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Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

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81–90 of 395 posts

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

#81

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

I work out but I've never taken it. I feel like not everything has to be minmaxed, sometimes some things are better left to nature. Easy come easy go as they say

That's a big odd - because creatine seems to be the universally beloved thing and that it's a bit natural and has positive effects with zero negative side effect. Not a criticism but aside fro proten, creatine seems to be 'the natural thing'. Pun intended.

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

#82
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?

Yes I can definitely “feel” it when I take it, especially so at 10g+. And it makes me overly reactive and somewhat irritable, and gives me a ton of energy that needs to be let out lest the former two get worse.

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

#83
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This is a myth, its not bad for your kidneys. The reason this gets spread is because you will have higher levels of creatine in your urine if your Doctor tests your urine for kidney function, which indicates kidney disease. However, If you reveal to that doctor that you're supplementing Creatine it will not be concern them.

creatinine != creatine

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

#85
post #11

How do you take Creatine ? And how much for what age group and weight?

I dissolve it in my coffee every morning, it’s flavorless. I believe 5 grams is the standard dose, it’s about a teaspoon. I wouldn’t bother with the “loading phase” you often see recommended online. Just be consistent.

I do this sometimes with 5g creatine monohydrate and I can definitely tell my coffee is more bitter than usual. Not undrinkable but it does spoil the experience of good coffee somewhat.

My favourite mixer is something slightly acidic or sharp tasting, like kefir which also holds the crystals in suspension and somehow is a little less gritty as a result, and masks the bitterness quite well.

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

#86
post #74

How do you take Creatine ? And how much for what age group and weight?

Others mentioned dissolving it. I find just getting it over with is easier for me. I dump the whole scoop into my mouth and wash it down with a mouthful of water or two. It is flavorless, after all.

Is this a joke? I hope? A) drinking a glass of water is 'the lowest bar' and 2) using creatine means you have to up your water intake. If you don't drink the water, it won't work.

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

#87
Just beware that for some people (myself included), it causes stomach issues (quite intense in my case). There are mitigation strategies (slowly build up the dose, use more water, take with food, split up the doses across meals, and consider using the less studied HCL variant).

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

#88
post #58

The article made up the claim it’s not from the paper itself. There was some improvement in cognitive scores, but no placebo group. Without a placebo group, there are a lot of explanations for the data.

>> Recently, a pilot study (single-arm) by Smith et al., recruited 20 patients (73 years of age) with AD and provided them with 20 grams/day of CrM for 8 weeks [20]. Serum creatine levels were increased at weeks 4 and 8 (p Yeah 20 patients is not a lot. I'm inferring this is a pre-post test. However some of those p-values are pretty good (.001 on reading and and sorting). Very promising pilot study but not conclusive…

19 patients completed, according to the article.

And List Sorting, Oral reading, and Flanker only? The first and last are part of global and fluid composites, so those have to be excluded from comparison. That leaves us with 3 improved scores out of 12 tests. So 9 did not improve, or got worse. Figure 3 (of the original article) shows that the changes aren't big. Just "significant". Since the participants were in the early stages of dementia, this seems well within expectations.

So I can't see those numbers as impressive.

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

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Elevated creatinine levels (in absence of supplementation) is a sign of kidney issues. There are many studies showing no reverse link i.e. supplementing creatine damaging kidneys

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12882-025-045...

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

#90
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of differences beyond gym related?

After 10g or so, the excess starts going to the brain which helps quite a bit with brain energy.

What exactly does it do? What is brain energy?
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