Interaction Between Caffeine and Creatine When Used as Concurrent Ergogenic Supplements: A Systematic Review
Publicated to:International Journal Of Sport Nutrition And Exercise Metabolism. 32 (4): 285-295 - 2022-01-01 32(4), DOI: 10.1123/ijsnem.2021-0262
Authors: Elosegui, Sara; Lopez-Seoane, Jaime; Martinez-Ferran, Maria; Pareja-Galeano, Helios;
Affiliations
Abstract
There is some controversy regarding the interactions between creatine (CRE) and caffeine (CAF) supplements. The aim of this systematic review was to study whether such ergogenic interaction occurs and to analyze the protocol to optimize their synchronous use. The PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus databases were searched until November 2021 following the PRISMA guidelines. Ten studies were included. Three studies observed that CRE loading before an acute dose of CAF before exercise did not interfere in the beneficial effect of CAF, whereas one study reported that only an acute supplementation (SUP) of CAF was beneficial but not the acute SUP of both. When chronic SUP with CRE + CAF was used, two studies reported that CAF interfered in the beneficial effect of CRE, whereas three studies did not report interaction between concurrent SUP, and one study reported synergy. Possible mechanisms of interaction are opposite effects on relaxation time and gastrointestinal distress derived from concurrent SUP. CRE loading does not seem to interfere in the acute effect of CAF. However, chronic SUP of CAF during CRE loading could interfere in the beneficial effect of CRE.
Keywords
Quality index
Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel
The work has been published in the journal International Journal Of Sport Nutrition And Exercise Metabolism due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Medicine (Miscellaneous).
From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.11, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)
This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:
- Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6.23 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)
Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-13, the following number of citations:
- WoS: 3
- Scopus: 10
- Europe PMC: 2
- OpenCitations: 8