In my experience, it wont make you smarter but my brain just feels more energized to think.
Does creatine make you smarter?
261–270 of 289 posts
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#262I have definitely noticed improvements taking a larger dose with my energy when low on sleep, check out McMorris et al. (2006) which is not cited here. I agree it probably doesn't make you generally more 'smart' but it does may improve function under stress, e.g. when sleep deprived, also see Gordji-Nejad et al. (2024). I think the sleep benefits should at least be mentioned in this article. Also search for 'sleep' i…
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#263Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#264I switched from creatine to eating pickled herring or steak instead. It's WAY more expensive, but considering I don't live in a country with very great control over stuff like adulterants, I'll definitely elect for tasty and safe. Each 2-ounce rollmop contains about a gram or two of creatine, sometimes more. Steak is about a gram per 8 ounces. If you can afford it, it's way nicer than choking down that powder in wate…
if you added back the creatine along with the herring, you could become a superhero.
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
Creatine is a health fad? No other supplement has been this widely-used for such a long time. It was considered safe and effective when I started using it 30 years ago. The benefits are/were well established, the mechanisms well-known, the safety is impeccable. If anything, it's the most well-established supplement on the market - the exact opposite of a fad!
OP was asking why the attention now though specifically. I'm not calling it quackery, etc.
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#266Good 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…
Clearly measurably neutrally and scientifically -- or clearly measurable as measured by supplement company funding studies or cherry-picked by health influencers?
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#267Earlier quoted context omitted.
Magnesium? Its widely known that magnesium is used by the body lol What they “doubt” is that it can be absorbed through the skin. But anyone who takes magnesium tablets can tell you the effect is the same. And it is studied btw - problem is there are countless on both sides.
> Magnesium? Its widely known that magnesium is used by the body lol Who disputed this? > What they “doubt” is that it can be absorbed through the skin The science is helpful. Magnesium sulfate is absorbed less effectively than magnesium chloride. Of course, you're not eating the amount of Epsom salts one dumps in a bath. > And it is studied btw - problem is there are countless on both sides This is why meta analysis…
Drinking the same Epsom salt in water that you soak in has the same effect as soaking in hot or cold water with it, and it's also the same effect as taking magnesium supplements sold over the counter.
You can try it yourself - totally safe. You already eat magnesium all the time.
Whatever you're doing with your comment, I'm not convinced.
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
"poses no danger to your hair" I keep hearing folks say this, and even in this thread there's someone who's experienced that and had it stop when they eliminated creatine. I too have experienced exactly that with exactly the stopping of issues once I stopped taking creatine. Perhaps you can say "danger to your hair is rare", but there's very clearly (to me at least) an effect there, and the way it gets hand-waved awa…
Do you do anything else for hair? Like Minoxidil, Finasteride, or other serums/etc. Just curious for other folks experiences as they are on or off creatine in parallel with other hair interventions.
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
People have no idea how successful big pharma’s info campaign has been since what I’m increasingly calling the real Web 3.0 (post-influencer social media and arrival of big corporate narratives). According to Reddit, Epsom salt has no effect (doesn’t absorb) - you’re wasting your time by using it. They’ll cite all sorts of real, funded studies that agree and yet always the comment section is filled with anecdotal evi…
Lots of state actors criticizing the US too. Bots everywhere.
"look to the left of you, look to the right of you, one of you isn't real"
Re: Does creatine make you smarter?
#270I 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…
For sleep apnea you may look into playing the didgeridoo for 30 minutes a day. The circular breathing every day really improve people's symptoms, and I've heard you see results after a few weeks or months. I'm in the middle of trying this but unfortunately I just haven't been doing it every day. I've also heard just practicing circular breathing by blowing through a straw into a cup of water can produce the same effe…