[darthbanane]

Was expecting the article to mention creatine which interacts with ATP. It's a supplement that's so well studied that almost everyone should take it, even if you don't workout at all. In my experience it has helped tremendously with mental endurance (n=1 but there are some studies that support it, especially in older people with cognitive decline).

[hpdigidrifter]

Creatine ruins my sleep Find myself getting up multiple times a night to pee.

Even once is rare unless I've been out drinking for the night.

[fud101]

That's interesting. I'm having the same problem. I usually have it after my workout in the evening. Should I try moving it to earlier in the day?

[misja111]

In my experience, it's the workout itself that ruins sleep when it's in the evening. My theory is that it's because of the adrenaline generated by muscle strain.

[mfro]

I take it first thing in the morning and only have this issue early in the day. I don't know if that has some effect on its efficacy but it is more convenient for me.

[bitshiftfaced]

> that almost everyone should take it

I can see why every vegetarian should take it. But if you eat meat regularly, your creatine stores will be at a level where you'd probably only see a cognitive benefit at times of sleep deprivation. But if you're regularly sleep-deprived, then you'd do best by addressing your sleep issues.

[omgmajk]

Creatine monohydrate (and seemingly HCL too, though not tested long term) kind of makes me constipated. I'd like to take it, because I lift weights quite often, but it just messes with my stomach too much.

[nfg]

How much are you taking?

[girvo]

5 grams a day, personally, based on a large body of evidence that it is a good amount.

[nandomrumber]

> personally

You’re not having someone else take it for you?

[derektank]

Second anecdote, I take between 10 and 15 grams. I don’t experience cognitive effects at lower doses (though my weightlifting endurance is still higher on lower doses). I also don’t eat meat so don’t have any incidental consumption

[matwood]

That seems like a lot to take daily. Most studies have settled on loading isn’t needed and 5g/day is enough.

I just take 5g/day with my morning coffee/water.

[canucker2016]

Most creatine studies focus on the effects of creatine on physical activity, especially wrt resistance training.

Rhonda Patrick has made several YouTube videos about creatine and you can find more information about creatine at her website - https://www.foundmyfitness.com/topics/creatine.

One of her creatine videos mentions that your muscles will take up ingested creatine faster than the brain. So for any creatine to make its way to the brain, your muscular creatine stores must be topped up first.

I think dosage would depend on the amount of daily physical activity. If you work out a lot, you'd have to replenish your muscular creatine stores before the brain could access any/much.

She also mentions boosting creatine dosage after bouts of mental exertion.

[wongarsu]

To add another data point, a 2024 study [1] on the mental effects of single doses of creatine was using 0.35g/kg of creatinemonohydrate, or about 28g for a typical adult male. Though obviously high doses are safer if you just do them once

And an earlier 2018 article [2] argued that "Evidence suggests that the blood–brain barrier is an obstacle for circulating cre- atine, which may require larger doses and/or longer protocols to increase brain creatine as compared to muscle. In fact, the broad spectrum of creatine sup plementation studies that span different dosing pr- tocols (e.g. high-dose short-term, low dose longer- term), co-ingestion of other nutrients/compounds (e.g. carbohydrate, protein, insulin), different popu lations (e.g. vegetarians, elderly, patients, athletes) is unavailable for brain creatine adaptations"

1: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54249-9

2: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bruno-Gualano/publicati...

[nomel]

> I also don’t eat meat

This is probably an important difference from the average participant of those studies.

[matwood]

Meat is one of the primary sources of dietary creatine, but still provides overall very little (~2g/pound of uncooked red meat). There isn't much to make up for in a non-meat eater and the 5g should still be fine.

[yourusername]

If you're taking your coffee hot wouldn't that denaturate the creatine?

[amelius]

What are the cognitive effects?

[derektank]

I experience mental exhaustion more infrequently (the head aching midafternoon slump) and symptoms are reduced