Live data from Hacker News

Creatine raises brain energy levels and slows cognitive decline: study

thesciverse.org

251–260 of 395 posts

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

#251
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Okay but logically kidney issues leading to high creatine does suggest that creatine is not all that good for the body, no? else why would the kidney keep it under control?

Would you suggest that white blood cells are "not all that good for the body" because they're amped up during a bout of sickness?

Maybe they aren't! But you can't infer that from the mere correlation. Hence that phrase about its relationship to causation.

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

#253
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.

My dad's GP didn't know about this, and despite my dad saying "it's fine, I'm taking creatine", sent him for a kidney check-up. Then they found an unrelated tumor on the ultrasound. Seems to be benign and hopefully all will be well. If so, creatine saved his life ;)

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

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it as a supplement because I do weightlifting. 5g/day. I did 20g/day for a week once, and didn't notice it made any difference, so I'm back to 5g now. In terms of stuff like memory, mood, etc. I can't say it's made any improvement but the idea that it might be helping prevent decline is nice.

Its changed my life. Im also a long time vegan with MTHFR gene mutations and sleep issues though.

For vegans, creatine is among the recommended supplements, because the amount that is produced internally is insufficient for most people, so they need some extra amount in food. (The same is true for a few other substances, e.g. choline, taurine, menaquinone.)

I also take some creatine, for this reason.

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

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's two sides to this. 1. That's because it's true. Creatine is extremely well studied and the studies pretty much all tell you that Creatine is safe, it's great at what we know it's great for, and it turns out it might be good for things we didn't expect. So when people all say "wow it's so amazing" they're right. 2. Because of (1) being so blatantly true, if you want to push some other supplement, it adds a lot…

For me, besides creatine which has been genuinely transformative at age 50, I've gained a lot more from the stuff I've dropped (dairy milk, ~2/3 of my caffeine (mostly by drinking reduced-caff coffee or tea and eliminating soda), sweets of course) than stuff I've added. But of the latter, I'd say fiber and fruits have been the biggest additions, partly in themselves and partly that they make it easier to avoid the bad stuff. I tried experimenting with a few other supplements, but most of them were meh at best.

So, "take things to the next level" with some pears and oatmeal and chia seeds! Now I just need a sponsor.

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

#256
post #130
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.

Hei more than that - as an avid weed consumer - drugs are not dangerous by themselves especially when you don't like them - they are dangerous when you create space for them and get along with them. I like to believe weed is my little "cheat" - but i'd argue that any product is an abuse on a daily basis - so taking creatine once in a while might be fun to try out - but i would warn about anything on the spectrum of "…

You need creatine to live. Your body typically makes enough from protein to survive (vegetarians and vegans might need extra vigilance here).

This is just taking more to optimize performance.

It's not the same.

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

#257
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.

Careful.

Creatine metabolizes into creatinine which is major indicator of kidney function because not being able to clear creatinine means your kidneys aren’t working. Adding more creatinine to your system decreases your ability to clear it leading to fatigue, edema, high blood pressure etc.

So it isn’t bad for your kidneys: it is bad for everything else.

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

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This has been my understand as well. I have CKD and my doctors have always been chill about it as long as I stop taking it about a week before having blood work done. EDIT: I don't do 25g though... sounds like a lot...

If your egfr is above 80 it’s you won’t notice it. But CKD is a late in life problem so you are basically making your end of life worse by making your kidneys work harder now. You might as well take up smoking: claiming it doesn’t hurt now is a lot different to 20 years of constant use.

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

#259

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.

Lots of creatine gummy dropshippers trying to gain ground.

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

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally I wouldn't ask this, but having seen the effects of Alzheimer's I must ask: is there any evidence that taking creatine will harm my brain? Let's be real: I take a lot of edibles. I smoke sometimes on a hike. Every once in a while I get a Guiness and a gyro. My health is by no means perfect, and if I'm willing to take in literal poison (yes, alchohol is that dangerous that I say such things even about my prec…

if you're worried about Alzheimers why do you take Marijuana? that would be the first thing to do in prevention

Because there isn't a causative link in any literature available anywhere? (If there is pls cite). That's like saying "caffeine affects your brain you should stop taking caffeine"
Post reply on HN