Can You Mix Creatine With Oatmeal? (Pros & Cons)

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Creatine is one of the best supplements for strength training but the chalky taste can deter people from reaping its benefits, which is why I prefer to mix it in oatmeal.

Mixing creatine with oatmeal is safe because, according to a study by Vandebuerie et al. (1998), heating creatine won’t affect its effectiveness and will dissolve better than with cold water. 

With that said, there are a few drawbacks to consider based on your exercise goals, which I’ll discuss below.  

Want to learn all the ways to mix creatine? Check out our complete guide to 8 Ways To Mix Creatine (Plus Liquids To Avoid)

Key Takeaways

• There are additional benefits that come with mixing creatine and oatmeal, such as having better fuel for your workouts, improving digestion, and promoting heart health. The potential drawbacks are that it will increase your calorie and carb intake.

• Mixing creatine with oatmeal will be most beneficial to those who have a higher caloric/ carb intake, for example, if you’re in a bulking phase of training. On the other hand, it won’t be for anyone on a low-carb or keto diet.

• You can mix creatine in your oatmeal and consume it at any time of the day, but the most ideal times will be either pre/ post workout.

Benefits of Mixing Creatine With Oatmeal

The benefits of mixing creatine and oatmeal are:

Better Fuel For Your Workouts

One of the main benefits of mixing creatine into your oatmeal is that it provides fuel for your workouts because oatmeal is a carb and carbs are your body’s preferred energy source while working out.

The carbs in oatmeal are extremely beneficial around your workout to boost your energy levels so that you can perform at your best during your workout and as you recover from your workout.

Helps With Digestion

Another benefit of mixing creatine and oatmeal is that it helps to improve your digestion by encouraging regularity because of the fiber in the oatmeal.

The fiber in oatmeal is soluble fiber which helps to slow digestion and attracts water to help form a gel-like substance that improves regularity.

Promotes Heart Health

Mixing creatine and oatmeal also promotes heart health because oats have been shown to lower cholesterol, which is one of the main causes of heart disease.

Oats contain beta-glucan, which Registered Dietician Nancy Clark explains:

“Beta-glucan helps reduce the risk of heart disease if you eat oats in the context of a heart-healthy diet. To achieve this benefit, the daily target is 1 cup dry rolled oats or ½ cup dry steel-cut oats most days of the week.”

-Nancy Clark, RD

Although you may not be taking creatine to improve your heart health, it is an added benefit for those who need to make heart health more of a priority alongside improving their joint and skin health.

Drawbacks of Mixing Creatine With Porridge

The drawbacks of mixing creatine and oatmeal are:

You Will Increase Carb Intake

One of the main drawbacks of mixing your creatine with oatmeal is that it increases your carb intake, which creates a problem for those who are trying to limit their daily carb intake based on their health and fitness goals.

The higher carb intake may not be a problem for you if you’re NOT trying to reduce your carb intake or you have more flexibility in the amount of carbs you can eat based on your goals.

However, for those with a lower caloric intake based on their goals, mixing creatine with oatmeal will significantly decrease the number of carbs you’ll be able to eat the rest of the day while sticking to your goal.

For example, if you’re trying to lose weight on 1200 calories and your daily carb goal is 120 grams of carbs, then ½ cup of plain oatmeal (mixed in water) subtracts nearly 30 grams of carbs from your daily total.

This is assuming that you’re not adding any flavoring.

If you’re adding a tablespoon of maple syrup (my favorite oatmeal addition) then you’re looking at an additional 13 grams of carbs, bringing the total up to 43 grams of carbs.

This would leave you with only 77 grams of carbs for the rest of the day, which could be difficult to adhere to.

You Will Increase Your Calorie Intake

The other drawback of mixing creatine powder with oatmeal is that it would increase your calorie consumption for the day, which may not be ideal for those with a lower calorie intake based on their goals.

If you’re someone who is trying to lose weight, then you will have a lower caloric intake so oatmeal may not be the best option for mixing your creatine because it will take away 150 calories for ½ cup of oats on their own.

If you’re mixing it with anything other than water, then you’ll also be increasing the calories further:

• 1 cup 2% milk: 124 calories
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk: 40 calories
• 1 cup sweetened almond milk: 90 calories

On top of this, most people make further additions to their oats by adding flavors like honey, maple syrup, or protein powder and toppings like berries or nuts/seeds and these flavor enhancers will only increase your calories further.

So you can see that perhaps mixing creatine with oatmeal isn’t the best option if you’re trying to reduce your calorie consumption.

• Related Article: Can You Mix Collagen Powder With Oatmeal?

Creatine & Oatmeal: When To Consume It

Although there isn’t a bad time to consume creatine and oatmeal together, there are times during the day when consuming this mixture could be better for your body composition and performance.

Pre-Workout

Creatine mixed with oatmeal is a great pre-workout option because it’s high in carbohydrates and low in fats, which is ideal 1.5 hours or more before training.

The carbs in oatmeal will provide the energy you need for training, but because of the fiber content of oatmeal, it’s best to consume them no sooner than 1.5 hours before training. 

This is because fiber is slower to digest, which is ideal for keeping you full, but not as ideal right before training.

If you’ve got time before training (1.5+ hours), then try this:

• ½ cup oatmeal
• 1 serving of creatine
• ½ scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp maple syrup

If you have less than an hour before training, try mixing your creatine powder with Gatorade instead.

Post-Workout

Mixing creatine with oatmeal as a post-workout meal is a great option as long as you also include a source of protein because protein is necessary for muscle recovery.

After a workout, it’s important to consume both carbs and protein so that you’re replenishing your energy stores and repairing the muscle damage that would have occurred while you were working out.

I would do this by making a post-workout shake with creatine, oats, whey protein powder, oat milk, and frozen fruit in a smoothie.

Before Bed

Creatine mixed with oatmeal before bed could be a great option because consuming slow-digesting carbs before bed has been shown to improve sleep quality.

In addition to this, oatmeal contains ingredients that can be conducive to a better sleep:

“Hot or cold oatmeal might help prepare your body for sleep and keep you full throughout the night. Oats contain magnesium as well as melatonin, the sleep hormone.”

-Danielle Pacheco

Additionally, the fiber in oatmeal makes it digest more slowly and can help to stabilize your blood sugars which helps you to stay asleep and therefore improves your sleep quality.

Breakfast

Since oatmeal is conventionally consumed at breakfast, adding creatine to your morning oatmeal bowl is the perfect way to get your serving of creatine in while fueling your body for the day.

Since most people make it a habit to take their daily supplements in the morning, taking your creatine at breakfast in your oats is a great way to make sure you are consistent with supplementation. 

Habit stacking your daily creatine supplement (and other supplements you are taking) with your morning oatmeal bowl is very helpful if you tend to forget your supplements as the day goes on.

Who Should Mix Creatine With Oatmeal?

Those who would benefit the most from mixing creatine with oatmeal are: 

• Those who can afford extra carbs in their diet

Mixing your creatine with oatmeal is a great option if the additional carbs aren’t a concern for you because you have a higher daily carb goal (150 grams or more) because they can help to energize you for your workouts.

• Those who want to improve their pre- and post-workout nutrition.

The increased ability to generate force from creatine and the energizing properties of oatmeal makes them the workout power couple you didn’t know you needed until now.

Who Should Not Mix Creatine With Oatmeal?

• Those on keto or those with a lower carb intake based on their goals, should not mix their creatine with oatmeal because it will be a higher carb meal that isn’t required to take your creatine supplement.

For these individuals, a lower carb/calorie option would be better so I would recommend mixing your creatine supplement with whey protein instead of oatmeal.

Will Creatine Dissolve In Oatmeal?

Creatine will dissolve in oatmeal if you mix it into the warm liquid before adding it to your oats, rather than mixing it in after the oats are already cooked.

For the best results, you should dissolve the creatine into the hot liquid first because creatine dissolves best in hot liquids rather than cold liquids.

Additionally, based on my personal experience I feel that the consistency of the oatmeal is better if you don’t add it in after the oats are already cooked.

As this Reddit user said: 

“ Just make sure to mix it enough where it can dissolve or it’s going to be nasty.”

Regardless of if you’re making oatmeal on the stove, microwave, or using a kettle:

1. Heat your liquid first
2. Add the creatine
3. Stir to dissolve
4. Add your oats
5. Add your flavor additions

Best Types of Creatine Powder to Mix With Oatmeal

The best source of creatine is creatine monohydrate because studies have shown that it produces the best results compared to other types of creatine currently on the market. 

My favorite brands of creatine monohydrate are:

PEScience TruCreatine

The best creatine powder on the market is the PEScience TruCreatine because it mixes well, it has the highest-quality ingredients, and it’s third-party tested for quality control and label accuracy.

I also appreciate that this company does its best to educate users on the science behind their products, so that you understand why a product may be beneficial for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does The Type of Oatmeal You Mix With Creatine Matter? 

It does not matter what type of oatmeal you mix with your creatine, as long as you are mixing your creatine with a warm liquid before adding it to your oats to ensure the creatine dissolves properly.

This means that you could use quick, rolled, or even steel-cut oats depending on your preference.

Can You Microwave Creatine? 

There are mixed opinions as to whether or not you should microwave your creatine, since microwaves can denature protein, and creatine is an amino acid that is found in protein.

If you are concerned about this, you can always microwave your water to warm it up, and then add your creatine afterwards.

Can You Heat Creatine?

Creatine dissolves best when it is combined with warm or hot water as opposed to cold water. It is generally agreed upon that heat does not destroy creatine or make it any less effective.

Can You Put Creatine In Overnight Oats?

You can add creatine to overnight oats but it won’t dissolve as well as it would in regular (warm) oatmeal.

To reduce the clumping of creatine in overnight oats, I suggest you add it to the liquid you’re using in a shaker bottle and shake it up before pouring it over the oats. 

You can even warm the liquid that you are using in your recipe before adding the creatine to increase dissolving, which is what I suggest in the recipe below.

Chocolate Banana Creatine Overnight Oats Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes, then leave overnight to set

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 scoop (5g) creatine monohydrate powder
• 1 cup partly skimmed milk
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 sliced banana

Directions:

1. Heat milk over the stove at medium heat until warm in temperature (not hot). Once it is a warm temperature, remove from heat and mix with protein powder and creatine.

2. Add your oats, chia seeds, and peanut butter to your milk mixture in a mason jar and stir until combined. Place in the fridge and allow to cool and set overnight

3. In the morning remove from the fridge and add 1 sliced banana for topping (or fruit of choice), and enjoy cold!

Calories: 623 calories
Carbs: 74 grams
Protein: 44 grams
Fat:19 grams

*If you wish to reduce the calorie and carbohydrate content of this recipe, swap out the partly skimmed milk for the same measurement of an unsweetened almond milk*

Other Ways to Take Creatine

• Can You Mix Creatine With Hot Liquids?
• Can You Mix Creatine With Energy Drinks?

Creatine Need-To-Knows

• How Long For Creatine To Work? (1-Week & 1-Month Results)
• Should Beginners Take Creatine? Who SHOULD & Should NOT Use
• Can You Take Creatine Forever? (What The Science Says)
• What Happens When You Stop Creatine (6 Things To Know)

References

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Bashir KMI, Choi JS. Clinical and Physiological Perspectives of β-Glucans: The Past, Present, and Future. Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Sep 5;18(9):1906. doi: 10.3390/ijms18091906. PMID: 28872611; PMCID: PMC5618555.

Anderson, J.W., Deakins, D.A., Bridges, S.R. (1990). Soluble Fiber. In: Kritchevsky, D., Bonfield, C., Anderson, J.W. (eds) Dietary Fiber. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0519-4_25

Carbone JW, Pasiakos SM. Dietary Protein and Muscle Mass: Translating Science to Application and Health Benefit. Nutrients. 2019 May 22;11(5):1136. doi: 10.3390/nu11051136. PMID: 31121843; PMCID: PMC6566799.

Columbia University Irving Medical Center. (2019, December 11). Refined carbs may trigger insomnia, finds study. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191211171335.htm

Rawson ES, Volek JS. Effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training on muscle strength and weightlifting performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Nov;17(4):822-31. doi: 10.1519/1533-4287(2003)017<0822:eocsar>2.0.co;2. PMID: 14636102.

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About The Author

Amanda Parker is an author, nutrition coach, and Certified Naturopath.  She works with bodybuilders, Olympic weightlifters, and powerlifters to increase performance through nutrition and lifestyle coaching.