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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

24-week trial in 56 older women: creatine did not clearly change memory or attention

Alves and colleagues · PloS one · 2013

Original title: Creatine supplementation associated or not with strength training upon emotional and cognitive measures in older women: a randomized double-blind study.

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What the study found

No difference

Creatine did not change any memory, attention or self-control test, with or without strength training. Depression scores did not differ between creatine and placebo (p = 0.60 without training, p = 0.83 with training).

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
56 people · healthy older women
What was tested
Creatine (5 g a day, after 5 days of 20 g) or placebo, with or without strength training, 24 weeks
What it measured
The question itself: memory, thinking and brain health
Daily amount
5 g a day
How long
24 weeks
Trial registration
NCT01164020
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
PloS one, 2013
Source
PubMed record 24098469. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • ✓Compared with a placebo, a dummy treatment.
  • •Medium size: 56 people.
  • •Lasted 24 weeks.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: memory, thinking and brain health.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: memory and thinking

    5

    2 benefit, 1 mixed, 2 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    6

    5 benefit, 1 mixed

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  6. Animals

    1

    1 benefit

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does creatine improve memory and brain health?”

Possibly a small boost to memory.

Confidence: low. Based on 21 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 4 papers on the same step: 2 benefit, 1 mixed, 1 no difference. This one found no difference.

Other papers on the same step

See all 21 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 4 fields after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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