Creatine and your ‘mental wealth’: what a neuroscientist wants you to know

 

by Nicole Vignola, Neuroscientist

When you hear the word Creatine, chances are you probably think about muscle, strength and exercise. And yes, strength training and weightlifting belts are great, but as a neuroscientist, I’m also interested in an organ that is often overlooked: the brain.

“Despite making up only around 2% of our body weight, the brain accounts for roughly 20% of the body's energy use at rest.” 

The currency of cognitive health

Your brain is one of the most energetically demanding organs in your body. Every thought, every decision, every emotion you have to regulate, and every piece of information you hold in your attention requires energy aka ‘ - Mental currency’. And there’s a whole body of research that suggests that Creatine plays an interesting role in helping the brain meet those energetic demands.

And this is why I am on a mission to shout about Creatine from the rooftop so that we can shift our understanding from thinking that it’s purely for muscle gains - and start talking about it from a brain energy perspective, too. Because I think we can resonate with that feeling of being mentally exhausted from life’s demands… and what if Creatine supplementation is the key to alleviating some of the pressure.

Creatine and your daily energy budget

I have already alluded to the idea of Mental Currency, which is the concept that we have a finite amount of cognitive resources. And you’ll know that feeling when you've had a strenuous day, and you get home completely mentally exhausted, maybe even a little zombie-like, or you may feel irritable and overstimulated. This is because your Mental Currency budget has been drained, and you’ve got very little left to give. The more demands we place on the brain, the more resources it needs to meet them.

Despite making up only around 2% of our body weight, the brain accounts for roughly 20% of the body's energy use at rest.

“Every thought, every decision, every emotion you have to regulate requires energy — your 'mental currency'.” 

At the centre of this energy system is ATP, or adenosine triphosphate: essentially, the most basic form of energy currency that our cells use to function.

The catch is that ATP has to be continuously regenerated as we use it, rather than it being abundantly stored. This is where Creatine comes in. Creatine can be converted into phosphoCreatine, which acts as a rapidly accessible energy buffer, helping cells regenerate ATP a little quicker and a little better, especially when energy demand increases.

Basically, more Creatine = more ATP regeneration = more capacity for the brain to function.

Good news for the sleep-deprived!

One of the studies I find most fascinating looked at Creatine in the context of sleep deprivation.

Sleep loss places considerable strain on cognitive performance. Attention becomes harder to sustain, reaction times can slow, and working memory can suffer. But in a 2024 study*, researchers found that a high single dose of Creatine altered cerebral energy metabolism during sleep deprivation and partially counteracted declines in cognitive performance and processing speed.

That absolutely does not mean Creatine can replace sleep. Nothing can. But it’s great for those days when you need to be on youryou best performance at work, and you had a terrible night's sleep. I would love to recommend it to new mums, but always check with your physician first if you are breastfeeding.

The best part…Women’s health!

A landmark 2021** review highlighted that Creatine metabolism appears to interact with female hormones, meaning our relationship with Creatine may shift across the menstrual cycle and throughout different life stages. For example, Creatine kinase activity appears to fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, rising alongside oestrogen and peaking around ovulation. The paper also states that both pre-clinical and clinical evidence suggest positive effects of Creatine supplementation on mood and cognition, potentially by helping restore brain energy levels during the menstrual cycle. My recommendation is to take around 3-5g of Creatine daily and perhaps even more on the days when you need extra support.

Lastly, Creatine may be especially important for women going through menopause. Oestrogen is an important regulator of how our cells produce and use energy. During menopause, declining oestrogen coincides with changes in metabolism, which may show up as symptoms that we call “brain fog”. Given Creatine's role in maintaining cellular energy availability, researchers are increasingly interested in whether it could help support brain energetics during this transition.

“Supporting your mental wealth also means being selective about what you spend your funds on.”

Three tips for safeguarding yourFinal notes on Creatine and mental wealth

I would be remiss if I didn’t end this article by giving you some tips on how to support your daily habits alongside Creatine supplementation, because, as per usual, the basics need to be in place for you to get a synergistic response from any supplement you decide to take.

Three tips:

1. Protect your energy before trying to optimise it. No supplement compensates for chronically inadequate sleep, insufficient nutrition or a nervous system that never gets an opportunity to recover.

2. Think about your whole system. Movement, resistance training, adequate nutrition and recovery create an environment in which your brain can function effectively, so make sure you’ve got those basics in place.

3. Pay attention to what is draining your mental bank account. No amount of Creatine is going to plug the energy leak caused by psychological drains like relationship problems, social anxiety, worrying about what other people think of you, questioning your self-worth or constantly replaying problems in your head. Supporting your mental wealth also means being selective about what you spend your fund ons. And sometimes, we have background leaks that are draining our funds like that unknown £8.99 subscription you’ve forgotten about.

May you go forth now with a better understanding of how to manage your daily energy budget so that we may all strive for greater Mental Wealth!

A final note 

Not sure if you need Creatine? You need what’s right for you. And that might not be more supplements. Talk it through with a registered nutritional therapist. 

Read an insightful Q&A with our formulator Isabelle Nunn on our newest launch Creatine Complex. 

References:

* Gordji-Nejad, A., Matusch, A., Kleedörfer, S., Patel, H. J., Drzezga, A., Elmenhorst, D., Binkofski, F., & Bauer, A. (2024). Single dose Creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation. Scientific Reports, 14, 4937.

** Smith-Ryan AE, Cabre HE, Eckerson JM, Candow DG. (2021). Creatine Supplementation in Women's Health: A Lifespan Perspective. Nutrients. 13(3):877.