Creatine for Brain Function: Not Just for Muscles

Short answer: In small trials, creatine improved short-term memory and reasoning in vegetarians, older adults and people short of sleep. A meta-analysis found a memory benefit in older but not young adults. Trials used 5 g a day for weeks, or 20 g a day for a week; if you have kidney disease, are pregnant or take medication, ask a doctor first.

Creatine may give a small boost to memory and reasoning, but mainly in people whose brains are low on creatine or under strain. The evidence is moderate. There are positive randomized trials and a positive meta-analysis on memory, but the trials are small, results vary by task and group, and young, rested adults show no effect.

If you want to try it, creatine monohydrate is the form studied. Trials gave 5 g a day for several weeks, or a 20 g a day loading dose for about a week. Those are research doses, not recommendations, so check with a doctor or pharmacist first if you have kidney problems, are pregnant or take medication.

How creatine works in the brain

Every cell runs on ATP, and firing neurons use it fast. Creatine, stored as phosphocreatine, acts as a quick-release energy reserve: it hands a phosphate back to spent ATP almost instantly. It can’t store as much energy as glycogen or fat, but it delivers it faster. That helps keep the brain’s energy steady during heavy demand, such as hard mental work, stress or sleep loss.

The body makes creatine, mainly in the liver and kidneys, from three amino acids. Omnivores get more from meat and fish. Scans show supplements raise brain creatine, but less than in muscle, and raising it may take higher or longer dosing than muscle needs (Dolan 2019). This modest uptake is one reason the effects show up mostly in people who start with lower brain creatine.

What the research shows

Vegetarians

Creatine is found almost only in animal foods, so vegetarians and vegans tend to have lower stores. In a double-blind crossover trial (Rae 2003), 45 young adult vegetarians took 5 g a day of creatine monohydrate for six weeks. Creatine clearly improved working memory (backward digit span) and scores on a test of fluid reasoning (Raven’s matrices).

It is a single study. In a systematic review, vegetarians responded better than meat-eaters on memory tasks, but not on other cognitive measures (Avgerinos 2018). For more on plant-based eating, see our guide to vegan diets and brain health.

Sleep deprivation

McMorris ran small studies of creatine during sleep loss, giving 20 g a day (5 g four times a day) for 7 days beforehand.

• 2006: About 20 young adults were kept awake for 24 hours with intermittent exercise. The creatine group declined less than placebo on random movement generation, choice reaction time, balance and mood. Verbal and spatial recall did not differ.
• 2007: Creatine improved performance only on a complex central executive task, and only at 36 hours awake. Short-term memory, reaction time, balance and mood did not differ.

These were very small studies with mixed results. They suggest creatine may help some demanding tasks when the brain is under strain. It is not a substitute for good sleep.

Older adults

In a small study of 32 older people (McMorris 2007), a week of 20 g a day improved several tasks. These were random number generation, forward number and spatial recall, and long-term memory, but not backward number recall.

Lab and animal studies suggest creatine may also protect neurons, by reducing oxidative stress and steadying mitochondria. That work is mostly preclinical, but it gives a plausible reason creatine might help the aging brain.

Reviews and meta-analyses

Avgerinos (2018) found six randomized trials with 281 participants. Creatine may improve short-term memory and reasoning. Results for long-term memory, attention, executive function, reaction time and mental fatigue were conflicting, and young people showed no change. The authors suggested possible benefit for older and stressed people.

Prokopidis (2023) pooled 8 trials and found a small overall improvement in memory. The benefit was larger in older adults (aged 66–76) and absent in younger people (aged 11–31). A published letter criticized its statistics for possible double counting, and some authors have links to creatine makers.

Reviews conclude that creatine is most likely to affect thinking when the brain is stressed: sleep loss, low oxygen (hypoxia) in experiments, or harder tasks (Dolan 2019). In well-fed, rested young adults, effects tend to be subtle or undetectable. It does not make a healthy brain noticeably sharper; it reduces decline in some situations where the brain would otherwise falter.

Who is most likely to benefit

• Vegetarians and vegans: Lower stores and the clearest improvements, though mainly from one trial (Rae 2003).
• Older adults: The memory benefit in the Prokopidis meta-analysis was concentrated here, but the trials are small. Older adults are more likely to have kidney problems or take medication, so ask your doctor first.
• People short of sleep: Shift workers, new parents and travelers fit here, but the studies are small, used high doses and had mixed results.
• Well-nourished young adults: Trials found no cognitive benefit. That doesn’t prove zero effect, only that it is hard to detect and probably of little practical use.

Doses used in studies

Raising brain creatine may need higher or longer dosing than raising muscle creatine, and the best dose for the brain is not known (Dolan 2019). These are research doses, not recommendations. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking creatine, especially if you have kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take medication. Our overview of brain health supplements compares creatine with other options.

Form and timing. Creatine monohydrate is by far the most studied form. No alternative (creatine ethyl ester, hydrochloride, buffered creatine) has been shown to be better in peer-reviewed research. Timing has not been shown to matter. It dissolves in water or juice; taking it with a meal may slightly improve absorption.

Safety and side effects

The International Society of Sports Nutrition reviewed the safety data (Kreider 2017). It concluded that short- and long-term use (up to 30 g a day for 5 years) is safe and well tolerated in healthy people. Several of its authors have links to the supplement industry. Safety in pregnancy, in children and in people with health conditions is less studied.

• Kidneys: Creatine raises creatinine, a breakdown product, which can make routine kidney tests look falsely abnormal. This does not reflect real damage, and long-term studies in healthy people have not found kidney harm (Kreider 2017). People with kidney disease, or who take medicines that can affect the kidneys, should not take creatine without their doctor’s advice. Tell your doctor you take it before kidney tests.
• Interactions: Few have been studied. Ask a doctor or pharmacist first if you take prescription medication, especially medicines that can affect the kidneys, such as some anti-inflammatory painkillers or diuretics, or have a medical condition.
• Dehydration and cramps: Early anecdotal concerns have not been supported by controlled research.
• Weight gain: A small increase in body weight is common, mainly from water held in muscle.
• Stomach upset: Some people get mild bloating or discomfort, especially at higher doses. Smaller split doses or taking it with food may help.

Creatine from food

Your body makes some creatine, and omnivores get more from red meat, pork, fish (such as herring, salmon and tuna) and poultry. Cooking reduces it somewhat. Food provides far less than the 5–20 g a day used in trials. Plant foods provide essentially none, so vegetarians and vegans rely on what their body makes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does creatine take to affect the brain?

Brain creatine rises more slowly than muscle creatine. Studies used anything from one week of 20 g a day to six weeks or more of 5 g a day. Unlike caffeine, creatine has no noticeable effect after a single dose.

Can creatine help with brain fog?

It depends on the cause. If brain fog comes from sleep loss, metabolic stress or low creatine stores (as on a plant-based diet), creatine might help. But it has not been tested for “brain fog” as such. If it comes from inflammation, hormones or medication side effects, creatine is unlikely to fix it. Persistent brain fog is worth discussing with a doctor.

Does creatine cause hair loss?

The concern comes from a 2009 study of 20 college rugby players (van der Merwe 2009). Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) rose 56 percent during a week of creatine loading and stayed 40 percent above baseline after two weeks of maintenance. Hair loss was not measured, and no study has directly linked creatine to hair loss. The evidence is insufficient either way.

Sources

• Rae, C., Digney, A. L., McEwan, S. R., & Bates, T. C. (2003). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1529), 2147–2150. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2492

• McMorris, T., Harris, R. C., Swain, J., Corbett, J., Collard, K., Dyson, R. J., Dye, L., Hodgson, C., & Draper, N. (2006). Effect of creatine supplementation and sleep deprivation, with mild exercise, on cognitive and psychomotor performance, mood state, and plasma concentrations of catecholamines and cortisol. Psychopharmacology, 185(1), 93–103. doi:10.1007/s00213-005-0269-z

• McMorris, T., Harris, R. C., Howard, A. N., Langridge, G., Hall, B., Corbett, J., Dicks, M., & Hodgson, C. (2007). Creatine supplementation, sleep deprivation, cortisol, melatonin and behavior. Physiology & Behavior, 90(1), 21–28. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.08.024

• McMorris, T., Mielcarz, G., Harris, R. C., Swain, J. P., & Howard, A. (2007). Creatine supplementation and cognitive performance in elderly individuals. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 14(5), 517–528. doi:10.1080/13825580600788100

• Avgerinos, K. I., Spyrou, N., Bougioukas, K. I., & Kapogiannis, D. (2018). Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Experimental Gerontology, 108, 166–173. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2018.04.013

• Prokopidis, K., Giannos, P., Triantafyllidis, K. K., Kechagias, K. S., Forbes, S. C., & Candow, D. G. (2023). Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Reviews, 81(4), 416–427. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuac064

• Kreider, R. B., Kalman, D. S., Antonio, J., Ziegenfuss, T. N., Wildman, R., Collins, R., Candow, D. G., Kleiner, S. M., Almada, A. L., & Lopez, H. L. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 18. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z

• Dolan, E., Gualano, B., & Rawson, E. S. (2019). Beyond muscle: the effects of creatine supplementation on brain creatine, cognitive processing, and traumatic brain injury. European Journal of Sport Science, 19(1), 1–14. doi:10.1080/17461391.2018.1500644

• Forbes, S. C., Cordingley, D. M., Cornish, S. M., Gualano, B., Roschel, H., Ostojic, S. M., … & Candow, D. G. (2022). Effects of creatine supplementation on brain function and health. Nutrients, 14(5), 921. doi:10.3390/nu14050921

• van der Merwe, J., Brooks, N. E., & Myburgh, K. H. (2009). Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 19(5), 399–404. doi:10.1097/JSM.0b013e3181b8b52f