Creatine & Memory: Meta-Analysis of RCTs (Prokopidis et al. 2023)

Tier 1: Established: peer-reviewed research or government health authority
Publisher: Nutrition Reviews (Oxford Academic) · Published: August 31, 2026 · Accessed: August 31, 2026

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Claims this source supports

• A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs found creatine monohydrate supplementation has a beneficial effect on memory performance in healthy individuals.
• The memory benefits were most apparent in conditions of increased cognitive or metabolic demand (e.g., sleep deprivation, stress), where the brain's energy buffer matters most.
• Creatine's mechanism in the brain is an energy one: it supports the rapid recycling of ATP, the brain's fuel currency, in neurons under load.
• Studies in the analysis used daily creatine doses in the multi-gram range (typically 3-5g of monohydrate), not milligram doses.
• Effects on memory in healthy adults were modest overall; creatine is an assist, not a cognitive overhaul, and evidence gaps remain for perimenopausal women specifically.