THE OVRL QUALITY STANDARD
Creatine Should Be Evaluated Beyond Physical Performance Alone
At OVRL, we believe an ingredient should be understood not only by the benefit most commonly associated with it, but by the broader biological role supported by scientific research.
Creatine is well established in sports nutrition because of its role in the creatine–phosphocreatine energy system. However, the same energy system is also present in the brain, where maintaining ATP availability is essential for normal cellular activity.
Research into creatine and cognition is therefore an important emerging field. But emerging evidence must be communicated differently from established claims. While the performance benefits of creatine have a strong evidence base, potential cognitive benefits remain an area of active research and should not be presented as established health claims.
For OVRL, scientific transparency means communicating both what the evidence suggests and where uncertainty still remains.
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS
Creatine Monohydrate May Support Memory and Certain Aspects of Cognitive Performance
In 2024, Chen Xu and colleagues published a systematic review and meta-analysis examining whether creatine supplementation influences cognitive function in adults.
The researchers explain that creatine plays an important role in cellular energy metabolism. After uptake into cells, creatine can be converted into phosphocreatine, which contributes to the rapid regeneration of ATP through the creatine kinase system.
As the authors describe:
“Creatine, a nitrogenous organic acid naturally occurring in vertebrates, plays a critical role in the energy metabolism of brain cells.”
THE STUDY
The review was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was prospectively registered with PROSPERO under registration number CRD42024533557.
The meta-analysis included:
16 randomized controlled trials
492 participants
Age range: 20.8–76.4 years
Healthy participants and individuals with specific diseasesCreatine monohydrate was the form of creatine used in all included studies.
The researchers examined several domains of cognitive performance:
- Memory
- Attention
- Information processing speed
- Executive function
- Overall cognitive function
They also performed subgroup analyses according to factors including age, sex, health status and duration of supplementation.
KEY FINDINGS
Memory
Creatine supplementation produced a statistically significant positive effect on memory.
SMD = 0.31
95% CI: 0.18–0.44
Hedges's g = 0.3003The authors rated the certainty of the evidence for memory as moderate, making it the cognitive outcome with the strongest level of evidence in this analysis.
Information Processing Speed
Creatine supplementation also significantly improved performance on measures of processing-speed time.
SMD = −0.51
95% CI: −1.01 to −0.01Because these outcomes were based on the time required to complete a task, a lower value represents faster performance.
Subgroup Findings
The subgroup analyses suggested greater benefits among:
- individuals with certain diseases;
- adults aged 18–60 years;
- women.
However, subgroup findings should be interpreted cautiously and do not establish that creatine will necessarily produce stronger effects in every individual belonging to these populations.
The researchers also found no significant difference between interventions lasting less than four weeks and those lasting four weeks or longer for overall cognitive improvement.
Certainty of the Evidence
The GRADE assessment classified the evidence as:
Memory — Moderate certainty
Processing speed — Low certainty
Attention — Low certainty
Executive function — Low certainty
Overall cognitive function — Low certaintyThe study identified a low-to-moderate risk of bias, with no significant publication bias detected.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The Role of Creatine May Extend Beyond Skeletal Muscle
Creatine is commonly viewed almost exclusively as a sports-performance ingredient. This research highlights why its biological relevance may be broader.
The brain has substantial and continuous energy requirements. The creatine–phosphocreatine system contributes to ATP regeneration within brain cells in much the same fundamental way that it contributes to cellular energy availability in skeletal muscle.
Xu and colleagues found that creatine monohydrate supplementation was associated with improvements in memory, attention time and information processing speed, while no significant improvements were detected for executive function or overall cognition.
The most important distinction is therefore not that creatine has been proven to broadly “improve the brain.”
Rather, current evidence suggests that specific areas of cognitive performance may respond to creatine supplementation, with the strongest evidence in this meta-analysis observed for memory.
As the authors conclude:
“Current evidence suggests that creatine monohydrate supplementation may confer beneficial effects on cognitive function in adults, particularly in the domains of memory, attention time, and information processing speed.”
They also emphasize that larger and more robust clinical trials are still required.
HOW OVRL APPLIES THIS STANDARD
A Research-Established Form of Creatine — Without Overstating the Evidence
Based on the formulation information provided for CreaPower, the product delivers:
2 g of creatine monohydrate per serving
Creapure® creatine monohydrateA particularly relevant point from Xu and colleagues' analysis is that creatine monohydrate was the form used in every one of the 16 randomized controlled trials included in the meta-analysis.
However, the study does not establish one single optimal dose for cognitive performance, and the presence of 5 g of creatine monohydrate in CreaPower should therefore not be interpreted as proof that the product will improve memory, attention or processing speed.
There is currently no authorised European cognitive health claim for creatine based on these findings.
The relationship between CreaPower and this research is therefore educational: the product provides the same form of creatine — creatine monohydrate — investigated throughout the clinical literature included in this meta-analysis, while the cognitive outcomes remain an evolving area of scientific research.
This is part of the OVRL Quality Standard: use established ingredients, disclose meaningful doses, and clearly distinguish established benefits from promising but still developing science.
RESEARCH AT A GLANCE
Lead author: Chen Xu
Institution: Guizhou Normal University, China
Department: School of Physical Education
Journal: Frontiers in Nutrition
Year: 2024
Article type: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Trials included: 16 randomized controlled trials
Participants: 492
Age range: 20.8–76.4 years
Creatine form: Creatine monohydrate in all included studies
Primary outcomes: Memory, attention, processing speed, executive function and overall cognitive function
Strongest evidence: Memory — moderate-certainty evidence
Other cognitive outcomes: Low-certainty evidence
Main conclusion: Creatine monohydrate may benefit certain cognitive domains, but larger robust clinical trials are required.
READ THE ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Cognitive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Xu, C., Bi, S., Zhang, W., & Luo, L.
Frontiers in Nutrition, 11:1424972 (2024)
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1424972
PROSPERO: CRD42024533557
Licence: CC BY 4.0 — Open Access