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Systematic review

Review of 6 studies in 1,542 older adults: creatine linked to better thinking scores

Marshall and colleagues · Nutrition reviews · 2026

Original title: Creatine and Cognition in Aging: A Systematic Review of Evidence in Older Adults.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Six studies with 1542 people were found. Five of the six (83.3%) linked creatine to better thinking, mainly memory and attention. Only two were trials; four were diet surveys. Quality was good in one, fair in two and poor in three.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Systematic review
Who or what was studied
6 studies, 1,542 people · mostly healthy older adults aged 55 and over
What was tested
Creatine pills (2 trials) or creatine eaten in food (4 surveys), linked to thinking scores
What it measured
The question itself: memory, thinking and brain health
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
Nutrition reviews, 2026
Source
PubMed record 40971619. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • •Sums up 6 studies found with a set search method, without pooling the numbers.
  • ✓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

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a systematic review, and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: memory and thinking

    5

    2 benefit, 1 mixed, 2 no difference

  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
  • Part of the finding “Reviews disagree on who gains most”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Reviewed six studies with 1542 adults aged 55 and over: two trials and four diet surveys. Five of the six (83.3%) linked creatine to better memory and attention. Most studies were rated fair or poor quality.

Other reviews on this question

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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