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Does creatine make you smarter?

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Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#151

Post by chmod775 »

somenameforme wrote: post #102
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…

I think this is quite different because (1) creatine has been proven to be completely harmless for people of all ages absent some rare thing like a kidney disorder and (2) it has a bunch of clearly measurable positive effects. So this is more like trying to determine whether ginseng is good at keeping away colds or whatever. Maybe it does (actually quickly searching this, it definitely does but let's pretend it's as…

Issue being that if you took everything that's "probably harmless" at once, cramming your body full of supplements, you might just end up harming yourself with substances that are toxic above certain amounts (acute iron toxicity etc.). Also the more random stuff you take, the more likely it is that something you took actually does turn out to have been harmful later.

So no, you should not take something merely because it's "probably harmless".

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#152

Post by threecheese »

block_dagger wrote: post #105

I have severe sleep apnea as well as insomnia. I may also be a multi-phasic sleeper. In any case my average sleep per night is ~3.5 hours with only ~1.5 hours of deep sleep. I use light therapy, CPAP, medications, etc but none of it solves my problems. I started taking creatine daily a couple of months ago. I've noticed a significant uptick in my cognitive abilities, despite being constantly sleep deprived. TFA doesn…

Apnea sufferer here, for whom cpap stopped working after weight loss. It turned out that my mouth was opening during sleep, reducing the effectiveness of cpap, and after adding a chin strap to keep my mouth shut I have had very few apnea events.

The mouth-tapers aren’t always wrong (though we do always look silly).

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#153

Post by pandaman »

6thbit wrote: post #28

Why is creatine so popular lately? what changed?

JRE mentioned it several times recently, I imagine it could have spiked interest but overall it's been growing over the past decade because of the advances in fitness trackers, IMO. It's been very easy to see its effect with trackers measuring FTP and VO2max.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#154

Post by pvaldes »

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"

Just the green ones. If they found a link, they found a link

I'm sure that the comic wants to be sarcastic but is missing the mark here. This is how science works. Trying and failing every color except green, does not mean that the green experiment has an invalid result.

The author is not understanding that each experiment is independent.

The correct cartoon should show researchers trying green jellybeans 100 times, with 99 negative results and one positive result, and then the press keeping only the positive (Or in this comic, claiming that all jellybeans produce acne).

Mocking the scientific method, and showing scientists as lazy people that play video-games is funny, but is just a cartoon, not the reality. People should not take XKCD as god's speech without any critical thinking. This in your workplace says to me "I don't really understand statistics".

There is an effect that is statistically rare just by chance, AND is consistently absent within a huge control group of "non-green jellybeans" (the author seems to think that this weakens the result, but in fact is reinforcing it). And it needs further research. Not less, not more.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#155

Post by econ »

bhelkey wrote: post #134
hombre_fatal wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There is a brand of creatine manufactured in the US (con-cret) and a brand manufactured in Germany (Creapure). Either of those companies should address the concern around adulterated powder. > That's why I dropped creatine since I didn't notice any benefits when I tried it for a year. Some percentage of people (~20%) are creatine non-responders [1]. It's pretty reasonable to try creatine and then drop it if you find…

For me it has an insanely large effect. Roughly 30% more reps and endurance.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#156

Post by eduction »

> This in turn may increase the long-term gainz from strength-training exercise

Why is "gains" spelled this way? I found myself suddenly trusting the whole thing a little less. But maybe I'm missing something. Is this jargon in the body building world or something? Author being cheeky?

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#157

Post by kekebo »

John23832 wrote: post #129
kixiQu wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plausible-sounding mechanisms like you're presenting here do not add value to the discourse without data. There are tons of plausible mechanisms we could make up absent empirical evidence to distinguish them.

You’re yelling at clouds.

Clouds of intracellular water more efficiently retained in muscle due to creatine supplementation[?]. Hydration is controlled for in some studies but not all.

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#158

Post by grvdrm »

I take 5g/day, through better part of last 9-12 months (don't remember when I started).

No noticeable cognitive difference/improvement. And the more I've researched creatine the less convinced I am that there are reliable conclusions about cognitive impacts.

Significant physical changes! But other than the pure aesthetics, it's hard to say that my strength increases are tied to creatine or instead a solid routine, plan, diet, and progressive overload. Probably some all of above.

I also take whey protein isolate (20-25g at least once a day)

The Nootropic space fascinates me. A few observations:

- Not sure if caffeine is considered nootropic. Caffeine definitely makes a difference.

- Unclear if placebo effect or real, L-theanine seems to help with calm and focus.

- Otherwise, when it comes to what I'm sure alters my state/body/etc. - drugs! And I'm not suggesting anything specific but my point is the effects are obvious/real/etc. vs. much of the supplement space that suffers from very murky conclusions (imo).

Re: Does creatine make you smarter?

#160

Post by sdevonoes »

grvdrm wrote: post #158

I take 5g/day, through better part of last 9-12 months (don't remember when I started). No noticeable cognitive difference/improvement. And the more I've researched creatine the less convinced I am that there are reliable conclusions about cognitive impacts. Significant physical changes! But other than the pure aesthetics, it's hard to say that my strength increases are tied to creatine or instead a solid routine, pl…

Im curious, since I don’t drink coffee nor take protein supplements and the like, my question is: is the plan you keep taking what you take, let’s say, “forever”? Because the moment you stop taking, wouldn’t you notice a big drop?
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