Will taking creatine make you smarter?
The reel claims that creatine can significantly improve cognitive performance and protect against brain injuries. While there is moderate evidence supporting creatine's benefits for short-term memory and reasoning, the claims about doubling IQ scores and protection against concussions and strokes are not supported by the evidence provided.
“Creatine can protect your brain against a concussion and a stroke.”
There is no evidence provided that supports creatine's ability to protect against concussions or strokes.
“Creatine can almost double IQ scores and improve memory test scores by 40%.”
While creatine may improve short-term memory and reasoning, the claim of doubling IQ scores and a 40% improvement in memory is exaggerated beyond the moderate evidence available.
“Creatine works in the background of stress to maintain brain health.”
The evidence does not specifically support the claim that creatine works in the background of stress to maintain brain health.
Will taking creatine make you smarter? The study mentioned here - Rae (2003) - would seem to suggest that the answer is yes 😳 Group 1 took 5g of creatine per day, while Group 2 took 5g of a placebo per day (maltodextrin in this case) After 18 weeks, here were the results: On the IQ Test - the Creatine Group nearly doubled their scores on average, while the Placebo Group largely stayed in the same exact spot On the Memory Test - the Creatine Group improved their scores by ~40% on average, while the Placebo Group improved by an average of just ~7% And again, they didn’t have these people doing anything crazy All they did was take 5g of creatine per day A supplement that’s inexpensive, available basically everywhere, and has been around for ~200 years So if your parents are in their 60’s or 70’s, one of the easiest things they can do to protect & maintain their brain health is just a simple 4-5g of creatine per day — Credit to @louisanicola_ and @thediaryofaceopodcast for the opening video