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10 min read<\/p>\n10 min read<\/p>\n
IN A SMALL Missouri pharmacy, Drew Dible carefully measures out a five-gram dose of a fine white powder. The almost crystalline substance isn\u2019t for a customer, but for him. And it\u2019s not a prescription medication, but a supplement: creatine monohydrate.<\/p>\n
Dible is a 31-year-old pharmacist with an athletic build, standing 6’4″ and weighing roughly 200 pounds. He\u2019s always stayed in shape\u20145Ks<\/a>, 10Ks, weightlifting<\/a>\u2014but he\u2019s never taken any supplements except for a multivitamin<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of this wellness stuff always struck me as a bit scammy, so I didn\u2019t waste my money on it,\u201d he says. But Dible isn\u2019t taking creatine because he\u2019s looking to enhance his kipping<\/a> power, or hit a race PR, or really for any reason related to physical fitness. He\u2019s taking creatine for his brain.<\/p>\n When he hit his early 30s, Dible says, he wanted to hedge against any age-related mental decline<\/a>. For all of us entering our 30s<\/a>, distractions accumulate and the mental sharpness<\/a> we took for granted in our teens<\/a> and 20s gives way to something else. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel a lack of focus at the time so much as a desire for more focus,\u201d Dible says.<\/p>\n During the pandemic<\/a>, he started listening to Huberman Lab, the powerhouse podcast from wellness influencer Andrew Huberman, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology at Stanford Medicine. Since 2021, Huberman has released<\/a> eight episodes with \u201ccreatine\u201d in the title. He and his guests have extolled the numerous mental health virtues of the supplement, from boosting memory<\/a> to mitigating the effects of traumatic brain injury and concussion<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCreatine, known for its role in improving physical performance, has also been shown (in several quality clinical trials) to improve mood and help the symptoms of major depression,\u201d Huberman posted<\/a> on Twitter in 2021.<\/p>\n He\u2019s all in\u2014taking 10 to 15 grams daily\u2014and so are longevity<\/a> and performance expert Peter Attia, MD, and bro-whisperer extraordinaire Joe Rogan. So Dible began taking creatine, stirred into water<\/a> and chugged before work. The hope was that it would help him maintain focus during his busy days.<\/p>\n Once relegated to the dark recesses of bodybuilders\u2019 gym bags, creatine is creating all kinds of buzz in the neuroscience world for its supposed brain benefits and is muscling its way into mainstream wellness culture<\/a>. You may have noticed: Creatine is everywhere.<\/p>\n You can now find the stuff featured as the special ingredient in protein bars<\/a>, energy drinks, and (because it\u2019s 2025) gummies. Next-gen supplement companies like Momentous, Thorne, and Onnit are making creatine cornerstone products\u2014and many of them are spotlighting brain health benefits as part of their sell.<\/p>\n SHOP OUR FAVORITE CREATINE SUPPLEMENTS<\/a><\/p>\n The market for creatine is booming. The Vitamin Shoppe\u2019s trend report<\/a> from 2023 showed creatine sales up 120 percent year over year. The global creatine supplement market is currently valued at a hulking $501 million\u2014and projected to swell to $923 million by 2033, according to<\/a> Future Market Insights.<\/p>\n All this is wild if you consider where creatine was 35 years ago. Back then, the supplement was widely regarded as (and sometimes even marketed as) a cousin of steroids<\/a>. Any talk of creatine\u2019s powers was not broadcast, and there were, supposedly, risks.<\/p>\n Creatine could help you bulk up fast, but it might also wreck your kidneys, destroy your liver, and bloat you beyond recognition in the process. Supplementing with creatine was considered by many a potentially dangerous ploy by strength athletes in need of a boost.<\/p>\n Now you can find the stuff at Target. What\u2019s changed? And are all these supposed brain benefits for real?<\/p>\n TO KNOW WHERE creatine is going, it\u2019s important to know where it\u2019s been\u2014and especially what the stuff actually is. Biologically, creatine is a compound found in red meat<\/a>, fish<\/a>, and milk<\/a>. Your body can make creatine on its own, but not close to the levels found in modern supplements. And those supplements, up until just a few years ago, were marketed as muscle enhancers. That\u2019s because creatine\u2019s primary function, according to research from as far back as the 1930s, is to enhance performance of quick bursts of activity by producing adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, the body\u2019s energy currency.<\/p>\n Creatine monohydrate, the synthetic form of creatine, wasn\u2019t commercially available until 1993. Taking the supplement wasn\u2019t without some sense of risk, either. Back in the early \u201990s, the FDA possessed limited power to regulate supplements\u2014the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which equipped the FDA with some oversight authority, wasn\u2019t passed until 1994.<\/p>\n Plus, there were no third-party testing facilities to verify the safety and quality of supplements. (Those facilities didn\u2019t really exist until 1999.) So if you wanted to take creatine monohydrate\u2014or, really, any supplement\u2014you were on your own in terms of effectiveness and risk. In addition, the scientific research that existed on creatine monohydrate in the \u201990s was largely conducted by the same companies that were pushing supplements.<\/p>\n Despite the roll-the-dice nature of taking creatine back then, the supplement gained popularity in key markets: professional and collegiate athletes looking for a legal competitive edge, as well as teens looking to bulk up their mirror muscles. But as creatine use spread, so, too, did the rumors that the supplement would damage your kidneys and liver\u2014and might even be just as hazardous as steroids.<\/p>\n A front-page New York Times story<\/a> from 1997 connected deaths in wrestling to creatine use. (Soon after, the FDA determined that creatine was not the cause of death, and in fact, the weight-loss drug ephedrine may have played a role.)<\/p>\n Bad press didn\u2019t stop supplement manufacturers from selling creatine\u2014or trying to expand its reach. Experimental & Applied Sciences, the first big-name supplement company to market creatine for muscle builders in the \u201990s, was sold for $320 million in 2004 (roughly $535 million in today\u2019s money). Creatine still lingered on the fringes. Even if lifters loved it, the general public was scared off by reports of its alleged dangers. The independent scientific community still hadn\u2019t determined if the supplement even delivered on its promises, either. Except\u2014plot twist\u2014the research would soon come through.<\/p>\n LET’S SAY THAT you wanted to chisel a Mount Rushmore of creatine\u2019s elite researchers. You\u2019d honor three men: Darren Candow, PhD<\/a>, of the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada; Richard Kreider, PhD<\/a>, of Texas A&M University; and Scott Forbes, PhD<\/a>, of Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada.<\/p>\n In 2001, for example, Candow backed up<\/a> what many weightlifters and bodybuilders already knew: that supplementing with creatine and protein powder<\/a> resulted in greater lean-muscle gains than with protein powder alone. In 2003, Kreider helped determine<\/a> that long-term creatine supplementation (we\u2019re talking 21 months) produced zero negative health changes\u2014including to the kidneys<\/a> and liver<\/a>. In 2008, Forbes and Candow showed<\/a> that lifters who took creatine experienced greater muscle endurance and power on the bench press<\/a> than those who didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n The mounting evidence largely cleared creatine of its stigma. In 2007, the International Society of Sports Nutrition issued a statement<\/a> saying that creatine was \u201csafe, effective, and ethical.\u201d In the next decade, as online shopping made it easier for customers to buy supplements, creatine joined protein powder as a go-to for muscling up.<\/p>\n As the popularity of creatine grew further, creatine researchers decided to comb through prior studies on the supplement. What they found was that the benefits of creatine supplementation extended far beyond the bench press. In 2017, Kreider, Candow, and their coauthors assessed<\/a> nearly three decades of research\u2014hundreds of studies\u2014on creatine and saw a trove of potential benefits.<\/p>\n The global market for creatine is expected to grow to close to a billion dollars by 2033. That increase might be propelled by new science (and advertising) focused on the supplement\u2019s multitude of mental health benefits.<\/p>\n Among the data that prior scientists had gathered, but not studied, was a link between creatine and brain health. There were signs that creatine supplementation, in clinical settings, might ease symptoms in people with neurodegenerative diseases, stroke<\/a>, and even adolescent depression. This promise of creatine as a mental health hero set off a new wave of ongoing research on the supplement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of other applications for creatine now in terms of its role with certain neurodegenerative diseases, its role in brain health, and potentially both a prophylactic and treatment role for [traumatic brain injury] and concussion,\u201d says Shawn Arent, PhD, CSCS*D<\/a>, chair of the department of exercise science at the University of South Carolina.<\/p>\n For instance, one 2024 meta-analysis<\/a> of 16 creatine studies in Frontiers in Nutrition found that supplementation may improve memory, attention<\/a>, and information processing in adults. Even more surprising: A Scientific Reports study<\/a> from last year found that an acute dose of 15 to 20 grams of creatine monohydrate actually mitigated the drag of a bad night\u2019s sleep<\/a> by revving up the brain\u2019s mitochondria.<\/p>\n The possible mechanism behind creatine\u2019s mental health benefits is complex. Scientists believe that your brain, like your muscles, is metabolically active, accounting for as much as 20 percent of your body\u2019s energy consumption. Your gray matter\u2014while not a muscle\u2014may also store ATP, that valuable energetic compound made from creatine, which it uses for tasks and its general health.<\/p>\n So influencers and forward-looking supplement companies might be onto something with their creatine-for-all recommendations. Emphasis on might.<\/p>\n IF EXPERIMENTAL & Applied Sciences was the company that pushed creatine monohydrate into the world of muscle builders, Momentous<\/a> is the company best known today for pushing the supplement to everyone else.<\/p>\n The \u201chuman performance\u201d company (don\u2019t call it a supplement seller) was founded in 2016, but it struggled to find success in a crowded supplement market.<\/p>\n In 2021, Jeff Byers, the current CEO of Momentous, along with business colleague Erica Good bought the company. Byers\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is far-ranging and includes both an MBA from the University of Southern California and a four-year career as an NFL center. \u201cIn my playing days, I never understood creatine beyond building muscle mass<\/a>,\u201d Byers says. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize the cognitive and neuroprotective benefits until about three or four years ago.\u201d And Good has said<\/a> in company materials that, after watching her grandmother slip away to Alzheimer\u2019s, \u201cI\u2019m a daily user of creatine\u2026and probably will be for life.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, Momentous decided to lean in harder on the brain sell of its creatine supplement, which it had launched the year before with some success. But Byers says the decision to emphasize the mental benefits of creatine didn\u2019t come without lots of input. \u201cWe started hearing more and more about it from our advisory board and research partners,\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone was telling us that this is what people should be doing for long-term brain health.\u201d<\/p>\n On the product\u2019s label, Momentous now advertises: \u201cDaily supplementation may help improve muscle performance and cognitive function.\u201d (Emphasis added.) The move, along with stronger messaging around creatine and brain health in its press and marketing materials, worked. Creatine is now one of Momentous\u2019s best-selling supplements and is sold as part of the Momentous Three, a $130 bundle of the company\u2019s most essential products (the others being protein powder and an omega-3 supplement).<\/p>\n Momentous\u2019s advisory board is vast. Beyond pro athletes and coaches, it includes human-performance scientist Andy Galpin, PhD<\/a>, and neurophysiologist Louisa Nicola, who has a master\u2019s degree in medicine. And since 2022, Momentous has also had one high-powered creatine advocate on its board: Andrew Huberman.<\/p>\n Byers says Huberman had a direct role in the company\u2019s pivot to focusing on creatine for brain health. (Huberman discloses<\/a> on his website that he receives financial compensation from Momentous for serving as a scientific advisor. Momentous is a former sponsor of Huberman Lab. Huberman did not respond to a request for comment for this article.)<\/p>\n Byers predicts that creatine will become a staple for Americans, much as multivitamins are. \u201cOur market is everyone\u2014from executives to stay-at-home parents to seniors\u2014who can benefit from taking creatine daily,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That older demo is especially interesting. Sales of brain health supplements (not just creatine) are projected to rise, due in part to baby boomers looking to slow or prevent cognitive disorders. Seniors. Taking creatine. Who would have thought, right?<\/p>\n FIRST, UNDERSTAND THAT the overwhelming majority of creatine supplements on the market still aren\u2019t third-party certified for sports, meaning that athletes who routinely take them may risk being banned if their creatine is tainted and they\u2019re tested. Also concerning: Uncertified products may not contain the level of creatine advertised on the label.<\/p>\n Which is important because, second, dosing is critical. The actual amount of creatine in products can vary widely\u2014especially in packaged foods and drinks looking to hitch their wagons to the next creatine gold rush. Swoly Creatine Mono Gummies<\/a> contain four grams in five gummies. Creatine-enhanced energy bars like Fx Chocolate\u2019s Yes Whey!!! <\/a>have only two grams per serving. LifeAid\u2019s FitAid RX<\/a> creatine recovery drinks don\u2019t even list the amount of creatine per can. \u201cFor most people, five grams will get the job done,\u201d says Arent, the exercise scientist. But that\u2019s five grams daily for as long as you want to see physical results.<\/p>\n And that five grams is for muscle growth and performance benefits only. Science hasn\u2019t yet established a threshold for cognitive gains\u2014some researchers believe that it might be at least 10 grams and as much as 15. (The bulk of the research currently indicates that taking 0.1 grams per kilogram of body mass per day is safe.)<\/p>\n As far-reaching as these potential cognitive benefits are, though, some experts urge caution for an important reason: Most research on creatine supplementation and brain health has been conducted on people who are deficient in creatine\u2014not healthy people.<\/p>\n Jeff Byers is the CEO of Momentous, a supplement company that has made creatine\u2014and its emerging brain health benefits\u2014a centerpiece of its product line.<\/p>\n A 2024 review<\/a> in Behavioural Brain Research concluded that creatine supplementation has no significant effect on the brain health of young, healthy participants\u2014and only mixed results for those with creatine deficiencies (vegans\/vegetarians<\/a>, the elderly, the sleep deprived, and the mentally fatigued<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cRemember, correction of any nutritional deficiency often shows really dramatic effects. We have a long history of people trying to extrapolate that to populations without the nutritional deficiency, and it never works out,\u201d says Peter Robinson, MD<\/a>, clinical assistant professor of neurology at The Ohio State University, who has been tracking creatine research. \u201cIn other words, creatine doesn\u2019t appear likely to turn healthy individuals into superhumans.\u201d<\/p>\n So while the optimization camps push for everyone to take creatine for the mental health benefits, the scientific community isn\u2019t there yet\u2014and may never be.<\/p>\n But for the physical benefits, Arent says go for it\u2014with conditions. \u201cCreatine monohydrate<\/a> is still the go-to,\u201d he explains. \u201cThere are plenty of [other forms of creatine supplements], but if they have been shown to work, they work no better than creatine monohydrate<\/a>.\u201d Avoid liquid forms (creatine\u2019s effectiveness diminishes over time in a solution), find a product with five grams per dose, and make sure that product is third-party certified to ensure quality.<\/p>\n \u201cCreatine should start to be considered part of an overall health plan,\u201d Arent says. \u201cThe same way we look at the importance of resistance training<\/a> and aerobic exercise<\/a>, and [it\u2019s] arguably even more important than a multivitamin.\u201d<\/p>\n Dible, the pharmacist in Missouri, says he has felt a subtle mental edge since he began his daily creatine regimen. \u201cI\u2019ve started using it myself as a sort of personal biohacking project. I want to see if I notice any improvements in memory or focus.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Dible says, he\u2019s not 100 percent convinced.<\/p>\n Creatine Supplements We Recommend<\/p>\n Best Creatine For Athletes Of All Ages<\/p>\n Oliver Lee Bateman is a historian and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He\u2019s written for The New Republic, Vox, and The Atlantic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"10 min read IN A SMALL Missouri pharmacy, Drew Dible carefully measures out a five-gram dose of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[64,63,304786,137,532],"class_list":["post-887944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-core2","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"breaker\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/creatine-breaker-6759a9ac3ea81.png\" "\\"breaker\\"")
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