In this episode, we sit down with Professor Richard Kreider, Texas A&M professor who has spent over 35 years researching creatine to separate fact from fiction on one of the most studied supplements in the world. Backed by more than 800 studies, creatine isn’t just for athletes—it may play a powerful role in brain health, cognitive function, and healthy aging.
Transcript:
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Professor Kreider, it’s so great to see you.
Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
Happy to be here. Howdy.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Howdy to you, sir. And I’m really excited to talk to you because I used to work out as a younger man and part of working out as, you know, played a little bit with supplementation. And I know you and the team at Texas A&M have done some research around the supplement creatine.
It actually can benefit somebody in middle age like me who’s not even lifting a dumbbell.
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
That’s exactly right. So we started doing research on creatine about 35 years ago. We were the first ones in the United States to test it, whether it helps people who are training athletes get bigger, stronger, faster.
And over the last 30 years, just all types of health benefits. And so as that research evolved, the thought was, well, if we do resistance training and apply this to middle age and older folks who typically lose muscle, lose strength, maybe this might be a opportunity for the keep stronger, fitter, and even cognitive benefits as they age. So we just got done doing a very landmark study on whether training and non-training with and without creatine supplementation affects things like body composition, strength, performance, and then we added the cognitive benefits.
And so we found in that study that creatine supplementation, whether you train or not, will have some benefits for muscle and performance and cognition. And when you train to get better, which we would know expect, but even people who don’t train can have benefit. And what we’re learning through all this research is that the older you get, the more important creatine is.
It’s not something just for people looking to play on athletics or something, it’s for everybody.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Okay. Well, and that’s very positive. I know there’s so much research, yours included, going into the health span and longevity, improving our lives.
Let me ask you about the creatine. Thank you for correcting me on the pronunciation, but is creatine naturally occurring in the body? And if so, or if not, what does it, how does it, without getting into the weeds, because I’m not, I’m a lay person, but what does it actually do?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
So creatine is a basic energy source for the cell. Every cell uses creatine in the form of phosphocreatine for energy. And so when you do all types of activities, especially higher intensity exercise, or when your brain’s under stress and needs more energy, it’s a source of fuel.
So I liken this to a gas tank. Many people know what carbohydrate loading is, where you eat a lot of extra carbs, and then you store more carbohydrate and muscle so you can run longer before you run out of gas. Well, normally the body does make creatine, but it only keeps your gas tank about 60% full, only what minimal needed, okay?
And so by adding more creatine in the diet, you can now fill that gas tank so you have reserve energy for explosive activities or stressful situations. And we now know that it has application throughout the lifespan, particularly in individuals who have metabolic stress issues where creatine may benefit.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And professor, how does it come? Does it come in a liquid form? And when would I take it?
Do I take it in the morning with my other vitamins or medication, or would I take it throughout the day?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
Yeah, it’s usually in powder form because it’s the most stable and easiest way to provide it. Sometimes it’s included into, you know, protein drinks and things like that. Usually not liquid because it’s not a stable shelf life thing.
And so you typically add about three or five grams, that’s about a teaspoon, into your food or your coffee or a drink in the morning and later in the evening. And we’re doing studies on 10 grams per day now for the cognitive benefits. So that’s basically what we recommend.
And so you look for pure creatine from Germany. That’s the best source. That’s what 95% of all the clinical trials have studied.
And that’s what we’re confident will have some effect and be a safe over time.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So I guess the Germans are, they were down for a lot of things. They also do create creatine very well.
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
They were the first, one of the first companies to dedicate and develop a creatine factory. They actually have several now. And they, all they do, whereas other places make other things and it’s kind of a side and there’s either really China sources or German.
The German is what the 99.9% pure is. And that’s what all the clinical studies are. And that’s what Europe and other countries that allow for health claims of supplements are based on that particular source because the other sources may have some impurities in them.
We’re not quite sure. It just haven’t been studied as much.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And I was doing a tongue and cheek joke. I’m sure the Germans do a great job as do other countries. So just making a little bit of a joke there, please no negative emails, but in all seriousness, professor, where would I go?
You know, there’s a lot of, I’m sure you watch television and look at the your Twitter feed and all these other social media. There’s a lot of supplements that are being sold through those venues. How do I discern where’s the best place to go?
I mean, I don’t want to not necessarily a brand, but is it like a health store around the corner? Where, where, where should I go?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
The source of creatine is branded supplement nutrients. So you can look for CREA pure or CREA vitalis. They’re the same creatine monohydrate, but the ones a little bit fluffier mixes a better fluid.
So we tell folks to look for those brand labels and that way, you know, you’re getting creatine from Germany and it’s quality. Now you got to be careful online. There’s a lot of junk being sold, especially as gummies.
And that’s where the issues of quality come in and is really created in there and all that type of stuff. So go with the brands. We know have been clinically tested.
There’s now been over 800 studies on creatine. And we know that that’s safe, effective for all populations. And so that’s what we recommend.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And, you know, can you take too much creatine? Like you need, you’re saying it was about 10, 10 grams, 10 grams. Thank you.
Can you take too much? And how would I know if I take too much?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
Yeah. Yeah. Most of the studies have looked at up to 30 grams per day or even stop upstairs dose.
You don’t need to go beyond that. And so what we generally recommend is for just general health, everybody needs about two to three grams of creatine in their diet per day. So if you eat a lot of meats and fish, you know, a pound or two a day, you might get that amount.
But most people find that you have to, you know, have a little teaspoon here or there of creatine monohydrate to be able to meet their needs. Beyond that for cognitive and performance benefits, we load for a week, 20 grams per day for a week, divided into four doses, five grams, four times a day. And our initial studies, we did that for months and had no issues and had people getting strong, big and all that.
And now we thought, well, the muscle only needs that loading period. And then three to five grams after that’s enough to keep the muscle. What we’re learning now is the brain needs more.
And that’s why our recommendations is higher. And so we go 10 grams per day. We’ve been doing studies 12 weeks or more with older individuals.
It’s well tolerated and they’re getting those benefits that we talked about.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Did it surprise you that the cognitive positive benefits, I mean, did that surprise you or is that well known?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
No. Well, the initial studies on those loading higher doses showed some cognitive improvement. In fact, a few studies gave like 20 or 30 grams in one dose.
And then 36 hours or so later, 30 hours later looked at how it delayed or affect cognition after sleep deprivation. So we knew that creatine can get in the brain, but generally needed some high doses. And so there have been studies on these loading doses showing some cognitive benefit.
What has been less shown is the smaller doses, those three to five gram maintenance doses are effective. So we think you need more to get to the brain because only about 20% of the creatines take it up into the brain. And so therefore a little bit more per day not only helps the muscle, but helps the brain.
And it’s more in line with our more recent recommendations on maintenance dose. We usually tell people 0.1 grams per kg. So if you’re 110 pounds, 55, 50 kg female, you need about five grams per day to maintain.
But if you’re 220, 100 kg male, you need 10 grams per day. So most people will fall in that range. And that’s why we decided on the 10 grams per day in our studies.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And I recognize there’s, you know, we’ve had shows about Alzheimer’s and dementia. I don’t want to connect the dots completely, but is this potentially preemptive of some of those cognitive decline diseases?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
Yes. There’s been lots of studies now in health. And one of the areas that went 10 to 20 grams per day for years were in these neurological type of conditions.
And we think creatine has more effect on the neurological diseases that affect muscle, like muscular dystrophy and those things where there’s deterioration, less effect once the damage is there. But the idea now, and there are studies now going on where we go 10, 20 grams per day in people starting to show signs of mild cognitive impairment to see if that may delay that. And the studies need to be done on that, but that is where the direction is going because there were some benefits in people that had some of these neurological diseases, and they want to see if this can be a preventive measure.
So we’ve been using 10 grams per day, but there are some suggesting if you have underlying disease, maybe you need a little bit more. And that’s what the larger clinical trials have been doing.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Last question for you, Professor. I know you’re busy, but I did want to ask about future research that you’ll be doing. I know you said that you’ve been doing research for over 30 years on creatine and the impact.
What can we expect next from you and the university?
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
So we have been funded by the Woodnex Foundation, Makers Roku. And they said, hey, if we gave you some funding to do active aging research, what would you do? And so we start with creatine.
And what we’re doing now in innovation on top of creatine, there is a precursor to creatine called GAA, guanidine acetic acid. And this gets in the brain better than creatine. And so we’re combining two grams a day of GAA plus creatine to see if that affects cognitive function.
And we just published a paper that showed that that was the case. We have another one presenting next week that shows if you do 12 weeks of training, creatine works, GAA works, but when you combine them, you might get a little bit better benefit. And so we’re doing that.
And then the other thing is when you age in the brain, you have oxidative stress, inflammation. We’re dealing with the energy issues with creatine. And so we’re adding things like fish oil as an antioxidant, curcumin as an anti-inflammatory, and a choline precursor called cetylcholine to affect brain connection.
So we think we can develop a cocktail to help people as they start noticing memory issues. I’m starting to become that absent-minded professor that everybody’s talked about for years. You start noticing that you can make some exercise and nutrition interventions to slow that kind of progression downward.
So that’s what we’re doing now. We actually are doing lots of studies on nootropics, things to affect cognition, and it all starts with getting energy in the brain with creatine, and then adding those other type of approaches.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, absolutely fascinating the research that’s going on. Professor, we’re going to have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us.
And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon, sir.
Richard Kreider, Texas A&M University
Very good. Thank you.
