Background
Given the important role cognition plays in daily life, enhancing cognition safely and cheaply is highly desirable. Creatine is safe, well-tolerated, and cheap [While the safety and athletic benefits of creatine are well established, its potential cognitive benefits are still unclear. A systematic review tentatively suggests that creatine supplementation may improve “short-term memory”/working memory and “intelligence/reasoning” in healthy individuals [Supplementing creatine may benefit cognition as muscle and brain cells use creatine to access more energy when demand is high. They store creatine as phosphocreatine, which acts to regenerate the energy-providing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) [Dietary creatine is primarily contained in meat, fish, and a small amount in some dairy products [Creatine intake increases the level of creatine in the blood serum [It is unclear if creatine supplementation has similar effects on omnivores and vegetarians. Rae et al. [To test these hypotheses, we approximately replicated the study design and treatment (5 g per day of creatine for 6 weeks) used by Rae et al. [