9 Ways Creatine Can Improve Low Mood
Globally, low mood and depression are on the rise. Depression now ranks as one of the leading causes of disability, affecting approximately 280 million people with serious economic and social burdens, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [1].
Low mood is impacted by a number of key inputs, such as: stress levels, lack of sleep, physical fitness, genetics, nutrition, and the like.
What you eat, how much (or well) you move, and your lifestyle are all powerful factors in supporting better mood.
Let’s take a deep dive on how one specific compound, creatine, may be an up-and-coming therapeutic support.
What Is Creatine?
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound in the body. It plays an essential role in producing energy (e.g. adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, for short) for your cells and maintaining optimal cellular function.
This is especially important during periods of high stress or high energy demand [2].
Where do you get creatine from?
Creatine is found in meat and fish and also made by the body in your liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Your muscle tissue is the main reservoir for creatine, containing about 95% of the body’s creatine stores.
Dietary Impact of Creatine?
Your diet has direct impact on the amount of creatine stored in the body, however, the brain is a different story.
Research clearly shows omnivores have much greater body stores of creatine compared to vegetarians, but interestingly, there are no significant differences in brain creatine levels between omnivores and vegetarians [3].
Brain creatine status isn’t impacted by your diet. But supplementation is a different story.
New science suggests creatine supplementation may benefit brain energy metabolism, improve cognitive processes, support neuronal health, and influencing neurotransmitter function [4].
Creatine & Brain Benefits
The brain requires rapid energy (ATP) turnover, particularly during complex cognitive tasks such as when working (or in midlife, over working!) or high neural activity like when training or under acute or chronic stress [5].
The brain can produce creatine independently due to the presence of key enzymes in brain cells, such as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes [6].
However, creatine supplementation can potentially augment these levels and accelerate ATP regeneration.
New science suggests nine potential effects of creatine on the brain:
1) Enhanced hydration and cell volume
2) Rapid energy reserve in brain
3) Improve brain function
4) Enhanced mood (combats fatigue)
5) Support treatment resistant depression
6) Reduced cognitive symptoms (low mood)
7) Improved effectiveness of SSRIs (anti-depressants)
8) Neuroprotective effects
9) Delays neurodegenerative diseases [7]
In short, creatine may have beneficial effects on memory and cognition (with the biggest effect in older populations), support recovery from head trauma and impact mood.
(Watch this clip with on Creatine & Brain)
Creatine for Depression
Creatine is an energy compound, so not surprisingly, the interest in creatine as a treatment for depression centers on its role in brain energy metabolism.
Individuals struggling with low mood or depression often have disrupted brain energy, more specifically mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced ATP production, and high oxidative stress [8].
All of the above have been linked to the development of depression, suggesting creatine’s potential benefit for mood (and also why exercise is such a powerful tool as well).
The research suggests creatine supplementation can improve mitochondrial function, increase cellular resilience to stress, and module key mood neurotransmitter systems like serotonin and dopamine [9,10].
What Dose of creatine?
In the research, the typical dose used in clinical trials for low mood approximately 5 g/day of creatine monohydrate. (This is also the same dose for physical benefits as well).
You can take the powder form (or pills), mix it with water or another beverage and drink with a meal.
Studies suggest you can see improvements in your symptoms of low mood within two weeks to two months of supplementation.
If you’re already taking a medication, such as a SSRI, the research shows benefit when used in conjunction with antidepressants [11].
(Note - creatine should be used with caution in patients with kidney dysfunction and bipolar disorder).
It’s also important to note creatine is one of the most studied supplements ever and has one of the best safety profiles of any supplement.
To Sum Up
Creatine’s ability to protect against neuroinflammation and oxidative damage make it a potentially useful tool in reducing depressive symptoms.
New science also highlights creatine supplementations multifaceted potential for enhancing brain energy metabolism.
While there is still a lot of work to be done, the potential benefits of creatine and mood.
When you consider the brain benefits, combined with the benefits on exercise adaptations and excellent safety profile, it becomes a very attractive, evidence-based nutrition strategy to support low mood and depression.
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References
Sartorius N: The economic and social burden of depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001, 62 Suppl 15:8-11.
McIntyre RS, Alsuwaidan M, Baune BT, et al.: Treatment-resistant depression: definition, prevalence, detection, management, and investigational interventions. World Psychiatry. 2023, 22:394-412.
Hayashi AP, Solis MY, Sapienza MT, et al.: Efficacy and safety of creatine supplementation in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Lupus. 2014, 23:1500-11.
Allen PJ: Creatine metabolism and psychiatric disorders: does creatine supplementation have therapeutic value?. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2012, 36:1442-62.
Sahlin K, Harris RC: The creatine kinase reaction: a simple reaction with functional complexity. Amino Acids. 2011, 40:1363-7.
Andres RH, Ducray AD, Schlattner U, Wallimann T, Widmer HR: Functions and effects of creatine in the central nervous system. Brain Res Bull. 2008, 76:329-43.
Stöckler S, Holzbach U, Hanefeld F, et al.: Creatine deficiency in the brain: a new, treatable inborn error of metabolism. Pediatr Res. 1994, 36:409-13.
Khan M, Baussan Y, Hebert-Chatelain E: Connecting dots between mitochondrial dysfunction and depression. Biomolecules. 2023, 13:695.
Cunha MP, Machado DG, Capra JC, Jacinto J, Bettio LE, Rodrigues AL: Antidepressant-like effect of creatine in mice involves dopaminergic activation. J Psychopharmacol. 2012, 26:1489-501.
Forbes SC, Cordingley DM, Cornish SM, et al.: Effects of creatine supplementation on brain function and health. Nutrients. 2022, 14:921.
Yager J: Creatine augmentation of SSRIs for depression. J Watch. 2012, 2012: