Can creatine help your mental health? Here’s what the latest evidence says

Once a supplement favoured mainly by fitness fanatics, creatine has quickly become one of the most widely used dietary add-ons in the world.

While its advantages for strength and athletic performance are supported by evidence, it’s increasingly being recommended for its mental health effects. In fact, a recent review has even suggested the supplement may have benefits as a treatment for depression.

There are many reasons why creatine appears to be beneficial for our brains and mental health. But before you start taking the supplement for your wellbeing, it’s important to understand the nuance of what the research has found so far.

Creatine is a compound that our bodies naturally make. It’s also found in meat (both white and red) and some fish (including salmon, tuna, cod and herring).

Creatine acts as a source of energy in the body. It primarily helps deliver energy to our muscles when we’re active. Most of our creatine is stored in our muscles, with small amounts also stored in the brain.

The brain is one of the most energy-hungry organs in the body. Although it only accounts for 2% of our total body weight, it uses 20% of the body’s energy – especially during complex thinking and tasks.

When energy is low in the brain, it can affect the important chemicals that control mood. Low brain energy is also thought to contribute to different types of mental health issues, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Research also found that people who are depressed can have low levels of creatine in the front of their brains, a key area associated with mood.

This is why it has been suggested that creatine may be useful for treating mental health conditions, including depression.

Depression and creatine

Forty years ago, scientists found a relationship between having suicidal thoughts and low creatine levels.

Since then, numerous studies have investigated whether there’s a link between creatine levels and mental health.

Large studies have found that people who consume more creatine have lower rates of depression.

Research has also found that teenagers with treatment-resistant depression who took creatine supplements alongside their usual medication found their mood improved. The same was true in people with bipolar disorder, who reported that using a creatine supplement alongside their normal medication improved symptoms.

To get a better overview of what benefit creatine has on mental health, a recent systematic review was conducted. They looked at five trials and 238 patients. Two of the trials showed a benefit; three did not.

However, it’s important to note that each of these trials was small, and they all tested different questions. For instance, some tested creatine by itself, some tested whether taking creatine alongside antidepressants had an effect, and others tested whether taking creatine alongside psychotherapy had benefits.

The doses of creatine and the amount of time people took the supplement also varied significantly. This makes it hard to draw a firm conclusion, so better trials are needed.

Creatine and brain health

Researchers are also investigating whether creatine can benefit other areas of cognitive health – particularly those related to memory.

Our brain’s ability to process and use information is highly energy dependent. If that energy supply is disrupted, it can affect how we process and remember information.

For instance, sleep deprivation is known to affect many aspects of cognitive function – including attention and memory processing. Research points to a lack of brain energy as a potential explanation.

Studies scanning human brains have found that in people who are sleep deprived, the brain uses more creatine. This can affect how much available creatine is stored in the body.

Research has also found that topping up creatine stores after a bad night’s sleep could counteract the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain.

A study of 15 healthy people explored the effect of taking a single, high dose of creatine (around 25g) on sleep deprivation and cognitive function. Brain scans of the participants showed that sleep deprivation had decreased brain creatine stores. But when they took the creatine, the scans showed it was used by the brain.

The participants who took the creatine also saw improvements on short-term memory tasks, reaction speed and information processing compared to the group who did not receive creatine.

This small study is not enough proof to recommend creatine for sleep deprivation. But considering that sleep deprivation is also linked to increased risk of anxiety and depression, this could be a useful, short-term strategy for looking after cognitive health.

Because brain energy affects so many things, there’s also interest in what effects it might have on other brain diseases.

Impaired brain energy is considered an important factor in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Many parts of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s also appear to have low creatine levels.

Only one very small study has investigated this link. Although the study found creatine had encouraging effects on fluid intelligence (ability to think abstractly and reason quickly), reading and working memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, more research is needed before it can be recommended as a treatment.

It’s important to note that all of the studies that have explored creatine’s benefits for mental health or cognitive health have been quite small – so there’s no conclusive scientific evidence yet.

We also don’t know the right dose or how long to take it for. It may be that a person needs to take a higher creatine dose and for a longer period than they would if they were just taking it for fitness. This is because creatine doesn’t transport easily into the brain. It will be important to understand which dose is right for the brain, and whether that dosage is still safe.

For now, the best thing to do is to ensure you eat enough creatine as part of a balanced diet.