Berberine and creatine: taking them together

Berberine and creatine are sometimes taken together, but they work through unrelated mechanisms and we haven't found a trial that tested the combination. Electric Tiger Berberine is single-ingredient — 800 mg of berberine HCl extract, about 73 mg of berberine, per serving — and doesn't contain creatine or anything else.

What each one actually is

Creatine monohydrate is a compound the body uses to regenerate a rapid energy source for short, high-intensity muscle contractions; its own research base is built around strength, power and short-duration exercise performance, at gram-level daily doses. Berberine is a plant alkaloid studied mainly in the context of metabolic markers, typically at 900 mg to 1,500 mg a day in the trials that make up its evidence base. See what is berberine? a plain guide and how much berberine should you take? for the research dose against ours — our serving is well below that range.

Is there a documented interaction?

We haven't found one. Berberine's known interactions, described in the review behind our label warning, involve certain liver enzymes and drug transporters; creatine isn't part of that literature. We also haven't found a study reporting a digestive or absorption problem from taking the two together. See berberine and medications: what to check for what is documented about berberine specifically.

Why some people combine them

Creatine and berberine tend to show up in the same supplement stack because they're each researched for a different goal — creatine for muscle strength and power, berberine for metabolic markers — not because a trial tested them working together. Combining two ingredients with separate research bases doesn't automatically add their effects; each one's own evidence still applies only to what was actually studied, at the dose that was studied.

Taking them together

Our label directs two capsules of berberine daily with 6–8 oz of water. Creatine's own label sets its own dose and water instructions, independent of berberine's — see when is the best time to take creatine? for what its dedicated timing research covers. We haven't found a reason the two need to be spaced apart from each other.

Questions people ask

Can you take berberine and creatine together?

We haven't found a documented interaction, but we also haven't found a trial testing the combination directly.

Does creatine affect how berberine works, or the other way around?

No research has tested that question. Each ingredient's evidence base comes from studies that didn't include the other.

Is it worth taking berberine and creatine together?

That depends on why you're taking each one on its own — see each ingredient's own research pages, since nothing here suggests combining them changes either one's effect.

Related reading: how much berberine should you take?, berberine and medications: what to check, and how to choose a good berberine.