Jan 10, 2026 04:45 PM
https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-b...brain-body
EXCERPTS: In recent years, though, researchers have built a persuasive case file for creatine’s role in wider health and wellbeing. Studies have shown it can improve metabolic health and cognitive performance.
[...] In 2024, a review concluded that creatine supplementation had multiple positive effects as an adjunctive treatment for depression. Papers have found, for example, that when combined with SSRI antidepressants, the effects of the medication can be stronger.
Similarly, a pilot study in early 2025 looked at creatine combined with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in patients with depression. The study was small, but it was randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled.
Researchers found that although CBT by itself helped lower depressive symptoms, the effects were significantly stronger in those who had also taken creatine during the eight-week study.
“Depression is a widespread disorder and we need new therapies that are more effective and work faster,” says study author Dr Riccardo De Giorgi, a clinical lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Oxford.
He says that creatine is an interesting candidate partly because it’s so practical. “It’s quite inexpensive, very widely available and it’s what’s called a nutraceutical – like a dietary product.”
[...] Once it’s in the body, creatine serves as a kind of back-up battery for our cells. It’s converted into a molecule called phosphocreatine, which can itself be broken down and used as energy.
It’s also involved in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is another energy source for our cells. It’s this role in the body’s energy systems that could underpin creatine’s wide range of benefits – even for mental health.
“Creatine’s role in restoring energy stores within our muscles is quite well established,” says De Giorgi. “Now, the idea is that creatine might be doing something similar within the brain.”
“We think that there’s at least a subset of people with depression, for whom their depressive symptoms may be very much related to low energy levels and fatigue. For those people, it’s possible that an intervention like creatine might reach the brain and have a positive impact on symptoms.”
De Giorgi stresses that the work is preliminary and much bigger studies are needed. But even within his own paper, the backup energy system idea offers an intriguing explanation.
People engaging with CBT might have better cognitive resources to engage with therapy, he says. The theory is one part of an emerging field in mental health research known as metabolic psychiatry. It’s the idea that mental illness could be linked to obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: In recent years, though, researchers have built a persuasive case file for creatine’s role in wider health and wellbeing. Studies have shown it can improve metabolic health and cognitive performance.
[...] In 2024, a review concluded that creatine supplementation had multiple positive effects as an adjunctive treatment for depression. Papers have found, for example, that when combined with SSRI antidepressants, the effects of the medication can be stronger.
Similarly, a pilot study in early 2025 looked at creatine combined with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in patients with depression. The study was small, but it was randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled.
Researchers found that although CBT by itself helped lower depressive symptoms, the effects were significantly stronger in those who had also taken creatine during the eight-week study.
“Depression is a widespread disorder and we need new therapies that are more effective and work faster,” says study author Dr Riccardo De Giorgi, a clinical lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Oxford.
He says that creatine is an interesting candidate partly because it’s so practical. “It’s quite inexpensive, very widely available and it’s what’s called a nutraceutical – like a dietary product.”
[...] Once it’s in the body, creatine serves as a kind of back-up battery for our cells. It’s converted into a molecule called phosphocreatine, which can itself be broken down and used as energy.
It’s also involved in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is another energy source for our cells. It’s this role in the body’s energy systems that could underpin creatine’s wide range of benefits – even for mental health.
“Creatine’s role in restoring energy stores within our muscles is quite well established,” says De Giorgi. “Now, the idea is that creatine might be doing something similar within the brain.”
“We think that there’s at least a subset of people with depression, for whom their depressive symptoms may be very much related to low energy levels and fatigue. For those people, it’s possible that an intervention like creatine might reach the brain and have a positive impact on symptoms.”
De Giorgi stresses that the work is preliminary and much bigger studies are needed. But even within his own paper, the backup energy system idea offers an intriguing explanation.
People engaging with CBT might have better cognitive resources to engage with therapy, he says. The theory is one part of an emerging field in mental health research known as metabolic psychiatry. It’s the idea that mental illness could be linked to obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions... (MORE - missing details)