FitProven
Evidence Breakdown
Based on 5 studies
THE BIGGER QUESTION
Whether this one statement holds is settled above. What to actually do about it is a wider question, weighed across every claim that bears on it.
- Can you put creatine in coffee? — this claim is one of 2 weighed there
Evidence map
For & against, at a glance
In Vitro
Neutral
Uzzan M et al. · 2009Drug Development and Industrial PharmacyEstablishes the kinetics. Creatine degradation to creatinine in buffered systems at 4, 23 and 35°C followed first-order kinetics with Arrhenius temperature dependence and an activation energy around 84 kJ/mol. Crystalline creatine stayed highly stable unless it took on enough moisture to deliquesce. Neutral because it neither supports nor refutes the practical claim — it supplies the temperature coefficient, but tops out at 35°C and so never reaches drinking temperature. It is the only measured basis anyone has for extrapolating to a hot cup, and an extrapolation is what that remains.
0.10
Establishes the kinetics. Creatine degradation to creatinine in buffered systems at 4, 23 and 35°C followed first-order kinetics with Arrhenius temperature dependence and an activation energy around 84 kJ/mol. Crystalline creatine stayed highly stable unless it took on enough moisture to deliquesce. Neutral because it neither supports nor refutes the practical claim — it supplies the temperature coefficient, but tops out at 35°C and so never reaches drinking temperature. It is the only measured basis anyone has for extrapolating to a hot cup, and an extrapolation is what that remains.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.50 = impact 0.10
View sourceIn Vitro
Neutral
Saiki PY et al. · 2025Food Research InternationalThe only published study that actually puts creatine into coffee. A forced-degradation experiment exposing commercial creatine monohydrate to thermal stress (60-200°C), UV, a pH range, and real beverage matrices including coffee, orange juice and an energy drink, analysed by infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Temperature was the most significant factor, and the degradation products differed by matrix. Neutral, and deliberately so: the design is qualitative and structural — it identifies what forms, not how much converts — so it cannot tell you the percentage lost in a real cup over a real drinking time. The closest anyone has come to testing the claim, and it still does not answer it.
0.07
The only published study that actually puts creatine into coffee. A forced-degradation experiment exposing commercial creatine monohydrate to thermal stress (60-200°C), UV, a pH range, and real beverage matrices including coffee, orange juice and an energy drink, analysed by infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Temperature was the most significant factor, and the degradation products differed by matrix. Neutral, and deliberately so: the design is qualitative and structural — it identifies what forms, not how much converts — so it cannot tell you the percentage lost in a real cup over a real drinking time. The closest anyone has come to testing the claim, and it still does not answer it.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.35 = impact 0.07
View sourceIn Vitro
Neutral
van der Poel AFB et al. · 2019Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal NutritionThe strongest real demonstration that heat plus water destroys creatine: creatine monohydrate added to pet food and processed, with retorting (sustained moist heat around 121°C) leaving only 36% of the creatine recoverable, while brief, drier extrusion left 85%. The creatine-plus-creatinine total stayed constant, confirming conversion rather than loss. Classified neutral rather than pro because the conditions are not comparable to a hot drink — retorting is roughly 121°C under pressure for tens of minutes, an order of magnitude more thermal insult than a mug of coffee that starts near 70°C and cools from there.
0.07
The strongest real demonstration that heat plus water destroys creatine: creatine monohydrate added to pet food and processed, with retorting (sustained moist heat around 121°C) leaving only 36% of the creatine recoverable, while brief, drier extrusion left 85%. The creatine-plus-creatinine total stayed constant, confirming conversion rather than loss. Classified neutral rather than pro because the conditions are not comparable to a hot drink — retorting is roughly 121°C under pressure for tens of minutes, an order of magnitude more thermal insult than a mug of coffee that starts near 70°C and cools from there.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.35 = impact 0.07
View sourceNarrative Review
Con
Jäger R et al. · 2011Amino AcidsThe most-cited source on creatine stability, and the origin of nearly every number quoted online. It confirms creatine is stable as a solid — no detectable creatinine after more than three years at room temperature — but not in aqueous solution, where it cyclizes to creatinine. The reported degradation at 25°C after **three days** of storage: 4% at pH 5.5, 12% at pH 4.5, 21% at pH 3.5. The pH 5.5 figure is the closest condition to coffee, and it takes three full days to lose 4% — which implies a vanishing fraction over the minutes a drink actually sits. Weighted down deliberately: those percentages are cited to a US patent, not to a peer-reviewed experiment.
0.09
The most-cited source on creatine stability, and the origin of nearly every number quoted online. It confirms creatine is stable as a solid — no detectable creatinine after more than three years at room temperature — but not in aqueous solution, where it cyclizes to creatinine. The reported degradation at 25°C after **three days** of storage: 4% at pH 5.5, 12% at pH 4.5, 21% at pH 3.5. The pH 5.5 figure is the closest condition to coffee, and it takes three full days to lose 4% — which implies a vanishing fraction over the minutes a drink actually sits. Weighted down deliberately: those percentages are cited to a US patent, not to a peer-reviewed experiment.
Design Narrative Review (0.3) × quality 0.30 = impact 0.09
View sourceIn Vitro
Con
Ganguly S et al. · 2003AAPS PharmSciTechDi-creatine citrate dissolved in water and tracked by HPLC over 45 days. About 90% of the creatine degraded within 45 days at 25°C in an acidic solution (pH drifting 3.6 to 4.5), and 80% at 4°C over the same period. Creatine in solution genuinely does fall apart — but on a scale of **weeks**, and this is an acidic solution left standing, not a drink consumed in minutes. It constrains the time axis rather than the temperature axis, since it does not test heat.
0.07
Di-creatine citrate dissolved in water and tracked by HPLC over 45 days. About 90% of the creatine degraded within 45 days at 25°C in an acidic solution (pH drifting 3.6 to 4.5), and 80% at 4°C over the same period. Creatine in solution genuinely does fall apart — but on a scale of **weeks**, and this is an acidic solution left standing, not a drink consumed in minutes. It constrains the time axis rather than the temperature axis, since it does not test heat.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.35 = impact 0.07
View sourceIn Vitro
Neutral
Uzzan M et al. · 2009Drug Development and Industrial PharmacyEstablishes the kinetics. Creatine degradation to creatinine in buffered systems at 4, 23 and 35°C followed first-order kinetics with Arrhenius temperature dependence and an activation energy around 84 kJ/mol. Crystalline creatine stayed highly stable unless it took on enough moisture to deliquesce. Neutral because it neither supports nor refutes the practical claim — it supplies the temperature coefficient, but tops out at 35°C and so never reaches drinking temperature. It is the only measured basis anyone has for extrapolating to a hot cup, and an extrapolation is what that remains.
0.10
Establishes the kinetics. Creatine degradation to creatinine in buffered systems at 4, 23 and 35°C followed first-order kinetics with Arrhenius temperature dependence and an activation energy around 84 kJ/mol. Crystalline creatine stayed highly stable unless it took on enough moisture to deliquesce. Neutral because it neither supports nor refutes the practical claim — it supplies the temperature coefficient, but tops out at 35°C and so never reaches drinking temperature. It is the only measured basis anyone has for extrapolating to a hot cup, and an extrapolation is what that remains.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.50 = impact 0.10
View sourceIn Vitro
Neutral
Saiki PY et al. · 2025Food Research InternationalThe only published study that actually puts creatine into coffee. A forced-degradation experiment exposing commercial creatine monohydrate to thermal stress (60-200°C), UV, a pH range, and real beverage matrices including coffee, orange juice and an energy drink, analysed by infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Temperature was the most significant factor, and the degradation products differed by matrix. Neutral, and deliberately so: the design is qualitative and structural — it identifies what forms, not how much converts — so it cannot tell you the percentage lost in a real cup over a real drinking time. The closest anyone has come to testing the claim, and it still does not answer it.
0.07
The only published study that actually puts creatine into coffee. A forced-degradation experiment exposing commercial creatine monohydrate to thermal stress (60-200°C), UV, a pH range, and real beverage matrices including coffee, orange juice and an energy drink, analysed by infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Temperature was the most significant factor, and the degradation products differed by matrix. Neutral, and deliberately so: the design is qualitative and structural — it identifies what forms, not how much converts — so it cannot tell you the percentage lost in a real cup over a real drinking time. The closest anyone has come to testing the claim, and it still does not answer it.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.35 = impact 0.07
View sourceIn Vitro
Neutral
van der Poel AFB et al. · 2019Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal NutritionThe strongest real demonstration that heat plus water destroys creatine: creatine monohydrate added to pet food and processed, with retorting (sustained moist heat around 121°C) leaving only 36% of the creatine recoverable, while brief, drier extrusion left 85%. The creatine-plus-creatinine total stayed constant, confirming conversion rather than loss. Classified neutral rather than pro because the conditions are not comparable to a hot drink — retorting is roughly 121°C under pressure for tens of minutes, an order of magnitude more thermal insult than a mug of coffee that starts near 70°C and cools from there.
0.07
The strongest real demonstration that heat plus water destroys creatine: creatine monohydrate added to pet food and processed, with retorting (sustained moist heat around 121°C) leaving only 36% of the creatine recoverable, while brief, drier extrusion left 85%. The creatine-plus-creatinine total stayed constant, confirming conversion rather than loss. Classified neutral rather than pro because the conditions are not comparable to a hot drink — retorting is roughly 121°C under pressure for tens of minutes, an order of magnitude more thermal insult than a mug of coffee that starts near 70°C and cools from there.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.35 = impact 0.07
View sourceNarrative Review
Con
Jäger R et al. · 2011Amino AcidsThe most-cited source on creatine stability, and the origin of nearly every number quoted online. It confirms creatine is stable as a solid — no detectable creatinine after more than three years at room temperature — but not in aqueous solution, where it cyclizes to creatinine. The reported degradation at 25°C after **three days** of storage: 4% at pH 5.5, 12% at pH 4.5, 21% at pH 3.5. The pH 5.5 figure is the closest condition to coffee, and it takes three full days to lose 4% — which implies a vanishing fraction over the minutes a drink actually sits. Weighted down deliberately: those percentages are cited to a US patent, not to a peer-reviewed experiment.
0.09
The most-cited source on creatine stability, and the origin of nearly every number quoted online. It confirms creatine is stable as a solid — no detectable creatinine after more than three years at room temperature — but not in aqueous solution, where it cyclizes to creatinine. The reported degradation at 25°C after **three days** of storage: 4% at pH 5.5, 12% at pH 4.5, 21% at pH 3.5. The pH 5.5 figure is the closest condition to coffee, and it takes three full days to lose 4% — which implies a vanishing fraction over the minutes a drink actually sits. Weighted down deliberately: those percentages are cited to a US patent, not to a peer-reviewed experiment.
Design Narrative Review (0.3) × quality 0.30 = impact 0.09
View sourceIn Vitro
Con
Ganguly S et al. · 2003AAPS PharmSciTechDi-creatine citrate dissolved in water and tracked by HPLC over 45 days. About 90% of the creatine degraded within 45 days at 25°C in an acidic solution (pH drifting 3.6 to 4.5), and 80% at 4°C over the same period. Creatine in solution genuinely does fall apart — but on a scale of **weeks**, and this is an acidic solution left standing, not a drink consumed in minutes. It constrains the time axis rather than the temperature axis, since it does not test heat.
0.07
Di-creatine citrate dissolved in water and tracked by HPLC over 45 days. About 90% of the creatine degraded within 45 days at 25°C in an acidic solution (pH drifting 3.6 to 4.5), and 80% at 4°C over the same period. Creatine in solution genuinely does fall apart — but on a scale of **weeks**, and this is an acidic solution left standing, not a drink consumed in minutes. It constrains the time axis rather than the temperature axis, since it does not test heat.
Design In Vitro (0.2) × quality 0.35 = impact 0.07
View sourceTap any node to expand its detail.
Evidence
AGAINST (2)
AGAINST In Vitro0.35 Ganguly S, Jayappa S et al. (2003)
About 90% of creatine in acidic solution degraded within 45 days at 25 C, and 80% at 4 C
Di-creatine citrate dissolved in water and tracked by HPLC over 45 days. About 90% of the creatine degraded within 45 days at 25°C in an acidic solution (pH drifting 3.6 to 4.5), and 80% at 4°C over the same period. Creatine in solution genuinely does fall apart — but on a scale of weeks, and this is an acidic solution left standing, not a drink consumed in minutes. It constrains the time axis rather than the temperature axis, since it does not test heat.
Weighted 0.35 — In-vitro stability assay with no participants, financed by the company that manufactured and supplied the products under test. Seriously indirect for the practical question: it tracks an acidic solution left standing for weeks, not a drink consumed within minutes, and it never tests heat at all.
AAPS PharmSciTech
AGAINST Narrative Review0.30 Jäger R, Purpura M et al. (2011)
Creatine is stable as a dry solid (no detectable creatinine after more than three years at room temperature) but degrades in aqueous solution: at 25 C after three days, 4% is lost at pH 5.5, 12% at pH 4.5 and 21% at pH 3.5
The most-cited source on creatine stability, and the origin of nearly every number quoted online. It confirms creatine is stable as a solid — no detectable creatinine after more than three years at room temperature — but not in aqueous solution, where it cyclizes to creatinine. The reported degradation at 25°C after three days of storage: 4% at pH 5.5, 12% at pH 4.5, 21% at pH 3.5. The pH 5.5 figure is the closest condition to coffee, and it takes three full days to lose 4% — which implies a vanishing fraction over the minutes a drink actually sits. Weighted down deliberately: those percentages are cited to a US patent, not to a peer-reviewed experiment.
Weighted 0.30 — The degradation percentages that anchor this entire topic are cited to a US patent, not to peer-reviewed experimental data, and cannot be traced further. No funding statement appears anywhere in the paper, so funding is left unrecorded rather than called none. Author ties run through the supplement industry: two authors are principals of Increnovo LLC and one is employed by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement trade association. Non-systematic review, so selection is unconstrained.
Amino Acids
NEUTRAL (3)
NEUTRAL In Vitro0.50 Uzzan M, Nechrebeki J et al. (2009)
Creatine-to-creatinine degradation follows first-order kinetics with Arrhenius temperature dependence, activation energy ~84 kJ/mol; crystalline creatine stable unless it deliquesces
Establishes the kinetics. Creatine degradation to creatinine in buffered systems at 4, 23 and 35°C followed first-order kinetics with Arrhenius temperature dependence and an activation energy around 84 kJ/mol. Crystalline creatine stayed highly stable unless it took on enough moisture to deliquesce. Neutral because it neither supports nor refutes the practical claim — it supplies the temperature coefficient, but tops out at 35°C and so never reaches drinking temperature. It is the only measured basis anyone has for extrapolating to a hot cup, and an extrapolation is what that remains.
Weighted 0.50 — In-vitro kinetics in buffered systems, so no sample size applies. Cleanly measured, but the experiments top out at 35 C and never reach drinking temperature — applying them to a hot cup is an extrapolation beyond the measured range, which is a serious indirectness problem. No funding statement is retrievable (closed access), so independence is unverified.
Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy
NEUTRAL In Vitro0.35 Saiki PY, Sales GM et al. (2025)
Creatine monohydrate degraded under thermal stress (60-200 C), with temperature the dominant factor and degradation products differing by beverage matrix (coffee, orange juice, energy drink); qualitative and structural only, no percentage conversion quantified
The only published study that actually puts creatine into coffee. A forced-degradation experiment exposing commercial creatine monohydrate to thermal stress (60-200°C), UV, a pH range, and real beverage matrices including coffee, orange juice and an energy drink, analysed by infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Temperature was the most significant factor, and the degradation products differed by matrix. Neutral, and deliberately so: the design is qualitative and structural — it identifies what forms, not how much converts — so it cannot tell you the percentage lost in a real cup over a real drinking time. The closest anyone has come to testing the claim, and it still does not answer it.
Weighted 0.35 — In vitro forced-degradation chemistry, so no sample size applies. Publicly funded (Brazilian agencies) with no competing interests declared, and it is the only study to put creatine into coffee at all. Weighted down for serious indirectness rather than sloppiness: the design identifies which degradation products form, not how much converts in a real cup over a real drinking time, so it cannot answer the question it is cited for.
Funding: CAPES; CNPq; Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Food Research International
NEUTRAL In VitroINDUSTRY0.35 van der Poel AFB, Braun U et al. (2019)
Retorting (sustained moist heat ~121 C) left only 36% of added creatine recoverable vs 85% after drier extrusion; creatine + creatinine total stayed constant, confirming conversion rather than loss
The strongest real demonstration that heat plus water destroys creatine: creatine monohydrate added to pet food and processed, with retorting (sustained moist heat around 121°C) leaving only 36% of the creatine recoverable, while brief, drier extrusion left 85%. The creatine-plus-creatinine total stayed constant, confirming conversion rather than loss. Classified neutral rather than pro because the conditions are not comparable to a hot drink — retorting is roughly 121°C under pressure for tens of minutes, an order of magnitude more thermal insult than a mug of coffee that starts near 70°C and cools from there.
Weighted 0.35 — Pet-food batches, not human or animal subjects, so no sample size applies. The mass balance is convincing, but two problems compound. Retorting at ~121 C under pressure for tens of minutes is an order of magnitude more thermal insult than a mug of coffee. And the experiment was funded and analysed by AlzChem, whose competing product (guanidinoacetic acid) outperformed creatine monohydrate here, with an AlzChem employee as co-author — an industry-funded positive with serious indirectness.
Funding: AlzChem Trostberg GmbH
Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition