Do I need whey or creatine?

Neither is required, and they do different jobs. Whey is a convenient protein food: it helps when your meals land under the protein you’re aiming for. Creatine is the best-studied supplement for strength training, the usual amount is 3 to 5 g a day, and the research finds it safe for healthy adults.

What does whey do?

Whey is protein from milk, so a scoop counts like any other protein food. A 2018 analysis of 49 trials, with 1,863 people doing resistance training, found that, over weeks of training, protein supplements added about 0.3 kg of fat-free mass and about 2.5 kg to a one-rep max on average. Above about 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight a day in total, extra protein added no more fat-free mass.

So whey helps in two cases: when your meals fall short of your protein, and when a shake after training is easier than a meal. Soy, pea and rice powders do the same job for people who don’t eat dairy. To see where your day lands, try the protein calculator.

In Nume: add whey as a regular item in your own words, such as “1 scoop whey after every workout”. It counts toward the day’s energy and protein, and the meals around it make room for it. Give the numbers from your tub’s label and Nume uses them. On a day you have whey, Nume won’t suggest a protein shake in a meal as well.

Is food enough?

For many people it is. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) says active people can meet their protein from whole foods, and calls supplements a practical, safe and convenient way to add high-quality protein.

Eggs, chicken, fish, yogurt, paneer, tofu, beans and lentils all count. For getting more from the food you already eat, see protein from your own food.

In Nume: every meal shows its protein, and Progress shows how your protein has averaged against your plan, day by day and week by week.

What does creatine do?

Your body makes creatine, and meat and fish provide some. On a normal diet, with 1 to 2 g a day from food, muscle stores are about 60 to 80% full. A supplement raises muscle creatine by a further 20 to 40%.

The ISSN calls creatine monohydrate the most effective performance-enhancing nutritional supplement available to athletes for high-intensity exercise capacity and lean mass during training. The International Olympic Committee lists it among the few performance supplements with good evidence. It works through training: fuller stores let you do more in short, hard efforts, and over weeks that extra work adds strength and muscle.

Vegetarians start with lower stores and may see a larger rise in muscle creatine. The research includes women: benefits have been reported in both sexes, though most studies were in men and some find smaller strength and muscle gains in women, and a 2021 review found little to no side effects in women.

How much creatine a day?

These are the ISSN’s amounts:

The usual amount: 3 to 5 g a day. This fills your stores over 3 to 4 weeks.
Faster, with loading: about 0.3 g per kg of body weight a day (about 20 g, as four 5 g servings, for a 70 kg adult) for 5 to 7 days, then 3 to 5 g a day. Loading is optional. Split loading doses into servings of 10 g or less to avoid an upset stomach.
Larger athletes in heavy training may need 5 to 10 g a day to keep stores full.

Creatine monohydrate is the most studied form. Other forms may mix more easily in a drink, but none has been shown to work better.

In Nume: add “creatine 5 g at 8 am” and it sits on your day at that time, in your words, with a reminder if you want one. Creatine has no energy, so it never changes your numbers.

Is creatine safe?

Yes, for healthy people at these amounts. Over 1,000 studies have looked at it, and the ISSN finds no compelling evidence of harm from short- or long-term use in healthy people, and reports it well tolerated in patient groups at up to 30 g a day for five years.

Kidneys: at the usual amounts, it does not cause kidney damage in healthy people. It raises creatinine in blood tests, a marker that also rises with muscle mass and with eating meat.
Weight: the only side effect reported consistently is weight gain. Loading for a week usually adds 1 to 3 kg, mostly water.
Hair loss: the worry comes from one small study in rugby players that found a rise in DHT, a hormone linked with some hair loss. It has not been repeated, and the evidence does not show creatine causes hair loss.
Not a steroid: creatine is a compound your body makes and that’s in meat and fish. Its chemical structure is different from an anabolic steroid’s.
Cramps and fat: controlled studies find it causes neither dehydration and cramping nor fat gain.

Choosing a product

One ingredient. Creatine monohydrate for creatine; whey concentrate or isolate for whey.
Third-party tested. The International Olympic Committee warns that some supplements contain prohibited substances that are not on the label, and third-party testing schemes help manage that risk.
Read the label. Protein per scoop and added sugar for whey; grams per serving for creatine.

Whey and creatine in Nume

Tell Talk “1 scoop whey after every workout” or “creatine 5 g at 8 am”, and one tap saves it as a regular item in your words. Set it for a clock time, a meal, waking, bedtime or after your session, on the days you choose, and pause it or leave out a date whenever you like.

Whey counts in your day’s energy and protein, and the meals around it make room in advance. Turn on Log it for me and it logs itself at its time, shown as Logged by Nume with Undo. A scoop set for after your workout follows the session. Say “no whey today, ran out” and the meals ahead take back their share.

Creatine, vitamins, fish oil and any medicine sit on your day at their time, with a reminder on your phone if you want one. A plan from a coach with supplements on it comes in with them kept in your words. See how Nume works across a week, or check a plan you already have.

Common questions

Creatine or whey, which first?

If your meals fall short of your protein, whey is the simpler fix. If they don’t, creatine adds more for strength training.

Do I need protein powder to build muscle?

No. Training builds muscle, and enough protein supports it. Powder is one easy way to reach your protein.

Do I need to load creatine?

No. Loading fills your stores in about a week; 3 to 5 g a day gets there in 3 to 4 weeks.

Is whey bad for your kidneys?

Not in healthy people. In the ISSN’s review, controlled studies of up to a year, at up to 2.5 to 3.3 g of protein per kg a day in healthy people who lift weights, found no harm to markers of kidney function. Those studies were in people without kidney disease.

Checked on 12 November 2026 · The Nume team