The honest science behind why oral creatine only raises brain levels by 5 to 15 percent, what is actually limiting it, and what researchers are building to solve the problem.
Fascinating post. I was taking 5 grams daily creatine for six+ months—partly for muscles, partly for brain. Elevated creatine levels were detected in my annual bloodwork, so I stopped. Getting another blood test soon to see if levels have normalized, then I guess I’ll go from there. Look forward to reading more of this series!
Lynn I wrote a whole article on this. The blood work is not testing for creatine. It’s testing for creatinine. This is a different waste product which does not indicate whether you have creatine or not. 👍
Just checked. Levels were at .99. That’s within the normal range according to the World Wide Web. Maybe she’s just double checking to see if creatine if overtaxing my kidneys.
I’ll respond more when I get home and on my computer. I talked with a bunch of doctors before I wrote about it including hubby who is one. The creatinine level gets a bad rep because it’s linked to kidney … but has nothing to do with kidney if you are supplementing. There are other tests you should do if you are worried about kidneys and not creatinine test.
but overall creatine has huge benefits and is beneficial to reduce brain diseases and even cancer/aging.
Apparently you wrote this as I was writing my response. I’m assuming then that she’s doing further kidney related testing. I’ve had slightly elevated .8-.9 in the past, without creatine.
My doc and kidney doctor were also worried about elevated creatinine. This is with no creatine supplementation but exercise (8 hours of tennis and 4-8 hours of hiking a week)... not your typical late 70s guy. Kidney doctor did another test cystatin and decided kidney function was normal. He told me that one football player he worked with had a creatinine level 250% of normal.
The GFR can be measured from a 24 hour urine collection. Usually it is estimated from creatinine and other factors like age, weight and sex. With cystatin a much better estimate can be made. BUT most docs just look at the comprehensive metabolic panel simplistic GFR estimate.
Looking forward to next articles. I wonder if exercise affects body/brain creatine generation.
Interesting overview, but it assumes that getting more creatine into the brain is automatically better without asking whether we have actually studied the long term consequences. Most creatine safety studies rely on routine blood work and adverse event reporting, not detailed assessments of mitochondrial function, neuroenergetics, brain imaging, or metabolic flexibility. Before we start trying to bypass the brain's own transport controls, it seems reasonable to ask whether those controls exist for a reason.
The research started with AD and PD clinical trials. There is a depletion of creatine in the brains and there’s sustained work for decades by dedicated scientists in this field. Read the background first
Fascinating post. I was taking 5 grams daily creatine for six+ months—partly for muscles, partly for brain. Elevated creatine levels were detected in my annual bloodwork, so I stopped. Getting another blood test soon to see if levels have normalized, then I guess I’ll go from there. Look forward to reading more of this series!
Lynn I wrote a whole article on this. The blood work is not testing for creatine. It’s testing for creatinine. This is a different waste product which does not indicate whether you have creatine or not. 👍
Just checked. Levels were at .99. That’s within the normal range according to the World Wide Web. Maybe she’s just double checking to see if creatine if overtaxing my kidneys.
Oh. LOL. I wonder why she had me go off the creatine. Perhaps a miscommunication. Stay tuned. 🤪
I’ll respond more when I get home and on my computer. I talked with a bunch of doctors before I wrote about it including hubby who is one. The creatinine level gets a bad rep because it’s linked to kidney … but has nothing to do with kidney if you are supplementing. There are other tests you should do if you are worried about kidneys and not creatinine test.
but overall creatine has huge benefits and is beneficial to reduce brain diseases and even cancer/aging.
Talk you later soon.
Apparently you wrote this as I was writing my response. I’m assuming then that she’s doing further kidney related testing. I’ve had slightly elevated .8-.9 in the past, without creatine.
My doc and kidney doctor were also worried about elevated creatinine. This is with no creatine supplementation but exercise (8 hours of tennis and 4-8 hours of hiking a week)... not your typical late 70s guy. Kidney doctor did another test cystatin and decided kidney function was normal. He told me that one football player he worked with had a creatinine level 250% of normal.
The GFR can be measured from a 24 hour urine collection. Usually it is estimated from creatinine and other factors like age, weight and sex. With cystatin a much better estimate can be made. BUT most docs just look at the comprehensive metabolic panel simplistic GFR estimate.
Looking forward to next articles. I wonder if exercise affects body/brain creatine generation.
Wondering what made you decide it was good for the brain? An influencer or something else? Any studies maybe? Genuinely interested in knowing
I am not an influencer … I am a scientist and has done work in AD, PD, cancer, metabolism and over all aging field for over 20 years.
I write everything based on published science. All the articles in the series is formulated using published clinical trials.
Interesting overview, but it assumes that getting more creatine into the brain is automatically better without asking whether we have actually studied the long term consequences. Most creatine safety studies rely on routine blood work and adverse event reporting, not detailed assessments of mitochondrial function, neuroenergetics, brain imaging, or metabolic flexibility. Before we start trying to bypass the brain's own transport controls, it seems reasonable to ask whether those controls exist for a reason.
The point is not to overload a system.
The research started with AD and PD clinical trials. There is a depletion of creatine in the brains and there’s sustained work for decades by dedicated scientists in this field. Read the background first