There’s a claim going around again that creatine can slow Alzheimer’s decline by 30%. That’s a big promise for something you can buy over the counter.
What?
The actual evidence in people is much more limited. In a pilot study by Smith and colleagues, 20 people with Alzheimer’s took 20 grams of creatine each day for eight weeks. Their brain creatine levels rose by 11%, and some of their cognitive test scores improved.
But the study had no placebo group. So we can’t know if the improvements were due to creatine or just because people got better at taking the tests. The study, published in May 2025, mainly checked if this creatine routine was doable. It doesn’t prove a 30% drop in decline.
So what?
I need to correct myself here. In my September 2025 creatine update, I said you’d think more clearly within two weeks. That was too optimistic.
There could be some cognitive benefits. In a 2023 trial, 123 healthy adults took 5 grams a day for six weeks and showed a small possible improvement. Another trial in August 2026 gave 10 grams a day for 12 weeks to adults aged 45 to 65, and they also saw some benefits on certain cognitive tests. The senior author, Richard Kreider, is on the scientific advisory board of AlzChem, a company that makes creatine. The researchers called these cognitive results exploratory. Neither study shows that creatine protects against Alzheimer’s.
My advice is still similar to what I said in July: creatine is worth considering if you lift weights. In a placebo-controlled trial with 19 trained men, creatine helped them gain more strength over 12 weeks of lifting. The Alzheimer’s pilot study is just a first step for more research. Based on these results, I wouldn’t take more creatine for brain protection.
Now what?
Before you buy creatine or change how much you take:
Think about what you want creatine to do for you. If you’re hoping it will sharpen your thinking, remember that benefit is still uncertain (but possible). I wouldn’t start taking it just to prevent Alzheimer’s based on what we know now.
If you’re healthy, lift weights, and want to try creatine, go for plain creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5 grams a day. Check the label for how many grams are in each serving. This is the standard training dose, even on rest days.
You don’t need to do a loading phase. In Hultman’s muscle study, taking 3 grams a day slowly increased creatine stores over about four weeks. There’s no need to use the 20-gram dose from the Alzheimer’s study to build up muscle creatine.
If you have kidney disease, talk to your doctor before starting creatine. If you’re thinking about creatine for someone with Alzheimer’s, share the study with their doctor and ask for advice before changing any supplements or medications.
Stay healthy.
Andre