Does Creatine Help with Menopause Symptoms?

I’m hearing a lot about the potential benefits of creatine for fighting cognitive decline and age-related sarcopenia. Is there solid evidence to back this up?

—Amanda

Creatine is the supplement of the moment. But what exactly is it, and why might it be important? It is a molecule that can help our cells, particularly muscle and brain, make the energy they need to function. Our bodies get creatine in two ways. We get it from our diet. Creatine is present in high levels in meat, seafood, and milk. And our bodies can make creatine in our liver, kidneys, and pancreas.

Because creatine helps the muscle and brain function, it makes sense that consuming extra creatine might help keep our muscles strong and our brain firing on all cylinders. There are studies that have looked to answer both of these questions. Let’s start with preventing sarcopenia, or muscle loss.

In a meta-analysis of 22 small studies — the largest of which enrolled 80 patients — the authors noted that creatine supplementation plus resistance training resulted in improved muscle mass compared with resistance training alone. I think there are two important things to consider here. First, you can’t just take creatine and build muscle. You have to combine creatine with resistance training. Second, most of these studies enrolled older adults between the ages of 60 and 80. And the studies were short, often less than six months. And we know that if you don’t continue to use muscle, you will lose it. So you probably can’t take creatine and strength-train in midlife and expect it to carry you into old age with no effort later. You have to keep doing resistance training over time.

What about cognitive function? A review of just six studies that enrolled a total of 281 participants found that creatine supplementation may improve short-term memory and reasoning in healthy people. But all the studies included in the review were very short, less than a week in most cases. There is no data suggesting longer-term cognitive benefits from taking creatine.

The upshot: There are likely some short-term benefits of taking creatine in conjunction with strength training for building muscle and for short-term memory. There is no evidence that those benefits are long-lasting.