Creatine is best known as a supplement for people who hit the gym: Take a scoop of creatine powder every day, and you may find yourself able to work a little harder. But creatine is also being studied for its mental health benefits. Is it worth taking just for those? Maybe.
This is why it’s so useful in the gym: if you’ve just done nine bench presses and want to do a tenth, but your muscles are out of energy, having a little extra creatine in your muscle cells might give you just enough oomph to finish that last rep. Over time, you’ll end up doing more work, and thus a person who has a lot of creatine in their muscles will probably end up a little bit stronger than a person who has less.
What brain benefits is creatine known to have?
Muscle cells aren’t the only cells that use creatine—pretty much every cell in our body needs energy, and creatine is part of the system that provides it. So it’s worth asking whether supplementing creatine might help other areas of our health.
When it comes to cognitive benefits, the evidence is mixed, but many researchers feel it’s promising. Many influencers, biohackers, and wellness enthusiasts take an optimistic view, supplementing creatine themselves (and often recommending or selling it) in hopes the benefits turn out to be real.
A 2025 review highlighted the disappointing results so far, while pointing out that we know creatine supplementation does actually increase brain levels of creatine. In other words, it’s doing something, but we haven’t entirely figured out how these benefits would work, if they in fact do.
Sleep deprivation may be a type of stress that creatine can help with. A 2024 study found that a single mega-dose of creatine helped cognitive performance in people who were sleep deprived. That dose was huge, though: the equivalent of 24 grams for a 150-pound person. (A normal dose of creatine is 5 grams each day.) I’m not saying you should take creatine if you’re feeling foggy after a late night, but I’m certainly going to think about it next time that happens to me.
What are the risks of creatine?
Creatine is one of the best-studied consumer supplements out there, and the safety profile is good. That’s why so many people take it: even if you’re not sure it’s working, there’s no significant harm in taking it anyway. Creatine isn’t linked with any serious health issues at normal doses, and it’s pretty affordable. For example, this Nutricost tub works out to 20 cents per daily serving (if you’re taking five grams each day).
Nutricost Creatine Monohydrate Powder, 500 g, 100 Servings $19.35 at Amazon $21.50 Save $2.15 Get Deal Get Deal $19.35 at Amazon $21.50 Save $2.15Now, there’s one other risk of creatine that people commonly talk about online, but it doesn’t have any solid evidence behind it. That’s the idea that creatine may accelerate hair loss in people (usually men) who are already prone to what’s sometimes called male pattern baldness. This idea comes from looking at the biochemical pathways involved in creatine metabolism and in hormonal changes related to testosterone, and finding a place where they intersect.
How much creatine should you take, and what kind?
If you’re interested in taking creatine for mental health benefits, the rules are the same as for people who are taking it for muscular benefits—except that you may want a higher dose.
Sometimes people take a “loading” dose for their first week or so, taking larger doses (often four times as much as the regular dose) to build up the body’s stores of creatine faster. This is optional: taking a regular dose for a few weeks does the same thing to your body as taking a loading dose for one week. I’d say most people these days probably skip the loading phase, because of the risk of stomach upset with large doses, and because we know the loading phase isn’t necessary.
Finally, people often ask what kind of creatine to get. And the answer is simple: creatine monohydrate is the best-studied and known to be effective. Happily, it is also the cheapest and the easiest to find. I wouldn’t worry about the brand; it’s all the same stuff. Personally I like taking creatine in capsules, since it’s more convenient than mixing powder into a drink, but the powder is cheaper and just as good.
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