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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

A 6-week trial of creatine in 123 adults found no clear memory gain

Sandkühler and colleagues · BMC medicine · 2023

Original title: The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive performance-a randomised controlled study.

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What the study found

No difference

Bayesian analysis favored a small benefit, but neither main test showed a clear gain: memory span p = 0.064, reasoning p = 0.327. Other tests showed no benefit. Side effects were more common with creatine (RR = 4.25). Vegetarians did not gain more.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
123 people · healthy adults, about half vegetarian and half meat-eaters
What was tested
5 g creatine a day vs placebo, 6 weeks each, in a crossover design
What it measured
The question itself: memory, thinking and brain health
Daily amount
5 g a day
How long
6 weeks
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
BMC medicine, 2023
Source
PubMed record 37968687. 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: 123 people.
  • –Short: 6 weeks. Longer-term effects are unknown.
  • ✓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.

  • Quoted in “What we found”: The largest trial, 123 adults on 5 g a day for 6 weeks, found no clear gain on its two main tests; its authors suggest a small benefit.
  • Part of the finding “The largest and longest trials found no clear gain”.
  • Marked as a key paper in the research timeline: Largest trial; no clear gain on main tests.
  • Open item for a person: Sandkühler 2023 lists registration DRKS00017250 in its abstract, but the trial registry field is empty.

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 3 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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