I kept seeing claims on social media about creatine boosting the brain, but what’s actually true? Here’s the science.

Muscle strength… and brain power?

You might have come across multiple influencers showing off their ‘gains’ in the gym and promoting all sorts of pills and powders to help you build that “perfect” body. A lot of those products are ultra-processed and unnecessary. But one of them seems worth our attention: creatine. As the conversation about creatine for muscle growth is becoming saturated, new claims are starting to pop up about its potential use for something else: the “perfect” brain.

Since a safe and accessible supplement that enhances brain function sounds almost too good to be true, I will discuss scientific findings about the effects of creatine on the brain, to see whether it is really worthwhile to add it to your daily routine. After all, who wouldn’t want a simple way to support, and maybe boost, their brain function?

The energy boost behind creatine

Creatine, or rather creatine phosphate, is part of a system that helps your muscle cells when intense bursts of energy are needed. During the first few seconds of a jump or lift, creatine recharges the main energy currency of the cell. It serves as an energy buffer. Therefore, you can lift that bit more and run that bit longer. This is why supplementation is highly desirable for people who exercise.

Creatine is naturally made in the body and is restocked by consuming certain foods, primarily meat and fish. Half of the daily creatine used by your body is replenished by what you eat. Creatine supplementation is relatively cheap and considered safe, and there is substantial scientific evidence showing that it benefits muscle performance and exercise capacity.

What about your energy hungry brain?

The benefits of supplementation for physical performance are clear. What about the brain? The brain makes up 2% of your body weight, but uses almost 20% of your energy intake. Since creatine helps deliver energy, you might assume that supplementation is also beneficial for brain function. However, it is not that simple.

Whereas muscles receive creatine from other body parts and through diet, the brain makes most on its own. Furthermore, the brain is protected by a barrier that carefully controls what gets in and out. Creatine from the rest of your body has a hard time crossing this blood–brain barrier. So, the brain benefits less from supplementation than the muscles do.

But does it make me smarter?

When researchers study the effect of supplementation in healthy people on the brain, the results are divided. Some studies report that supplementation improves certain aspects of cognitive function, things like short‑ and long‑term memory, attention, and  information processing.

These effects are often small and they only occur when high doses are taken over a longer period of time. Other studies find no effect in healthy people. Besides these mixed results, the number of studies into the effect of creatine supplementation is very limited, making the result even less certain. If the average healthy brain doesn’t show large benefits, when does creatine start to look more promising?

When your brain needs backup

Interestingly, benefits become more consistent when the brain is operating under challenging conditions, such as fatigue or injury. Fatigue due to sleep deprivation can have a big impact on normal brain function. You probably recognise the feeling of brain fog, feeling grumpy, struggling to remember things you normally would, or having a harder time performing mentally challenging tasks after a bad night sleep.

Creatine can protect the brain from lack of sleep. Studies found that creatine supplementation improves cognitive performance after sleep deprivation, as soon as the next day. There is also evidence that brain creatine levels are reduced in people with traumatic brain injury, suggesting a potential therapeutic role for creatine supplementation. But actual supplementation effects have only been found in one human study with children and adolescents suffering from traumatic brain injury, so more evidence is needed before we know whether this really works.

Other factors that disrupt the brain’s energy metabolism are mental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Research suggests that these conditions are often accompanied by reduced brain creatine levels, which makes supplementation an interesting idea. However, only a small number of studies have actually tested whether creatine can ameliorate the symptoms associated with these disorders and diseases. Much more research is needed before we can say if creatine supplementation can truly help tackle these problems.

What’s holding the answers?

Some studies suggest that creatine supplementation might help in certain conditions, and several disorders and diseases are indeed associated with reduced brain creatine levels. However, only a small number of studies have tested whether supplementation improves symptoms, and clear evidence from well‑designed studies is still lacking.

On top of this, it is very difficult to accurately measure how much creatine is available in the human brain at any given time. Different studies use different methods and tools, which makes their results hard to compare. Until we have more reliable and standardised ways to measure brain creatine, any conclusions about the effects of supplementation on brain function need to be drawn with caution.

Is supplementation worth it?

The ‘amazing’ effect of creatine on the brain claimed by influencers seems to be exaggerated; as we see with most information on social media. This reminds us not to trust every bold promise you see on social media, no matter how evidence-based it claims to be. For brain performance alone, there doesn’t appear to be an easy boost in the form of supplementation.

There are some situations where creatine might provide a helping hand, such as when brain function is impaired by injury or lack of sleep, but robust, long‑term evidence from repeated studies is still lacking. Such studies are very much needed. For most people, creatine can be a great supplement for your muscles. The  potential, small boost for your brain might be a nice bonus at best. Who knows, it might provide a small push if you have an exam after pulling an all-nighter, but don't expect creatine to do the heavy lifting for you.

This article was written by Noa KreikeExternal link.

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