Lee Swanson Research Update

Creatine May Boost Brain Function in Vegetarians

December 2010

Supplements of creatine, most commonly associated with sports nutrition, may boost cognitive function in vegetarians, a group at risk of low creatine levels, according to a new study.

Creatine, an amino-acid-like compound, was first identified in 1832 for its presence in muscle. It has been the subject of approximately 70 randomized, controlled trials over the last 12 years or so, with the majority investigating creatine’s performance-enhancing benefits.

The role of creatine in brain functioning has been reported previously, but no data has been presented examining the effect of creatine supplementation in vegetarians, a group with lower muscle levels of creatine.

According to new results published in the British Journal of Nutrition, vegetarians showed improvements in their memory after five days of daily creatine supplements. No such improvements were observed in meat-eating omnivores.

"To date, the findings are too preliminary to allow the role of creatine in the brain and the impact of its supplementation on cognition to be established. However, the present and previous reports that supplementation influences cognitive functioning, and the evidence that creatine supplementation influences basic brain physiology, suggest that the topic will require further examination," wrote David Benton from the University of Swansea and Rachel Donohoe from London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Benton and Donohoe recruited 121 young women, both vegetarians and omnivores, and randomly assigned them to receive either a daily placebo or a daily creatine supplement (creatine monohydrate, 20 g per day) for five days.

A battery of cognitive tests were performed by the women, both before and after the five days of study, with results showing that memory improved by about 40% in the vegetarians consuming the creatine supplements, compared with placebo.

Furthermore, creatine supplements also reduced the variability of the women’s responses to a choice reaction-time task in both vegetarians and omnivores. On the other hand, no improvements were observed in any group concerning measures of verbal fluency and vigilance.

"The results can be viewed as creatine supplementation selectively influencing a demanding task that placed greater physiological demands on the brain, as it was only the monitoring of eight lamps that benefited from creatine," wrote Benton and Donohoe.

"The consumption of the placebo was associated with a poorer performance when tested for a second time, a decline prevented by consuming the creatine supplement. That the nature of the pre-existing diet did not influence the response to supplementation with the reaction time task suggested a more general effect," they added.

British Journal of Nutrition 1:1-6, 2010

New to Natural Health?
Tools
Customer Service