Fish and meat are the main food sources of preformed creatine. In the primary measurements behind the chart, a 4 oz raw or fresh serving of meat or fish generally supplies less than 1 gram. Food can still make a meaningful contribution without turning dinner into a gram target.[1][2][8][12]
At the grocery store, the useful questions are simpler. You need to know what a normal portion contributes, what cooking changes, and how those numbers fit an ordinary diet. The printable chart gives the amounts. The sections after it turn them into practical decisions.
CELLSHE DATA
Creatine-Rich Foods Fridge Chart: How Much You Actually Get
How to read the chart: Meat, fish and poultry use a 4 oz / 113.4 g raw or fresh reference serving. Egg uses 1 whole egg. Milk uses 1 US cup / 240 mL. No raw value has been converted into a cooked value.
FOOD FOR 3 G CREATINE and FOOD FOR 5 G CREATINE are mathematical comparisons. They are not recommended portions, dietary requirements or dosing advice.
Fish and seafood
| Food | Creatine per 4 oz | Creatine per 100 g | FOOD FOR 3 G CREATINE | FOOD FOR 5 G CREATINE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cod† [1] | about 0.77 g | about 680 mg† | about 442 g / 15.6 oz | about 736 g / 26.0 oz / 1.62 lb |
| Pacific salmon (5-species range) [2] | 0.57-0.73 g | 500-645 mg | 465-600 g / 16.4-21.2 oz | 775 g-1.00 kg / 27.3 oz-2.20 lb |
| Yellowfin tuna [3] | 0.55-0.65 g | 485.3-571.3 mg | 525-618 g / 18.5-21.8 oz | 875 g-1.03 kg / 30.9 oz-2.27 lb |
| Yellowtail [4] | 0.58 g | 510 mg | 588 g / 20.7 oz | 980 g / 34.6 oz |
| Haddock [5] | 0.57 g | 506 mg mean | 593 g / 20.9 oz | 988 g / 34.9 oz |
| Rockfish (study species)* [6] | 0.58 g | 508.2 mg* | 590 g / 20.8 oz | 984 g / 34.7 oz |
| Atlantic mackerel [5] | 0.48 g | 427 mg mean | 703 g / 24.8 oz | 1.17 kg / 2.58 lb |
| Herring [7] | 0.40-0.48 g | 350-420 mg | 714-857 g / 25.2-30.2 oz | 1.19-1.43 kg / 2.62-3.15 lb |
| Jack mackerel (study species)* [6] | 0.44 g | 388.9 mg* | 771 g / 27.2 oz | 1.29 kg / 2.83 lb |
Beef and lamb
| Food | Creatine per 4 oz | Creatine per 100 g | FOOD FOR 3 G CREATINE | FOOD FOR 5 G CREATINE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef loin, 14-day aged [8] | 0.66 g | 586 mg | 512 g / 18.1 oz | 853 g / 30.1 oz |
| Beef eye of round [9] | 0.45 g | 401 mg | 748 g / 26.4 oz | 1.25 kg / 2.75 lb |
| Lamb tenderloin [9] | 0.58 g | 511 mg | 587 g / 20.7 oz | 978 g / 34.5 oz |
| Lamb loin [9] | 0.55 g | 489 mg | 613 g / 21.6 oz | 1.02 kg / 2.25 lb |
| Lamb leg [9] | 0.53 g | 464 mg | 647 g / 22.8 oz | 1.08 kg / 2.38 lb |
Pork
Poultry
Eggs, dairy and tested plant foods
| Food | Creatine per serving | Creatine concentration | FOOD FOR 3 G CREATINE | FOOD FOR 5 G CREATINE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole egg [14] | 0.000243 g per egg | 0.243 mg/egg mean | about 12,346 eggs | about 20,576 eggs |
| Cow's milk, pasteurized [15] | about 0.0188 g per cup | 78.4 mg/L using the reported mean | about 38.3 L / 159 cups | about 63.8 L / 266 cups |
| Corn, peanuts, pistachios, soybeans, wheat flour, white rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes [16] | Not detected | Not detected in the cited analysis | Not applicable | Not applicable |
* The 1964 rockfish and jack-mackerel study used an older extraction endpoint that included creatine released from phosphocreatine. Keep those values study-specific instead of using them for a precise modern ranking.
† The cod paper reported 3,632 mg creatine per 100 g dry tissue and 18.7% raw dry matter. CELLSHE calculated the raw wet-weight value as 3,632 × 0.187 = 679.2 mg/100 g, rounded here to about 680 mg/100 g.[1]
Sources: primary food measurements [1]-[16]. All serving, 3 g and 5 g figures are direct arithmetic from the cited concentrations. The cod wet-weight value is the documented calculation described above.
What does the chart mean for everyday eating?
Use the chart to find useful food sources, not to build a decimal-place ranking of dinner. Fish and meat are the main dietary sources of preformed creatine in this evidence set. Several foods sit in a broadly similar range, while the exact number moves with species, cut, storage and measurement method.
Small differences between study values should carry little weight at the grocery store. Preference, frequency and the rest of the meal matter more. Salmon, cod, beef, lamb, pork and chicken are foods first. Their creatine content is one part of a larger nutrition choice.
The chart also uses one standardized 4 oz raw or fresh reference serving so the rows can be compared on equal footing. Your dinner may be larger, smaller or cooked. Treat the chart as a scale, then match any estimate to the food state you actually have evidence for.
A varied diet also spreads creatine across meals. You do not need one giant "creatine meal" for food to contribute. For a midlife reader thinking about strength and healthy aging, the useful goal is a sustainable eating pattern. Protein, energy needs and overall food quality still matter.
How much creatine do you normally get from food?
Dietary creatine intake varies with what you eat, and your body also makes creatine itself. NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements states that the liver and kidneys synthesize about 1 g per day from glycine, arginine and methionine.[18]
A U.S. NHANES analysis covering 89,161 people estimated average dietary creatine intake at 0.70 ± 0.78 g per day.[17] That figure is useful population context, not a chemical measurement of every meal. The researchers estimated intake using an average creatine concentration across creatine-containing foods.
Food pattern matters. Someone who regularly eats fish or meat will usually obtain more preformed creatine from food than someone who eats little or none. Eggs and milk can contribute small amounts, while the tested plant foods in our chart had no detectable creatine.[14][15][16]
You do not need to get 3 or 5 grams of creatine from food each day. Creatine has no established FDA Daily Value, and those two numbers are not official food targets.[19]
The 3 g and 5 g columns are there because those amounts are common in supplementation research.[18] They help show scale. They should not turn lunch or dinner into a requirement to reach a supplement-sized amount.
Can you get 3-5 grams of creatine from food alone?
Yes, but reaching several grams from one food usually means eating a large amount of it. Raw cod provides a clear example. The cod paper measured both dry-tissue creatine and raw dry matter. From those values, about 442 g of raw cod corresponds mathematically to 3 g of creatine, and about 736 g corresponds to 5 g.[1]
Chicken breast shows the same scale from a different food. Using the measured raw chicken-breast value, about 672 g corresponds to 3 g and about 1.12 kg to 5 g.[12]
Those calculations are useful because they stop a common comparison from becoming misleading. A normal meal can provide meaningful dietary creatine without matching several concentrated grams.
These are mathematical conversions from measured food concentrations. They are not recommended portions, dietary requirements or dosing advice.
If you are comparing food with supplemental creatine, the CELLSHE Creatine for Women guide covers dosing, loading, safety, menopause and the broader human evidence. If your question is whether supplemental creatine needs to be taken with a meal, see Can You Take Creatine on an Empty Stomach?
How can you get more creatine from food without turning dinner into math?
The simplest approach is to choose creatine-containing foods that already fit the way you eat. There is little practical value in chasing small differences between two good options.
If you eat fish
Rotate among fish you enjoy and would choose anyway. Salmon, fresh tuna, cod, haddock and mackerel all contribute preformed creatine in the measurements used here. Availability, taste, budget and the rest of the meal can decide which one makes sense that day.
Preference and overall meal quality matter more than a small difference between study values. The measurements are study-specific, and creatine is only one part of the food.
If you eat meat or poultry
Beef and lamb can make substantial contributions, while pork and chicken also add creatine. The exact cut matters. That is useful when comparing foods, but it is not a reason to shop by muscle anatomy.
Use the table to understand the order of magnitude. Then choose cuts based on the meal, protein needs, preference and the rest of your diet. A food that appears slightly lower in one study can still be a perfectly useful source.
If you eat little meat
Eggs and milk contain some preformed creatine, but their measured amounts are small beside fish and meat. Increasing eggs or dairy solely to chase creatine would be an inefficient way to use those foods.
If your interest in creatine comes from preserving strength and physical capacity with age, food is only one part of that picture. The CELLSHE strength training for longevity guide covers the training foundation. Our Longevity Stack shows where creatine sits beside protein, movement and the wider healthy-aging routine.
Does cooking destroy creatine in food?
Cooking can reduce creatine, but no single loss percentage works for every food and method. A direct cod experiment compared raw, brined, boiled, fried, baked and brined-plus-cooked fillets. True creatine retention after the cooking treatments was about 68% to 78%.[1]
The mean retention was highest in baked cod and lowest in brined-plus-boiled cod, but the differences among cooking methods were not statistically significant.[1] The study also found very little creatinine. The authors attributed much of the loss to water-soluble creatine leaving during processing or cooking.
Cooked food can also weigh less because it loses water. That makes a simple "mg per 100 g" comparison easy to misread. A cooked sample can look more concentrated per 100 g even when the original piece has lost some creatine. The cod study therefore reported true retention, which accounts for both nutrient concentration and the change in food weight.[1]
That is why a raw food value cannot be turned into a cooked dinner by subtracting one standard percentage. Time, temperature, the food itself and movement of water all matter. Older salmon, herring and lamb experiments also found preparation-specific creatine losses under their tested conditions.[2][7][9]
The kitchen decision is simpler than the chemistry. Cook meat and fish safely and in a way you enjoy. If a direct cooked measurement exists for the exact food and preparation, use it. Otherwise, keep the raw value attached to its raw state. Do not undercook food to preserve creatine, and do not apply the cod retention range to salmon, beef or chicken.
What if you are vegetarian or vegan?
Plant foods can supply amino acids your body uses to make creatine, but those amino acids are not preformed creatine. In the primary plant-food analysis used for the chart, creatine was not detected in corn, peanuts, pistachios, soybeans, wheat flour, white rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes.[16]
Your body still synthesizes creatine from glycine, arginine and methionine.[18] A plant-based diet therefore does not mean creatine synthesis stops. It does mean that preformed dietary creatine from meat and fish is reduced or absent.
A randomized study gives useful context for women. The randomized trial included 40 omnivorous women across three diet groups. The authors reported a 14.6% decline in muscle total creatine after three months in the vegetarian group without creatine supplementation. Mean values moved from 153.5 to 128.8 mmol/kg dry weight.[20]
The relevant interpretation is a lower body creatine pool after removing meat and fish. No clinical deficiency threshold was part of the trial.
The study used a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, not a vegan diet. The reported 14.6% decline was also a group result from one intervention. It shows that diet can shift muscle creatine stores, not that every woman who stops eating meat will experience the same percentage change.
For food choices, keep the distinction clean. Eggs and milk provide small amounts for lacto-ovo vegetarians, but they are not gram-for-gram substitutes for fish or meat. The tested plant foods did not provide detectable preformed creatine. Beans, grains, nuts and vegetables can contribute precursor amino acids without becoming "plant creatine."
Why do creatine food lists online disagree?
There is no single creatine value for "beef," "salmon" or "chicken" that applies to every cut, species and preparation. Food-composition numbers change because the food itself changes, and the studies do not all measure it the same way.
Beef shows the problem clearly. One raw beef loin measurement in our dataset was 586 mg/100 g, while a separate beef eye-of-round measurement was 401 mg/100 g.[8][9] Neither number should become a universal value for "steak."
Species and muscle matter. Storage can change measured concentrations. Cooking changes water content and can move creatine into juices. Older analytical methods can also measure a slightly different endpoint from modern assays.
This is why a precise-looking ranking can be less useful than a transparent chart. A good reference tells you what food was measured, in what state, and where the number came from. If those details disappear, the decimal places can create more confidence than the evidence earns.
What about turkey, sardines, shrimp, canned tuna, cheese and yogurt?
Leaving a food out of the numeric chart does not mean it contains zero creatine. It means the evidence we recovered did not clear the same state-specific publication standard used for the main rows.
Turkey: direct primary work measured creatine-related precursors in turkey. The recovered endpoint used a combined dry-matter measure, so it cannot be compared cleanly with the wet-weight free-creatine values in the chart.[21]
Shrimp: a primary study measured raw and cooked shrimp and reported creatine as high as 3.85 mg/g in brown shrimp. The accessible report did not tie that headline value clearly enough to one preparation state for a comparable row.[22]
Sardines: primary seafood work included sardines in its precursor analysis. The accessible source did not expose a clean state-specific creatine concentration for the chart.[23]
Canned tuna, cheese and yogurt: no clean product-specific primary value cleared the final evidence review. A raw tuna number should not be copied onto canned or smoked fish because processing can change creatine.
That preparation detail matters. Canning, brining, smoking, heating and storage can change water content or creatine retention. A label such as "tuna" or "cheese" is sometimes too broad to justify one precise number.
For readers, the practical rule is simple: a food can contain creatine without having a defensible universal number. Where the food state is unclear, leaving the number out is more useful than publishing false precision.
How to use creatine food numbers in real life
Food can make a meaningful contribution to creatine intake, especially when fish or meat is part of your diet. Normal portions can contribute without resembling a supplement serving, and cooking can change the amount in food-specific ways.
Choose foods that fit your preferences, nutrition needs and routine. Keep the fridge chart as a reference when you want a grounded comparison, then let the meal itself come first.
Scientific References
- Larsen R, Stormo SK, Dragnes BT, Elvevoll EO. Losses of taurine, creatine, glycine and alanine from cod (Gadus morhua L.) fillet during processing. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 2007;20(5):396-402. DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2006.10.001. DOI.
- Shirai T, Fuke S, Yamaguchi K, Konosu S. Creatine and creatinine in the raw and heated muscles of salmon. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi. 1984;50:1229-1233. DOI: 10.2331/suisan.50.1229. DOI.
- Quaresma MAG, et al. Amino acid and bioactive signatures of yellowfin tuna loins: ocean-specific patterns across major fishing grounds. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2026;13:1796270. PMID: 42221778. PubMed.
- Sakaguchi M, Murata M, Kawai A. Changes in Free Amino Acids and Creatine Contents in Yellowtail Muscle during Ice Storage. Journal of Food Science. 1982;47:1662-1666. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1982.tb05006.x. DOI.
- Cropotova J, et al. Sensory and Physicochemical Quality Characteristics of Haddock Fish Cake Enriched with Atlantic Mackerel. Food Technology and Biotechnology. 2021;59(1):4-15. PMID: 34084075. PubMed.
- Sakaguchi M, Hujita M, Simidu W. Studies on Muscle of Aquatic Animals-XXXXIII: Creatine and Creatinine Contents in Fish Muscle Extractives. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi. 1964;30:999-1002. DOI: 10.2331/suisan.30.999. DOI.
- Hughes RB. Chemical studies on the herring (Clupea harengus). IV: Creatine in herring flesh, and its behaviour during heat processing. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 1960;11:700-705. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.2740111204. DOI.
- Polak T, Gasperlin L, Zlender B. Various instrumental and biochemical parameters as ageing indicators of beef Longissimus dorsi muscle and their relation to creatine and creatinine content. European Food Research and Technology. 2007;225:849-855. DOI: 10.1007/s00217-006-0491-x. DOI.
- Purchas RW, Rutherfurd SM, Pearce PD, Vather R, Wilkinson BHP. Concentrations in beef and lamb of taurine, carnosine, coenzyme Q10, and creatine. Meat Science. 2004;66:629-637. PMID: 22060873. PubMed.
- Mora L, Sentandreu MA, Toldra F. Contents of creatine, creatinine and carnosine in porcine muscles of different metabolic types. Meat Science. 2008;79:709-715. PMID: 22063033. PubMed.
- Mora L, Hernandez-Cazares AS, Sentandreu MA, Toldra F. Creatine and creatinine evolution during the processing of dry-cured ham. Meat Science. 2010;84:384-389. PMID: 20374800. PubMed.
- Jung Y, et al. Characterization of meat quality, storage stability, flavor-related compounds, and their relationship in Korean Woorimatdag No. 2 chicken breast meat during cold storage. Poultry Science. 2025;104(1):104566. PMID: 39622093. PubMed.
- Kim HJ, et al. Assessment of chicken thigh meat quality of Ross 308 broiler of animal welfare certified farm. Animal Bioscience. 2022;35(12):1957-1966. PMID: 35798041. PubMed.
- Reicher N, et al. From broiler breeder hen feed to the egg and embryo: The molecular effects of guanidinoacetate supplementation on creatine transport and synthesis. Poultry Science. 2020;99(7):3574-3582. PMID: 32616254. PubMed.
- Hulsemann J, Manz F, Wember T, Schoch G. Administration of creatine and creatinine with breast milk and infant milk preparations. Klin Padiatr. 1987;199(4):292-295. PMID: 3657037. PubMed.
- Hou Y, He W, Hu S, Wu G. Composition of polyamines and amino acids in plant-source foods for human consumption. Amino Acids. 2019;51(8):1153-1165. PMID: 31197570. PubMed.
- Korovljev D, Todorovic N, Stajer V, Ostojic SM. Temporal trends in dietary creatine intake from 1999 to 2018: an ecological study with 89,161 participants. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2021;18(1):53. PMID: 34193199. PubMed.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance: Health Professional Fact Sheet. Current NIH guidance. NIH ODS.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Science and Our Food Supply: Examining Dietary Supplements. FDA educational resource showing creatine monohydrate with Daily Value not established. FDA.
- Blancquaert L, Baguet A, Bex T, et al. Changing to a vegetarian diet reduces the body creatine pool in omnivorous women, but appears not to affect carnitine and carnosine homeostasis: a randomised trial. British Journal of Nutrition. 2018;119(7):759-770. PMID: 29569535. PubMed.
- Gibis M, Weiss J. Impact of Precursors Creatine, Creatinine, and Glucose on the Formation of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Grilled Patties of Various Animal Species. Journal of Food Science. 2015;80(11):C2430-C2439. PMID: 26445401. PubMed.
- Khan MR, Azam M. Shrimp as a substantial source of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines. Food Research International. 2021;140:109977. PMID: 33648212. PubMed.
- Khan MR, Busquets R, Saurina J, Hernandez S, Puignou L. Identification of seafood as an important dietary source of heterocyclic amines by chemometry and chromatography-mass spectrometry. Chemical Research in Toxicology. 2013;26(6):1014-1022. PMID: 23675611. PubMed.
