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Does creatine make you smarter?

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Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#91

Post by jefozabuss »

sspehr wrote: post #34

> Available short and long-term studies in healthy and diseased populations, from > infants to the elderly, at dosages ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 g/kg/day for up to 5 > years have consistently shown that creatine supplementation poses no adverse > health risks and may provide a number of health and performance benefits. They missed a zero behind the comma, didn't they?

Likely. I did one time a creatine loading week of 30gr a day at 100kg body weight and I had to drink 7L of water to not feel like I have a hangover.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#92

Post by mrexroad »

abirch wrote: post #72
olooney wrote: post #11

Good discussion, but this conclusion: > I don’t know. Maybe a little. is not the right way to interpret the null result (insufficient evidence to reject null hypothesis that it has no effect) because the prior for supplements that people are trying to sell you is so low. In the absence of clear, strong evidence, you should assume the the whole thing is just an example of motivated reasoning. People want nootropics to…

mandatory XKCD https://xkcd.com/882/ "Jellybeans cause acne"

I was visiting a friend’s lab at NASA Ames the other day. I smiled seeing this on the wall there. I sometimes daydream about what it’d be like if our primary education system devoted an hour a week to reading / discussing comics (well, XKCD specifically), or pages form What If…? Maybe it’d kill the magic of it, but I still feel plenty of seeds would get planted along the way for more critical thinking later in life.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#93

Post by switchbak »

olooney wrote: post #11

Good discussion, but this conclusion: > I don’t know. Maybe a little. is not the right way to interpret the null result (insufficient evidence to reject null hypothesis that it has no effect) because the prior for supplements that people are trying to sell you is so low. In the absence of clear, strong evidence, you should assume the the whole thing is just an example of motivated reasoning. People want nootropics to…

What I'm getting from all this is that we have an armchair expert explaining details about something they're not an expert in, and we have you reviewing the way they present this information, saying their very weak hedge wasn't strongly negative enough. Based on priors about the industry.

Basically, HN doing HN things - having a good deep think about topics outside their realm of expertise, then debating the minutiae. I'd just rather trust someone who has spent their career researching this stuff, thanks (unless that's what you do - in which case please tell us more).

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#94

Post by hombre_fatal »

Retr0id wrote: post #63
jdiff wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even as an informal conclusion I think it's important to know who you're up against and what their motivations are. Waving that away is how we get people like known, obvious charlatans like RFK Jr in any sort of position of power. I know this is nitpicking word choice but the informal conclusion is "Not likely, and not enough to matter for anything."

Personally I take creatine for entirely non-cognitive reasons, so it's reassuring to know it's probably not making me any dumber.

Though you also have to consider potentially adulterated powder (accidental or not) in the unregulated supplement industry.

That's why I dropped creatine since I didn't notice any benefits when I tried it for a year.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#95

Post by jerlam »

richardlblair wrote: post #86
John23832 wrote: post #22

Most people taking creatine just need to drink water. They drink more water using creatine. In reality, the water/hydration is doing the heaviest lift, not the creatine.

I slam a lot of water. I also have a toddler and baby who suck at sleeping (I've done all the things, these kids just suck at sleeping). Since taking creatine I feel so much more energized. I can make it through the day with just 2 coffees (was previously drinking 5 coffees and an energy drink). Maybe it's placebo. Maybe it's not. I don't really care. I feel the benefit and I love it.

"Creatine found to improve cognitive performance during sleep deprivation" (2024, 56 comments)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40170474

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#97

Post by rhinoceraptor »

jerlam wrote: post #55
Isamu wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A pity that water isn’t being sold as an expensive supplement. Or is it?

There are lots like Vitamin water, alkaline, and coconut water. And overpriced salt packets like Nuun and LMNT. There's also no shortage of expensive water bottles being sold, and smart water bottles that track your drinking frequencies and flavor pods sold via subscription.

I do really love LMNT, it's basically the only one I've tried that actually has a sizable dose of sodium, has no sugar, and tastes good.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#98

Post by John23832 »

Retr0id wrote: post #64
John23832 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Placebo.

I wasn't expecting creatine to have any bearing on my emotional state in the first place, so I'm not sure how that would work.

Knowledge of the potential is peripheral expectation.

If you can say "Oh yea that makes sense" with the same set of knowledge you had both before and after some event happens, all else being equal, you have an expectation. That is enough for placebo.

You have to have literally 0 knowledge about an event to rule out placebo.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#99

Post by matwood »

leoqa wrote: post #51
TIPSIO wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know. I personally wouldn’t take it if you aren’t also working out/lifting frequently (even if you drink a ton of water). Anecdotal so safe to ignore this… but my hair did thin out but only after I was lazier on my work outs. Stopped taking and hair mostly returned to normal thank God.

I get severe muscle cramping, even after pounding water and electrolytes. Like I can’t handle my kid something in the car without risking a spasm.

Do you lift weights?

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#100

Post by andy99 »

jerlam wrote: post #55
Isamu wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A pity that water isn’t being sold as an expensive supplement. Or is it?

There are lots like Vitamin water, alkaline, and coconut water. And overpriced salt packets like Nuun and LMNT. There's also no shortage of expensive water bottles being sold, and smart water bottles that track your drinking frequencies and flavor pods sold via subscription.

To go off topic a bit further, I recently went into Walgreens to buy some bottled water, and other than Evian, it was all advertised as alkaline. Is that just a trend, was it already alkaline and now that’s just in fashion? Personally I see it and worry I’ll get an upset stomach if it start messing with my pH.
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