Is Creatine Good For Brain Health?
Is Creatine Good For Brain Health?
How this common supplement may alleviate jet lag, boost memory, and more
Hello, everyone. Creatine is a supplement that many of you may already be taking. If not, it’s probably been on your radar. There is solid data to say creatine helps build, maintain, and prevent the loss of muscle. I have personally been taking creatine for the good part of two years to boost my strength training efforts. Lately, though, I’ve been intrigued by emerging data on creatine’s benefits that are specific to brain health.
In addition to supporting your muscles, creatine may help support your cognitive health, too. Below, I explore reasons to consider taking this supplement. (If you are perimenopausal, mostly plant-based, or actively trying to build muscle, take note!) Plus, as promised, I am sharing my jet lag recovery routine boosted by—you guessed it—creatine.
But first, what exactly is creatine? And how do we know it is safe?
Creatine (KREE-A-TEEN) is a naturally occurring substance made by your body. (Don’t confuse it with creatinine, a biomarker for kidney function seen on many blood panels.) It comes from amino acids—the building blocks of protein—but it is not considered an amino acid. Instead, your body makes creatine from amino acids via an enzymatic reaction inside the cell.
Creatine has an important job: it binds to phosphorus, becoming phosphocreatine, a precursor to ATP. Perhaps you’ve heard of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the primary energy source of a cell? Phosphocreatine is a key step in replenishing ATP stores. The brain and muscles are especially dependent on getting energy (ATP) by having an abundance of creatine around.
If you are with me so far, you can see where we are going with this. Creatine is how the brain and muscles access their energy sources. It’s absolutely necessary to have enough creatine to keep ATP stores topped off. That’s why the body is constantly making creatine—some comes from the pancreas, kidneys, and liver, and some comes from the brain. But the body and brain only make about half the creatine we need—the other half comes from food.
This position statement by the International Society of Sports Nutrition cites hundreds of studies supporting the safety and efficacy of taking creatine. Creatine is a no-brainer for muscle health.
Let’s dig into the brain health benefits right away. At the bottom of the post you can find more about how creatine boosts workout recovery and prevents muscle loss.
The Brain Health Benefits of Creatine
As noted above, creatine plays a critical role in keeping brain cells adequately energized. In fact, the brain’s ability to communicate between cells and repair neurons (aka neuroplasticity) all depends on ATP.
The basic science of creatine and the brain is well-studied. Taking creatine as a supplement to boost brain function, however, is still fairly new. But I am excited by the evolving science of how creatine may not only help the brain function better now, but be part of the toolbox to reduce neurodegenerative disease later.
Cognitive Function:. Evidence from an analysis of five studies on creatine benefiting memory and thinking skills is mostly positive. Participants were more likely to benefit if taking creatine under conditions of mental fatigue or stress. In this scenario, creatine enhanced short term memory and thinking skills. Another plus: taking creatine when cognitive demands are high, like trying to do memory tests while sleep deprived. Another takeaway: vegetarians were more likely to respond to creatine than omnivores, perhaps because they are more likely to be creatine deficient. Plus, older adults were more likely to see cognitive benefits from taking creatine than young adults.