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What’s the optimal creatine dosage for cognitive benefits? 5g per day doesn’t seem to be enough…
1 month ago (edited)
I’ve been experimenting with my daily creatine dosage to find the sweet spot for muscle strength, bone health, and cognitive performance.
I started with 5g/day, which already gave me noticeable improvements in strength and workout performance.
Recently, I’ve shifted to 10g/day as a baseline, and I occasionally go higher on sleep-deprived days to support mental clarity and recovery.
There’s growing evidence suggesting that 10g/day might be the optimal dose, depending on your gender and your broader health goals.
I found this video by Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Dr. Darren Candow interesting, especially the studies they discuss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho7_wrS6Lb8
@heiko-bartlog
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Nothing to add. I also shifted from 5g to ~15g (to be honest: just a much bigger scoop than before) per day based on a video by Physionic that starts with the Dr. Rhonda Patrick & Dr. Darren Candow conversation: https://youtu.be/aWNUCcGbK-0?si=h06Z39ayvtIUG_Mc
@heiko-bartlog Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@callum-parker curious to hear, what does your creatine dosage look like as a hybrid athlete?
And how about the rest of you:
@maximilian, @ori-raz, @jonathan-chung-yee, @alexander, @jonathtan-apasu, @marius-krebs, what’s your take on optimal creatine dosing?
Honestly I'm so liberal with it. Sometimes one heaped scoop, sometimes two. I don't really experience a noticeable impact when I vary it. I've probably also just already reached creatinine saturation levels from taking it consistently over 5+ years.
Nice! I’ve been on 5g/day too, solid results with performance and recovery, especially during heavy training weeks. I’ve been curious about the 10g range as well, especially for the cognitive side and long training days. Might give it a try and see how it feels. Have you noticed any difference with the higher dose on mentally tough or sleep-deprived days? @karol
Interesting, I have noticed more coverage of "creatine overdosing" on Social Media. Years ago the suggested amount was "one knife point" 😅 Right now I am just on Optimum Nutrition Creatine + Electrolytes with 7g a scoop.
I take it mainly for muscle protection.
@callum-parker Thanks, got it. I recently did a blood test and noticed my creatinine levels were high as well, after just 2–3 months of supplementation.
@jonathan-chung-yee Good question. I’ve been supplementing 10g daily for the past 2–3 weeks, but compared to my previous 5g dose, I haven’t noticed much of a difference. Going from zero to 5g was a real aha moment, but increasing beyond that hasn’t brought any noticeable improvements in recovery or cognitive performance so far. Need to test higher doses on sleep-deprived days still.
@maximilian Thanks for sharing. Totally agree, there’s definitely a creatine renaissance happening, and the market cap grew dramatically, especially promoting new forms of Creatine such as gummies, chews and drinks.
Once your muscles are saturated, 3–5 grams per day is sufficient for maintenance, and more will be unnecessary and simply excreted.
While taking creatine supplements poses little if any risk, taking too much, especially during the loading phase, is unnecessary and may cause side effects like bloating and stomach discomfort.
