Once a staple for athletes, this popular supplement is now being explored for its potential to sharpen focus and memory in everyday life.
I have some in my cupboard. And I’m not the only one; millions of others have chosen creatine as their supplement of choice.
This white powder was first recognised for helping bodybuilders and athletes do better in the 1990s. Now, many people are putting it in their spice cabinets.
Some specialists say it’s the most studied supplement in the world. Over the past few decades, thousands of research papers have looked into how well it may build muscle and make people stronger overall.
One sport and exercise science professor notes, “Creatine has become so big that you feel like you’re missing out if you don’t use it. It’s gone from being an elite sport to being popular. It’s not a question of whether to take it anymore; it’s a question of when to take it—before or after working out? Every day? How much? In what shape is best? Powder, pills, or gummies?”
Creatine is a substance that is found in nature and is stored in our muscles. It helps our cells make energy. It is an important part of the ATP-CP system, which is the fastest and most powerful energy system in human bodies. It gives you that immediate, strong rush of energy that lasts for the first 10 to 20 seconds of a high-intensity activity. Research shows that taking creatine can help you do better at things like lifting weights and running around the track.
Outside of the gym, there is a growing but still small amount of evidence that creatine can also enhance our mood, focus, and short-term memory.
So, can this vitamin help us think, remember, and respond better? And for myself and a lot of other people, would it help clear our brain fog, which is a general phrase for not being able to think properly, put together a sentence, or recall the simplest things?
Brain fog can last a long time and change people’s lives for the worse for certain people who have serious post-viral illnesses. It is recommended to see a specialist if you are worried. Most of the time, brain fog is only brief and can happen due to an illness or other kinds of medical treatment. For millions of women, it can be a sign of perimenopause since their hormones are changing.
Some people think it hasn’t made much of a difference, and there is disagreement about whether most of us get enough creatine from our diets. We know that our bodies make one gramme of it on their own, but the remainder comes from eating meat and fish, which are high in protein.
Since the early 1990s, researchers have been able to show how the supplement affects male athletes, but, like with a lot of scientific study, they didn’t initially look at how it affects women.
One high-performance nutritionist explains, “I used to have to guess what my female athletes needed. All of the research was done on men.” Specialists add that women’s hormonal changes were not taken into account until a few years ago. “And that’s when scientists really started to notice a difference in other parts of the body.”
Scientists have started to look into how creatine can affect reproductive health, bone health, and brain function, in addition to how it affects our muscles during sports. These are all things that can change during perimenopause.
So, does that mean creatine can assist clear my mind? One professor emeritus says, “That’s an interesting thought. It could work.”
He argues that brain fog during perimenopause could have the same effect as not getting enough sleep, which he has studied a lot and found that high dosages of creatine could help with the effects of not getting enough sleep. When people take the supplement, their brains may accumulate more creatine, just like their muscles do. This gives you extra energy, which may aid your memory and capacity to comprehend information.
But research shows it won’t work for everyone. Recent findings suggest that people need to be under some stress, like not getting enough sleep or not getting enough creatine in their diet, for it to work.
So, to sum up, there might be a chance that it could help with my brain fog. The specialists I’ve talked to say that this is a “exciting time” for this kind of research, but that further studies are needed.
Dietitians note that because creatine is becoming more popular, we may start to see more side effects from using it. “There is a lot of research that has been done in a controlled setting,” one explains. “Now we need to think about how different body sizes, doses, and any pre-existing conditions are.”
The only known negative effects right now are stomach distress, muscle cramps, and bloating. People who have kidney problems should talk to a specialist before taking it.
One professor adds that healthy adults can “try it out,” but he also notes that the outcomes are usually “minimal gains” and that “it is not, by any means, a wonder drug.”
I took the creatine I had in my cupboard for a month, but then I quit (put it on the brain fog). Maybe I’ll try it again.
