Creatine: Backcountry Cognitive Support

Written by Vince Kreipke, PhD


Creatine isn’t new. 

It has been holding its own as one of the top performance supplements on the market for decades. 

Originally, this was solely based on its positive effects on muscle size and performance. Since the 90’s, if you wanted a PR, creatine was the supplement for you. 

After decades of research, creatine’s mechanisms are pretty well understood. With these causes in mind, scientists started looking at other cells that might benefit from these mechanisms and turned to the brain. 

If researchers could show that creatine supports physical and cognitive performance, they would establish creatine as a non-negotiable backcountry supplement.

What Creatine Does (In Plain English)

The body runs on a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (also known as ATP). This molecule is found in every cell in the body. 

Creatine plays a key role in processes that help build ATP for rapid energy use (source). Creatine helps increase phosphocreatine (aka: “PCr”) stores. When ATP is used, it breaks down to adenosine diphosphate or “ADP”. PCR then donates its phosphate (or “P”) to ADP to recreate ATP (source). The more stored PCR, the faster ATP can be created.

While skeletal muscle is well known for containing high concentrations of creatine, it is also found in the brain, another high-energy organ that uses creatine. 

How Does Creatine Support Cognitive Function?

Creatine supplementation has been shown to promote phosphocreatine levels by roughly 10% (source). Though it is only about half the concentrations found in the muscle after supplementation, it does seem to be enough to support cognitive function. 

A 2019 meta-analysis out of a lab in Greece, looking at six studies (281 healthy participants), demonstrated that creatine supplementation helped promote short-term memory and reasoning, but this particular review also noted that these findings were not driven by younger individuals in the supplement group.  

A larger review from 2024, using 16 studies with 492 participants, challenged those findings, suggesting that creatine supplementation helped boost memory, focus, and processing speed. This time, researchers call attention to the benefits found in younger individuals and women. 

Diving into some of the individual studies paints a clearer picture of how creatine can help promote these measures of cognitive performance. 

The first study from 2024 found cognitive benefits after a single high-dose creatine supplementation in sleep-deprived individuals. Interestingly, a 2025 study looked at cognitive effects along with sleep and physical performance. While researchers noted support for cognitive and physical measures, they also saw a promotion in sleep performance measures for those who supplemented with creatine. 

Together, these studies call attention previously mentioned in the first 2019 meta-analysis and other reviews. Creatine supplementation seems to work best when cognitive function energy demands are high and resources are diminished, like physiological and psychological stressors such as aging, intense exercise, and sleep deprivation. 

Is Dosing for Cognitive Benefits Different Than Muscle Performance?

Typical creatine dosing is based on muscle performance. A common approach is a short loading phase of about 20 grams per day for 5–7 days, which can increase muscle creatine stores by roughly 20% (source), followed by a lower maintenance dose of roughly 3 to 5 grams per day.

Cognitive dosing is less defined. But one thing is clear, it is much higher than for muscle performance. While the exact dose is still being researched, two dosing schemes have been shown to work. The first is supplementing with a straight 20 g/ day, which was shown to promote performance after seven days (source). The other study demonstrated benefits after a single high dose of  0.35 g/kg (roughly 35 grams for a 220lb person).  

Bottom Line: Creatine is All Around Backcountry Support

The backcountry demands two things: physical performance and a sharp mental acuity. 

Creatine supports both, making it a superior backcountry supplement.