Dallas Chiropractor Best Practices

Research Commentary;

 Chiropractic and Brain Health

A review of

Roschel H, Gualano B, Ostojic SM, Rawson ES. Creatine Supplementation and Brain Health. Nutrients. 2021;13(2):586. Published 2021 Feb 10. doi:10.3390/nu13020586

By Dr. Erik Waldeland

Summarized Review Conclusions

There is an abundance of evidence supporting the ergogenic and therapeutic role of creatine supplementation in muscle and it’s benefits for muscle growth. Beyond these well-described effects and mechanisms, there is literature to suggest that creatine may also be beneficial to brain health (e.g., cognitive processing, brain function, and recovery from trauma). This could be extremely beneficial for millions of people worldwide if there is a potential for creatine supplementation to improve cognitive processing, especially in conditions characterized by brain creatine deficits, which could be induced by acute stressors (e.g., exercise, sleep deprivation) or chronic, pathologic conditions (e.g., creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mild traumatic brain injury, aging, Alzheimer’s disease, depression).

“Importantly, brain creatine is reduced following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) [49], making creatine supplementation, and subsequent increase in brain creatine, a potentially valuable strategy to reduce severity of, or enhance recovery from, mTBI or concussion.”

“Although most of the total body’s creatine is found in skeletal muscle, the brain is also a very metabolically active tissue, accounting for up to 20% of the body’s energy consumption”

“creatine-deficient syndromes involving brain creatine depletion are characterized by major mental and developmental disorders (e.g., mental retardation, learning delays, autism, and seizures), which may be partially reversed by creatine supplementation”

Introduction to the Research

This review examined the effects on creatine supplementation on brain health and the impact it may have on various mental or cognitive conditions. Supplementation of creatine for muscle growth has been well-studied, but supplementation for cognitive benefit has been less examined.

Research Methodology

The authors reviewed the current literature that examined the effects of creatine supplementation on brain health and cognitive function.

Research Findings

The review of the research suggests that there is a potential for creatine supplementation to improve cognitive processing, especially in conditions characterized by brain creatine deficits, which could be induced by acute stressors (e.g., exercise, sleep deprivation) or chronic, pathologic conditions (e.g., creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mTBI, aging, Alzheimer’s disease, depression).

Research References

As always with these reviews, these are my takeaways from the article and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety.  The references used in this article by the authors of this article are listed here.

Our Message

If you’re looking for a Chiropractor near you that you can trust, choose one who will not only get rid of your back pain, neck pain, or headaches but who will also guide you to living a healthier lifestyle to keep you out of pain. Our Chiropractors located in Dallas, near the corner of Mockingbird Ln. and Abrams Rd., will teach you what the research says about how and why we should eat a better diet, move more and have more positive thoughts. By improving these areas of our lives we can become healthier and stay out of pain!