8 to 12 weeks

Because the outcomes differ, a trial of one tells you nothing about the other. We found no trial that compared the two head to head.^3,9

Timelines and what we know about mixing

When each shows up in the studies^{2,3,4,9,11,12}
	Creatine	Collagen peptides
Time to a full effect in the studies	About a week with loading, or about 28 days at 3 g a day	Skin hydration changes from about 4 weeks, larger after 8 weeks
After stopping	Muscle stores drift back in about 4 to 6 weeks	In one skin trial, elasticity in older women was still higher 4 weeks after stopping
Daily amount in trials	3 to 5 g a day, or 3 to 8 g in strength trials	2.5 to 10 g in skin trials, 5 to 15 g with exercise

None of the sources compares stirring both into one drink with taking them apart, so there is no tested schedule to follow. One study did look at creatine taken alongside food: in 12 men, adding about 50 g of protein with 47 g of carbohydrate to four 5 g creatine doses raised whole-body creatine retention by about 25% compared with adding only 5 g of carbohydrate. That is a large meal, not a 20 g scoop of collagen, and it does not show what collagen would do.¹³

What the research says for women

Collagen's skin research leans female: 21 of the 26 trials in a 2023 analysis enrolled only women, mostly in their 30s to 60s. Creatine research has leaned male. In a pooled analysis of 35 trials, men gained about 1.5 kg of lean mass with training, and the gain in women, about 0.3 kg, was not statistically significant.^3,7

A 2026 review of 14 trials in 763 women, three of them using creatine, found no added effect on muscle mass measures. It did find better bench press and handgrip strength, most clearly in the creatine studies.¹⁴

Cautions and who should ask first

A small rise in blood creatinine on lab tests, without a change in estimated kidney filtration⁸

Nausea, diarrhea or stomach upset have been reported by some users.¹

Most trials used 2.5 to 15 g a day, so there is little information on how 20 g or more a day is tolerated over months.^2,3

Ask first if you have kidney disease or reduced kidney function, take medicines that affect the kidneys, or have a kidney blood test coming up.^1,8
Ask first if you are pregnant or nursing, or under 18.¹
Ask first if you have had kidney stones, since collagen's amino acid hydroxyproline is partly turned into oxalate.¹⁵
Check the animal source on a collagen label if you are allergic to fish, beef, pork or gelatin.¹⁶

What is in our products

What’s in ours

Creatine: Creatine Monohydrate, 5,000 mg per serving, from the label
Creatine + Electrolytes: Creatine Monohydrate, 5,000 mg per serving, from the label

What’s in ours

Collagen Peptides: Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides, 20 g per serving, from the label
Collagen Peptides: Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides, 20 g per serving, from the label

Questions people ask

Can I put collagen peptides and creatine in the same drink?

No source we read compares mixing them with taking them separately. Each was studied as a daily amount: creatine at 3 to 5 g and collagen at 2.5 to 15 g.^1,2

Is there a best time of day for taking both?

No source we read ranks a time of day for either one. Creatine stores fill over days and weeks, and collagen trials gave one daily amount.^11,12

Is there research on collagen and creatine together in women?

We did not find a trial that gave both to women. Separately, most collagen skin trials were in women, and a 2026 review of 763 women found better bench press and handgrip strength, mainly in the creatine studies.^3,14

Who should ask a doctor before taking both?

People with kidney disease or reduced kidney function, people who take medicines that affect the kidneys, anyone pregnant, nursing or under 18, and anyone with a kidney blood test coming up. Creatine raises creatinine, the marker that test measures.^1,8

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Sources

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.