A pilot trial resulted in improvements in cognition and increases in brain creatine levels among people with Alzheimer’s disease who consumed creatine monohydrate for eight weeks.

Creatine is an amino acid that is made in the body and occurs in seafood and meat. Creatine supports cellular energy, muscle strength and other aspects of well-being, including brain health.

“Our data suggest that creatine monohydrate supplementation is feasible in Alzheimer’s disease and provides preliminary evidence for future efficacy and mechanism studies,” wrote authors Aaron N. Smith and colleagues, who reported the findings.¹

Total cognition as well as fluid cognition, list sorting, working memory and oral reading recognition improved significantly by the end of the trial. Compared with the beginning of the trial, serum creatine was higher at four and eight weeks and brain creatine significantly increased by 11%. “Although previous studies have demonstrated that creatine monohydrate...increases brain creatine in healthy individuals, our trial is the first to demonstrate this in Alzheimer’s disease,” the authors announced.

The current Creatine to Augment Bioenergetics in Alzheimer's (CABA) trial enrolled 20 men and women being treated for Alzheimer’s disease with drugs such as memantine or donepezil. Participants were instructed to consume 10 grams of creatine monohydrate twice per day for eight weeks. The creatine monohydrate used in the trial was donated by Life Extension Inc.

Tests that evaluated cognition were administered and MRI scans that measured brain total creatine were performed at the beginning and end of the study. Serum creatine levels were measured prior to the treatment period and at four and eight weeks.

The trial findings were reported in the April-June 2025 issue of the Alzheimer’s Association journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions.