Creatine for Brain Fog, Memory & Athletic Performance?

Graced Health Podcast

Amy Connell, Host

Hey, welcome to the Graced Health Podcast. Today we are digging into creatine.

When my older son was probably sophomore-ish in high school — he is now a senior in college, so about six years ago — he came to me asking about creatine. He was working out, he was a high school athlete in basketball, and he was concerned about growing his muscles and getting stronger, not only to support his basketball but also because, you know, he wanted to look good.

I remembered learning about creatine in my certified nutrition coaching information through NASM, and I said, "Well, let's go see what they talk about in the nutrition coaching." If I'm totally honest, I went thinking it was going to help me dissuade him. I went in looking for that information — I'll be honest, I didn't remember learning it, but I went with the intent of thinking, "Okay, hopefully this will tell me that no, it's not very good and you shouldn't take it."

I logged in, pulled up the online manual, and was surprised to see a positive report. It basically came out saying, yeah, it's generally safe. There wasn't a lot of information in there, but what I read gave me some comfort with him taking it — because, let's be honest, 16-year-olds are going to do what they want to do. They're not necessarily going to do what mom wants them to do. So I was glad to know that it was safe.

Now, just to put things in perspective, I am currently 51 years old, and I have this memory from 1998 of Mark McGwire having this amazing year, and then all of a sudden he was under scrutiny because a reporter had seen a couple of different bottles of things in his locker. One of the bottles was — the shortened word is "andro," and I'm not even going to try to pronounce the full name — but that's basically a testosterone-boosting supplement. The other thing was creatine. Both of these were legal in baseball at the time.

The problem is we pick up these words, and "andro," "creatine," and "steroids" all got lumped together and circled around in the public consciousness. For the general public — like myself — I was like, oh, all of these are bad, all of these are not good for you. So creatine was actually kind of the innocent bystander in a lot of this. I won't go into all of that — I'm not fully versed on everything that happened — but in my mind, what I associated was creatine, Mark McGwire, not a good thing.

But not only is my memory not fully formed of that event, we also know so much more about creatine now. This is one of the questions I get so often from women in my community, whether through coaching or from friends or people responding to me: "What's the deal with creatine?" Because you're hearing a lot about it.

I wanted to take this episode to talk about that. And just like I've discussed on previous episodes, I think it's very important that we choose who we trust and choose who we listen to. I've used the example before that if you are walking into a happy hour or a big event, there are a lot of voices in the room — but when you see that one person you know and trust, that's the person you're going to listen to.

I have learned primarily about creatine from two people. One is Dr. Stacy Sims, who has her PhD in environmental exercise physiology and sports nutrition. The other is Dr. Layne Norton, who has his PhD in nutritional sciences. I've talked about Dr. Sims a lot on this podcast because she does a lot of work with women our age. I trust Dr. Layne Norton as well. He has a broader scope of people he's trying to serve, and not all of his work is applicable to our audience — but that doesn't mean the education he provides isn't relevant. Those are the two people I did the most research from. I value their ability to read and report on research in unbiased ways. They simply bring it as it is. I will provide all of the research in the show notes.

Here's what you'll find in today's episode: we'll talk about what creatine is, natural food sources, misconceptions, the two main benefits — both physical and cognitive — why it matters for women in our age group, my relationship with it (do I take it or not?), and dosage. Let's dig in.

Number one: What is creatine?

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound. It's not something that's made up. It is not a steroid — repeat, not a steroid. It is not invented by the supplement industry. It is something our body synthesizes in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys from three amino acids: glycine, arginine, and methionine. It is primarily stored in our skeletal muscle, so I want you to think about it as something your body already knows and uses — like it knows what to do with this — and supplementing just gives it a little bit more.

When it is stored in the muscles, it's stored as phosphocreatine. During intense effort — like sprinting, lifting, or jumping — the phosphocreatine helps regenerate ATP, which is the cell's primary energy currency. We're going to talk more about ATP in depth, so hold tight — we'll get back to it.

As I said, creatine is found naturally in the food we eat. The best natural sources are animal products: red meat like beef, bison, and lamb, which have about one to two grams per pound of raw meat; fatty fish like herring, salmon, and tuna (herring has up to one and a half to two grams per pound); and poultry like chicken and turkey, which are lower but still contain creatine, around 0.7 to one gram per raw pound. Cooking does reduce the creatine content somewhat.

If you eat a primarily plant-based diet, that is great — lots of plants equal very good things for us — but dietary creatine will be more limited, and so this conversation about creatine as a supplement may be particularly helpful to you.

The general dosage for creatine is between three and five grams a day, and I'll talk more about that later. But here's where the math gets interesting: even if you're eating red meat, at roughly two grams per pound of raw meat, you'd need to eat close to three pounds of meat a day to hit five grams. My guess is very few of us are doing that.

If you're multitasking or listening with half an ear, come back to me for a second, because I want you to hear this: creatine does come from natural food sources, but the general context of what we're discussing here is creatine as a supplement. And as we've discussed, supplements are here to supplement what we eat. My hope is that we have those foundations in place first before we start supplementing. If you're not sure what those foundations are, go back and listen to my episode called "The 10 Things That Actually Move the Needle" from September 9th, 2025. Get your foundation solid before you start adding in a bunch of supplements — including creatine.

As I was putting this episode together, I started thinking: man has existed for a very long time without creatine supplementation. So why do we say we need three to five grams when it's also difficult to consume that much from food? That gap wasn't sitting well with me, so I dug in further.

Here's what I found: the three to five grams is not a survival requirement. You do not need that amount to survive. This is more of a performance or therapeutic ceiling — something that can help you. Our bodies were never designed to get five grams a day from food. Humans have been fine. It's important to remember that hunter-gatherer diets were actually fairly creatine-rich — they ate organ meats, liver, whole animals, and a lot of fish. (I don't eat liver. Do you? Maybe you do, but I don't.) Their baseline creatine stores were probably reasonably healthy.

We have not been a creatine-depleted species forever. We're just realizing that there is some opportunity for optimization — and I kind of hate that word because it's so overused — but there is an opportunity for our muscles and our brain to work a little bit better.

Modern diets tend to trend lighter on red meat and organ meat, are more plant-heavy (which is highly encouraged), and creatine is harder to find in vegetarian and vegan diets. We are also living longer and asking more of our bodies as we age. And we know more now about the changing seasons of life — specifically, women in perimenopause and menopause are in a specific physiological window where baseline creatine levels may not be enough to offset what estrogen decline is doing to our muscles and brain.

And just so you know: creatine is one of the most widely studied and well-supported supplements we have, especially when it comes to strength, muscle, and performance. There are hundreds — arguably thousands — of studies behind it covering strength and muscle mass, exercise performance, brain health and cognition, and aging and muscle preservation. It has a very strong safety profile in healthy individuals.

Misconceptions

Before I step into the benefits, let's talk about some common misconceptions.

One: Creatine is just for bodybuilders and men. Not true. This is decades of misunderstanding. The science no longer supports this. Dr. Stacy Sims actually says it's one of the most important supplements for women, especially in perimenopause and menopause.

Two: Creatine will make you bulky. It does not add fat. It will not cause you to grow adipose tissue overnight, and it won't cause you to grow muscle fibers overnight either. You might see a small change on the scale — maybe around a pound — and that's just from intracellular water in your muscles. Your muscles are holding onto more water. It's not fat, it's usually temporary, and it's not the same puffy kind of water retention you might feel after a salty vacation weekend. (If you can see me on YouTube, I'm pointing at my face — you know exactly what I mean.)

Three: Creatine causes bloating. At three to five grams a day, bloating is not common. It can happen with large loading doses or low-quality products. If you do experience bloating, simply reduce your dose.

Four: It damages your kidneys. Decades of research show no evidence of kidney damage in healthy individuals at recommended doses. I'll say that again: healthy individuals at recommended doses. Do not go overboard — if some is good, more is not necessarily better. If you have a pre-existing kidney condition or blood pressure issues related to your kidneys, please consult your doctor first. Use your God-given discernment here. Also be aware that your creatinine levels on blood work may be elevated, so let your physician know if that comes up.

Five: Creatine causes hair loss. There is no evidence of this in women. It originated from a single small study in men that didn't directly measure hair loss and has not been replicated. Dr. Norton says the evidence simply does not support this claim.

The two benefits of creatine

Benefit one: Muscular — the ATP connection

Your body runs on ATP. Think of it as your body's energy currency — like dollars. Every time you move, lift something, get up off the floor, or even think, your body is spending ATP. When your body uses ATP, it loses a piece of itself and turns into ADP, which just means it needs to be recharged before it can be used again. Your body's ability to recharge that energy determines how strong you feel, how quickly you fatigue, and how well your muscles perform.

The easiest way to think about this: ATP is a fully charged battery. When you use the energy, the battery drains and becomes ADP. Creatine acts like a rapid charger — that super-fast charger you can plug your phone into. It helps your body recharge that battery quickly so you can keep producing strong, high-quality effort instead of fading out.

This is one reason you're hearing so much about creatine for women in perimenopause and menopause. As we move through these seasons, we naturally start to lose some of our muscle and power. Things can feel heavier. Our brain takes a little longer to connect the dots (we'll get to that in a moment). Anything that helps restore your energy faster is going to support your strength, your performance, and help you feel more capable in your body.

Creatine works in tandem with what you are doing and with the demands you are placing on your body. It is not a magic wand. You can't just take creatine and expect to never lose muscle or always feel fast. It works alongside your effort. But that's why creatine is getting so much attention — because our energy stores are decreasing at a faster rate than they used to, and this is something that can help.

Our estrogen has been quietly supporting our muscle health for decades, and now that's declining. Creatine can come in and help support muscle mass, bone health, recovery, and training during this time of hormonal change. Bonus: bone remodeling also requires ATP. When you pair creatine with lifting, it helps support your bone structure too.

If you want to learn more about this, I recommend two episodes: "The Bone Battle No One Is Talking About" from Season 23, Episode 9 (March 18, 2025), and "What Does Heavy Lifting Mean?" from Season 24, Episode 2 (August 12, 2025). If you watch me on YouTube, there's a good chance you found me through that second video — it totally went bananas.

I'll be honest: when I first started learning about creatine, I decided I didn't need it. This was before the perimenopause conversation was layered on. I was looking at it purely from a muscle perspective, and ATP is primarily used during very short, quick bursts of intense effort — think a baseball player sprinting from home to first, or max strength training where you're pushing out one to three reps. I was working out using more of my glycolytic and oxidative energy systems, so I thought, this doesn't really apply to me.

Then I learned about the second benefit.

Benefit two: Cognitive

ATP isn't just for your muscles — it's also for your brain. Our brain uses a lot of energy, including some from the ATP system. Midlife brings brain fog, and if you've walked through that, you know. For me, it's like things are just moving through sludge. I can't quite connect the dots. It takes me a minute. Maybe you're losing words — I just went on a girls' trip and I can't tell you how many times we'd be mid-conversation and someone would say, "I lost the word — what's the word?" It just became a joke. This is super normal.

The research on creatine is showing that users will have significantly better performance on cognitive tasks and working memory, which can improve meaningfully after about six weeks of consistent supplementation. You may also see improvements in attention, processing speed, and memory.

Here's something else that's pretty interesting: creatine may improve symptoms of depression and anxiety. There was a study showing that women with major depressive disorder who added five grams of creatine a day to their standard antidepressant treatment saw really meaningful improvements. This is not a replacement for treatment, medication, or therapy — it's just a window into how brain energy metabolism connects to mood. If you are experiencing depression and you're under a physician's care and currently taking medication, it may be worth asking about including creatine as part of your treatment plan.

Dr. Norton also noted that the cognitive benefits were most pronounced when a deficit is present — sleep deprivation, high stress — which is when creatine supplementation showed the greatest benefit. How many of us are dealing with high stress or poor sleep right now? That's actually where creatine can really help.

Researchers are also looking at a neuroprotective angle: increased ATP availability in brain cells may protect against oxidative stress and support long-term brain function. This is something to watch as the research continues to develop.

Why creatine matters specifically in perimenopause and menopause

Dr. Sims says that women naturally have 70 to 80% lower creatine stores than men, and we typically consume less dietary creatine as well. So we're already starting from a lower place, even before perimenopause begins. Then add in a season where it's harder to build and maintain muscle, our bones are at greater risk, we're experiencing brain fog and mood shifts — and that deficit keeps growing.

Remember, we're still talking about optimization here, not survival. This is just saying: here's something that can help you feel better, using something your body already produces and already knows what to do with.

When you add creatine as a supplement during perimenopause and menopause, the benefits can stack up:

• Better quality training and faster recovery, which allows for more muscle building even when hormones are working against us
• Support for bone health when combined with strength training (yes, the personal trainer is still going to tell you to strength train)
• Better brain energy and mental clarity
• Possible support for mood, if you're experiencing depression

And again — this is not a magic pill. You've got to do this alongside training, sleep, nutrition, and overall stewarding your body well. This is a supplement, not a replacement for the foundation.

Side effects

In general, creatine is well tolerated by most people at recommended doses. Side effects are generally mild and often avoidable. Most reported side effects are linked to loading doses (taking large amounts quickly to saturate stores faster) or low-quality products. I'm not going to walk you through loading protocols — it's not something I recommend for this audience — but if you're curious, you can look into it on your own.

Scale increase: You may see the scale go up a pound or two. Remember, the scale is just one tool — it measures gravitational pull. If your muscles are storing extra water, there will be more mass, and the scale will reflect that. Don't panic.

GI discomfort or bloating: Less common at three to five grams a day; more common with large doses. If you do experience GI issues, split your dose — try one and a half grams in the morning and one and a half grams in the evening, start small, and take it with food. Also make sure you're using a quality product.

Elevated creatinine on blood work: This is expected and does not mean kidney damage in healthy individuals. Just let your doctor know you're supplementing. If your provider flags it, it's a known and expected side effect of creatine use. If you have pre-existing kidney disease, please talk to your doctor before starting.

Groups who should use extra caution: Anyone with a pre-existing kidney condition, anyone on medications that affect kidney function, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding (there's just not enough research — consult your OB-GYN).

For most women, side effects are minor, manageable, and often avoidable with the right product and dose.

My relationship with creatine

You can probably put the pieces together, but when I first started learning about creatine, I didn't take it. I thought: if the benefit is ATP and I'm not working out in that high-intensity way, it doesn't apply to me. Since then, I've actually changed how I lift. I do more max-strength work now — those intense bursts — and that extra ATP support is genuinely helpful.

I really started taking it when I understood the cognitive benefits more. On nights when I don't sleep well, I notice that creatine does help me feel a little more clear and sharp.

I use the Momentous brand. That's where I get a lot of my supplements. I've mentioned Momentous before — it's livemomentous.com. I have no affiliation with them and receive no kickbacks, which I know is unusual, but I'm just not on their radar. It's the brand I trust.

I'll also be totally forthright: I have not been as consistent as I've suggested being here. This year I've traveled more than I ever have, and when I travel, taking a powder feels more complicated — I'm off my routine and I just don't bother. So I haven't been as consistent as I'd like. There are mornings after a rough night's sleep where I wake up and think, I need to take my creatine — which I know is somewhat at odds with what I said about consistency, but that's the honest truth of where I am.

Dosage

This really doesn't need to be complicated. If you're half-listening, come back to me: creatine monohydrate, three to five grams, every day. That's your headline.

Don't get distracted by the marketing on the label. Just get creatine monohydrate. At that dose, you will fully saturate your muscle creatine stores within about three to four weeks. No loading necessary.

Timing doesn't really matter — just pick a time you'll remember, morning or evening. It doesn't impact sleep and doesn't have significant other effects. Just be consistent.

The powder form is best. Dr. Sims recommends it over gummies or other forms due to bioavailability and processing concerns. I get it — if you're taking multiple supplements, the last thing you want is another pill — but we're talking about a powder. Put it in a shake or whatever you're drinking, stir it up, and take it. (The granules can be a bit heavy, so stir and drink promptly.)

To sum up:

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound your body already makes and that's found in red meat, fish, and poultry. It's very hard to reach therapeutic amounts through food alone — but that doesn't mean you need three to five grams to survive.

Creatine provides two primary benefits we know of right now:

1. Muscular: It helps your body regenerate ATP faster, which gives you better training quality, more strength over time, and bone health support when you're lifting.
   
   
   
2. Cognitive: It fuels the brain, can improve memory, processing speed, and possibly mood. Talk to your physician if you're on antidepressants. And it can be especially meaningful for perimenopausal women dealing with brain fog and hormonal shifts.
   
   
   

If you decide to supplement, start with three to five grams of creatine monohydrate daily. Split the dose if needed for gut comfort, and stay consistent.

Creatine is one of the most researched supplements in existence. It's getting a lot of attention right now because the research continues to show it can really help us in this midlife transition. As with all supplements, it's a personal choice — and if you decide you don't want to take it, that is completely fine. It's not a requirement. It's just a little extra support.

And remember: get your foundation in place first.

I know the supplement conversation can get overwhelming. I feel like the wellness industry is in its supplement era, and I hope this brings some clarity to creatine specifically. I think it's very safe, and if it's something you want to try within the recommended dosage — three to five grams of creatine monohydrate — I say go for it.

Okay, that's all for today. Go out there and have a graced day.