Ever thought about getting your creatine fix straight from food? Spoiler: it’s tough! Creatine, that muscle-fueling compound, hangs out in animal meats—think beef, fish, and chicken—but barely shows up in plants. Let’s break down where you can find it, how much is in your favorite foods, and what it’d take to hit the 5 g daily dose you’d get from MuscleTech’s Platinum 100% Creatine!
Table of contents
Where’s the Creatine At?
Creatine’s stored in animal muscle, so meats and fish are your go-to. Cooking zaps some of it (turning creatine into creatinine), but here’s the rundown on key sources, with approximate creatine per kg of cooked weight (Brosnan & Brosnan, 2016, Amino Acids):
- Herring
The champ at ~5–8 g/kg. Think pickled or lightly cooked.
- Beef & Pork
Solid at ~3.5–4 g/kg. Grilled steak or pork chops, anyone?
- Salmon & Tuna
~3–4 g/kg. Great for fish lovers.
- Chicken & Turkey
~2.5–3 g/kg. Lean and common, but less potent.
- Plant Foods
Sorry, veggies—near zero creatine.
How Much to Hit 5 Grams?
To match the 5 g in one scoop of Platinum 100% Creatine, you’d need to chow down big time. Here’s what it takes for cooked foods (assuming grilling or baking to minimize losses):
- Herring
~630–1,000 g (1.4–2.2 lbs). That’s 6–10 small servings (100 g each). Doable if you’re a fish fanatic!
- Beef or Pork
~1.25–1.43 kg (2.75–3.15 lbs). Picture 12–14 burger patties a day. Yikes.
- Salmon or Tuna
~1.25–1.67 kg (2.75–3.7 lbs). About 12–17 fillets (100 g). Sushi overload?
- Chicken or Turkey
~1.67–2 kg (3.7–4.4 lbs). That’s 17–20 chicken breasts every day. Good luck!
Raw meat has more creatine (e.g., beef at ~5 g/kg = 1 kg for 5 g), but who’s eating raw steak? Boiling or overcooking can cut content by 20–30% more, so these are best-case numbers (Harris et al., 1997, Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation).
Why It’s a Stretch?
- Sheer Volume
Eating 1–2 kg of meat or fish daily is wild—way beyond what your stomach or wallet can handle. For a 70 kg person, 2 kg of chicken packs ~500 g of protein, dwarfing the 0.8–2 g/kg you need (Phillips et al., 2016, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).
- Typical Diet
An omnivore eating 200–300 g of meat or fish daily gets ~1–2 g of creatine—half or less of the 5 g athletes aim for (Balsom et al., 1994, Sports Medicine).
- Health Vibe
Pounding that much meat could spike calories, fats, or cholesterol, making it less practical than a clean supplement.
The Verdict
Herring’s your best bet for food-based creatine, but even then, you’re scarfing down over half a kilo to hit 5 g. Beef, pork, salmon, and chicken? You’re looking at 1–2 kg—basically a meat feast no one’s got time for. That’s why MuscleTech’s Platinum 100% Creatine is a no-brainer: one 5 g scoop delivers the goods without the food coma, backed by studies showing 6 lbs of muscle gain in 6 weeks (Peeters et al., 1999, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research). Pair it with Clear Muscle’s HMB Free Acid for extra lean mass (Wilson et al., 2014, European Journal of Applied Physiology), and you’re stacking smart!
Shop for Protein Powder with Creatine
