"Creatine raises DHT. DHT causes hair loss. Therefore creatine causes hair loss."

It's the most repeated concern about the most-studied supplement on earth. Every Reddit thread, every TikTok, every gym conversation: someone bringing up the rugby study.

The story has been the same for 15 years. The data finally caught up — and it tells a different one.

Where The Myth Started

2009. South Africa. 20 college rugby players. A three-week trial with a one-week loading phase at 25g per day.

The researchers measured hormones. DHT went up 56% after the loading week, stayed 40% above baseline through maintenance. Testosterone didn't change.

That's the entire foundation. One study. Twenty rugby players. Three weeks. No hair was ever measured — not density, not thickness, not follicle count, nothing. Just a hormone reading that stayed within normal clinical limits the whole time.

What A 2024 Trial Found

45 resistance-trained men. 12 weeks. Hair actually measured this time.

No DHT increase

5g per day for 12 weeks. No significant difference between creatine and placebo on testosterone, free testosterone, or DHT. The 2009 finding did not replicate.

Hair density unchanged

Hair density, follicular unit count, and cumulative hair thickness measured directly via trichogram and imaging. No significant differences between groups.

First direct test, ever

15 years of speculation rested on a single proxy measurement. This was the first study to actually look at hair follicle health following creatine supplementation. The proxy was wrong.

The Bottom Line

5-10g of creatine monohydrate per day. No loading phase. No cycling. If you're genetically predisposed to baldness, that's the variable — not your shaker.

The Boring, Effective Standard