Live data from Hacker News

Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

thesciverse.org

41–50 of 395 posts

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#41
post #2

Creatine is one of the few supplements I actually notice a difference if I quit taking. Happy to see it’s benefits extend to beyond performance in the gym.

I feel like it makes me feel like crap and my brain weird every time I try it and searching my spreadsheet shows this effect many times when I forget and read something like the above article and try it again. Anyone else feel like this?

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#42

Unfortunately, I get terribly tired and brain-fogged from even small quantities. Anyone else experienced this?

Be sure it’s pure creatine, they often mix in all kinds of shit. I take creapure just to be sure.

I use Creapure (a/k/a "German Creatine")as well. Always hard to know with supplements but Creapure seems to be legit. Also use creatine monohydrate not creatine HCL. Monohydrate is harder to disolve so use warm water (I put mine in my coffee) but it's the one that's been studied the most and has the most documented evidence.

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#43

Unfortunately, I get terribly tired and brain-fogged from even small quantities. Anyone else experienced this?

Be sure it’s pure creatine, they often mix in all kinds of shit. I take creapure just to be sure.

creapure got too expensive IMHO probably tariffs

but you are right, independent testing finds some brands are garbage

* https://supp.co/tested/creatine.pdf

* https://supp.co/articles/suppco-tested-creatine-testing-resu...

I switched to sportsresearch brand when they had a sale on amazon

$19 for 1KG (2.2 pounds) but it's like double that now (don't buy) amazon.com/dp/B0DXR7MPNV

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#44
post #37
post #3

Direct link to the study: https://jpbs.hapres.com/htmls/JPBS_1766_Detail.html I wanted to check the dosages they used. Looks like the review includes studies ranging from 5g/day to 20-25g/day. (Typical dosage you'll see for daily use is 5 grams)

Just in case anyone is thinking about trying it: 25g seems pretty high. It’s worth it to review what that means for the rest of your body before starting this regime. Kidneys are really useful organs to have working.

Yes, the labeling does caution against using it if you have kidney disease. Not sure how much of a risk there is if your kidneys are functioning normally. Maintaining good hydration is always a good idea.

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#45
post #2

Creatine is one of the few supplements I actually notice a difference if I quit taking. Happy to see it’s benefits extend to beyond performance in the gym.

Funny because I'm not sure I quite notice it immediately when I stop taking it, presumably since the body retains a certain amount of it. But I definitely notice a difference when taking it the first day after not having had it a little while, especially when taking 20+ grams a day. It gives me so much mental energy and alertness that I won't get a whole lot of sleep, but the next day I end up feeling just fine. If I…

Isn't 20+ grams a day a lot for the kidneys? genuine question

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#46
Peter Attia is a crap human being for being buddies with Epstein after most of his crimes were already known.

But I still trust his analysis more than anyone else at dissecting this kind of stuff and separating the wheat from the chaff. I'll be curious to see if he covers this.

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#47

Feels like a sign of the times that I expect half the comments here to be paid astroturfing about how amazing creatine is.

A few thoughts

1) It annoys me whenever anybody mentions literally anything (whatever baking soda, potassium, any vitamin) you get a million unhinged comments about how this was a personal panacea.

2) Creatine definitely does stuff, that's scientifically been established by numerous studies for decades. It's been recommended as a supplement for vegetarians for mental reasons and for people trying to build muscle-mass (sort of niche). I'm actually a bit surprised how few people talk about it when it's a standard blood test thing (possibly because it can't be patented).

3) It's dirt cheap and made by tons of difference places. I don't think there's a "big creatine." It's probably like < 25 cents a serving.

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#48
I have bad central sleep apnea, and regardless of CPAP I still end up with poor quality sleep unfortunately. I was on stimulants like Modafinil and Ritalin for over a decade, which comes at a huge cost physically, mentally. Its the only supplement I take other than Vitamin D, I'm not some freak biohacker.

I've completely replaced stimulant use with 15g of Creatine a day, and 25-30g on days when I feel especially sleep deprived. It has actually changed my life. I decided to try this after reading this paper and will never go back: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9

There's lots of interesting literature on Creatine starting to be published.

EDIT: Also Creatine destroying your kidneys is a myth (unless you already have kidney issues). This myth is spread because people go to their doctors and get their kidney function tested while supplementing creatine. The doctor will initially be concerned because there will be higher levels of creatine in your urine, which is a sign of kidney disease. However, they will not be concerned if you tell them you're supplementing creatine.

If you have excess creatine in your urine while not supplementing creatine then that would be of concern. If you are worried about this stop supplementation a week prior to getting kidney function testing.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10999421/

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#49
Curious if anyone has had hair issues while taking it. I’m aware that there’s no positive evidence for an effect, but there is an at least plausible mechanism. I’ve gone through two periods where I took it and liked the effects, but felt like I shed way more hair and stopped due to that.

Re: Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

#50
post #15

I feel like crap when taking creatine... Actually most of these purported supplements are a no go. Preworkouts would work first session then make me ultra tired, caffeine is fine as long as I 'cycle' it... Wondering strongly if those studies are not just to sell more cheap supplements... As long as for some reason we find that it has some level of effect on most people. It has some effect for sure but not sure it is…

Creatine is great regardless, just dont get sold by whatever the nonsense article is pushing if anything. Generic creatine the cheapest you can find is likely your best bet.

I have the same struggles with preworkout, they are just overkill for me and make me crash and i feel they impact my sleep because i usually work out at a random time so the caffeine timing may be terrible. Certainly had success with them for a while, but it was when i didn't really care when i went to sleep because when i was younger I'd just sleep for 8-10 hours straight regardless of time of day/night.

Post reply on HN