Creatine's Expanding Role in Women's Health and Cognitive Function
The sports supplement creatine, long celebrated for its muscle-building properties, is now revealing surprising additional benefits for women's health. Emerging research indicates this popular nutrient may significantly improve memory, sleep quality, and overall cognitive function, particularly during hormonal transitions.
Beyond Muscle: Cognitive and Sleep Enhancements
While creatine has been extensively studied for its athletic performance benefits in men, recent investigations focusing on women have uncovered broader applications. Studies demonstrate that consistent creatine supplementation can enhance brain health, with particular promise for women experiencing hormonal fluctuations throughout their menstrual cycle and menopause.
Evidence suggests that taking approximately 5g of creatine daily can help younger women sleep longer, especially following physical exertion. For perimenopausal women, the same dosage appears to improve sleep quality, potentially by supporting the brain's energy requirements during rest periods.
Memory and Mood Improvements
Research indicates creatine may positively impact cognitive function in multiple ways. In younger women, supplementation has been shown to improve mood and cognitive performance following poor sleep. Among older women, studies are exploring creatine's potential effects on brain health, memory retention, and overall cognitive function.
One significant finding reveals that women taking 5g of creatine daily alongside antidepressants experienced greater reductions in depressive symptoms compared to those using antidepressants alone. This suggests creatine may offer complementary benefits for mental wellbeing.
Addressing Women's Specific Health Concerns
Many women report experiencing symptoms such as brain fog, poor concentration, stress, low energy, and disrupted sleep during menstrual cycles and throughout menopause. Creatine supplementation presents a potential low-cost solution for managing these common concerns, though higher daily doses of 5g-10g may be necessary to effectively increase brain creatine stores.
The Established Physical Benefits
Creatine's physical benefits for women remain well-documented. This natural compound, produced in the body from amino acids and found in protein-rich foods like meat and seafood, plays a crucial role in short-term energy production during intense exercise. It enables quicker recovery between exercises, allowing for approximately 20% greater performance gains with regular supplementation.
Women who consistently take creatine demonstrate improved muscle function, which ultimately enhances quality of life. The combination of creatine supplementation with resistance training proves particularly beneficial for maintaining strength during mid to later life, without causing the weight gain or bulky appearance that concerns some women.
Dietary Considerations and Supplementation
Our bodies naturally use 2g-4g of creatine daily but store minimal amounts, necessitating dietary consumption or supplementation. While approximately 1kg of raw beef or seafood provides 3g-5g of creatine, cooking reduces this content, making consistent dietary intake challenging.
Vegans, vegetarians, and women typically have diets lower in creatine, resulting in reduced body stores. Interestingly, women store slightly more creatine in their muscles than men, suggesting they may respond differently to supplementation.
The most researched form, creatine monohydrate, is available as powder, capsules, or gummies. Women consuming 3g-5g daily gradually increase muscle creatine stores over two to four weeks. For faster results, research indicates taking around 20g daily for seven days before reducing to maintenance doses can safely boost stores.
A Promising but Not Universal Solution
While creatine shows significant promise across multiple aspects of women's health, researchers emphasize it is not a cure-all supplement. More comprehensive studies focusing specifically on women are needed to fully understand its potential and limitations.
Current evidence suggests that even modest daily creatine intake, when combined with a healthy lifestyle and resistance training, can support various dimensions of women's health from physical performance to cognitive function and sleep quality.
About the author: Justin Roberts is a Professor of Nutritional Physiology at Anglia Ruskin University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
