Full profile
| Also known as | Creatine, Creapure (branded) |
|---|---|
| Best for | Cognitive resilience under sleep loss or long high-output days · Low-baseline groups (vegetarian/vegan) · Stimulant-free brain-energy support |
| Evidence grade | Grade C — Limited — early or small human trials |
| Studied dose range | 3–5 g/day maintenance (standard). The sleep-deprivation study used a one-off ~0.35 g/kg dose, which is a research context, not a daily-use recommendation. |
| Time to effect | Days to ~2–4 weeks to saturate brain and muscle stores at 3–5 g/day; no reliable acute everyday effect. |
| Best form | Creatine monohydrate (Creapure-grade is a common quality marker). Other forms carry no proven advantage. |
| Food sources | Red meat, Herring and salmon, Poultry (lower amounts) |
Evidence, honestly graded
A systematic review (Avgerinos 2018, 6 RCTs / 281 people) found short-term memory and reasoning may improve, with effects concentrated in stressed or low-baseline states. A small crossover study (Gordji-Nejad 2024, n=15) found a single high dose improved cognition and sustained brain phosphocreatine during 21-hour sleep deprivation. In rested, well-fed adults the effect is small and inconsistent — honestly C, not an A/B cognition ingredient.
See the full grading rubric — study type, replication, population match, and dose adequacy — in The Evidence Standard.
Side effects
- Minor water weight or initial GI upset
- Loose stools if taken as one large dose
- A benign rise in serum creatinine (a lab marker, not kidney damage)
Who should avoid it or check first
- Pre-existing kidney disease without clinician oversight
- Pregnant or breastfeeding without clinician guidance
Interactions
- Can elevate measured serum creatinine — tell your clinician you supplement so kidney function is not misread
- Use caution with nephrotoxic drugs — discuss with a clinician
Stacks well with
- L-Theanine
- Rhodiola Rosea
- Omega-3 (EPA/DHA)
What to look for on a label
- State creatine monohydrate in grams and note that a benign serum-creatinine rise is expected and is not kidney harm.
- Health Canada's Creatine monograph is built around exercise/muscle/strength performance — there is no monograph cognition claim, so a brain/focus claim cannot ride the creatine monograph and would need its own evidence.
References
- Avgerinos 2018, Exp Gerontol — systematic review. Modest memory/reasoning signal, strongest in stressed or low-baseline groups. PMID 29704637; doi:10.1016/j.exger.2018.04.013. Educational, not a product claim.
- Gordji-Nejad 2024, Scientific Reports — sleep-deprivation crossover. Single high dose improved cognition and brain phosphocreatine during 21-hour sleep loss (n=15). doi:10.1038/s41598-024-54249-9. Educational.
- Kreider 2017, J Int Soc Sports Nutr — ISSN safety position. Long-term safety review; no evidence of kidney harm in healthy people, plus the creatinine-marker caveat. PMID 28615996; doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z.
Grades and studied doses are our conservative reading of the human research, shown for education. They are not product claims, and a studied dose is not a recommended dose.
See how Creatine Monohydrate compares on grade, dose, and goal in the Evidence Explorer.
