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Creatine is a well-known supplement for people who go to the gym: take a scoop of creatine powder every day, and you may find yourself able to work out a little harder. But creatine is also being studied for its mental health benefits. Is it worth taking just for that? maybe.
What is creatine?
Creatine is a natural chemical that our body uses in cells to produce energy. If you remember learning about ATP as an energy source (and how mitochondria, the “powerhouse of the cell,” turn food into ATP), you may know a little about this. When ATP is used up, creatine phosphate can recharge that ATP (replacing its spent phosphate) for some quick extra energy.
This is why it’s so useful in the gym: If you’ve just done nine bench presses and want to do a tenth, but your muscles don’t have the energy, having a little extra creatine in your muscle cells can give you enough oomph to complete that last rep. Over time, you’ll end up doing more, and thus someone with a lot of creatine in their muscles will probably be a little stronger than someone with less.
Our bodies make some creatine, but we also get creatine from the foods we eat (especially meat). Creatine supplements, available as powders or pills, can add to our internal creatine stores. That’s why it’s a popular supplement among people who do a lot of strength training.
What are the known brain benefits of creatine?
Muscle cells aren’t the only ones that use creatine – every cell in our body needs energy, and creatine is part of the system that provides it. So it’s worth asking if creatine supplementation can help in other areas of our health.
This is where the evidence gets much less conclusive. To give you an idea of the state of the science, I took a look Examine.comNo database On studies related to creatine supplementation. It records “A” level evidence for the benefits of creatine for strength and power (the ability to use force in quick bursts). Creatine gets a “B” for increasing your muscle size and some tests of memory. Many other studied results are duds, with lots of “C” and “D” ratings as you scroll down the table. These low ratings do not mean that creatine is useless, just that there is no clear, well-understood benefit that has been firmly established. Scientists are still working on these questions.
When it comes to cognitive benefits, the evidence is mixed, but many researchers think it’s promising. Many influencers, biohackers, and wellness enthusiasts take an optimistic view, supplementing (and often recommending or selling) creatine in the hope that the benefits will materialize.
2024 review of 16 studies Creatine has been found to improve memory, attention and processing speed. The strength of the evidence was not great, however: the authors wrote that the evidence for memory benefits was only “moderate” and that the evidence for other benefits was “low certainty.” Some of the outcomes studied, including overall cognitive performance, did not appear to be improved at all by creatine.
A 2025 review Highlighted the disappointing results so far, while showing what we know about creatine supplementation does Actually increases brain levels of creatine. In other words, it is doing somethingBut we don’t fully understand how these benefits will work, if they actually do.
Both reviews noted that the effect of creatine on brain function may depend on who is taking it. People who are low in creatine—such as vegetarians, who don’t get much of it in their diet—may benefit from supplementation even if they are not omnivores. Older adults may benefit more than younger, healthy people, and it is likely that the benefits of creatine show themselves best in stressed people.
Lack of sleep can be one type of stress that creatine can help with. A 2024 study A mega-dose of creatine has been found to improve cognitive performance in sleep-deprived people. That amount was huge, though: the equivalent of 24 grams for a 150-pound person. (The usual dose of creatine is 5 grams per day.) I tell you not should Take creatine if you’re feeling foggy after a late night, but I’ll definitely consider it next time it happens to me.
What are the risks of creatine?
Creatine is one of the best-studied consumer supplements out there, and the safety profile is good. That’s why so many people take it: even if you’re not sure it’s working, there’s no significant harm in taking it. Creatine has not been linked to any serious health problems at normal doses, and it is very inexpensive. for example, The Nutricost tub That works out to 20 cents per serving per day (if you’re taking five grams per day).
What do you think so far?
The main risk of taking creatine is that it can cause stomach upset, especially in large doses. That could be a problem if you intend to try the 24-gram dose, or one of the other dosing schemes from the cognitive studies. People who take creatine for cognitive benefits often aim for 10 grams a day. You can divide it into five grams in the morning and five in the evening, if taking 10 at once does not agree with you.
Now, there is another risk of creatine that people commonly take thing About online, but there is no concrete evidence behind it. The idea is that creatine accelerates the hair loss process in people (usually men) who are already prone to male pattern baldness. This idea comes from looking at biochemical pathways involved in creatine metabolism and testosterone-related hormonal changes and finding where they intersect.
Researchers call this something to behold—maybe Creatine possibly can Accelerate hair loss, but the internet was running with “creatine causes hair loss” as if it were a known fact. In truth, no human studies have verified this link, and A study designed to find out found the opposite. It concluded: “This study was the first to directly assess hair follicle health after creatine supplementation, providing strong evidence against claims that creatine contributes to hair loss.”
How much creatine should you take and what type?
If you’re interested in taking creatine for mental health benefits, the rules are the same as taking it for muscular benefits—unless you need a higher dose.
As mentioned, there’s no exact number of grams you need for brain benefits that we know of (because we’re not entirely sure there is brain benefits for the average person). Ten grams per day seems to be a popular choice. Five grams is usually recommended for muscle gain. For gym benefits, you’ll want to take your creatine consistently every day (don’t skip taking it on rest days), and it doesn’t matter what time of day. For brain benefits, the same rules of thumb seem reasonable.
Sometimes people take a “loading” dose for their first week or so, taking a larger dose (often four times the regular dose) to increase the body’s creatine stores quickly. This is optional: taking a regular dose for a few weeks gives your body the same effect as taking a loading dose for a week. I’d say most people skip the loading phase these days, because of the risk of stomach upset with large doses, and because we know that a loading phase isn’t necessary.
Finally, people often ask what kind of creatine to get. And the answer is simple: creatine monohydrate is the best studied and known to be effective. Happily, it’s also the cheapest and easiest to find. I wouldn’t worry about the brand; It’s all the same stuff. Personally I like taking creatine in capsules, as it is more convenient than mixing the powder into a drink, but the powder is cheaper and just as good.
