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From the desk of Dr. Kevin, MD
“That ‘little bump’ could be five different things”
Creatine, Menopause, and Your Brain:
Science Finally Woke the F*ck Up 😒
Breaking news from the “wow it only took decades” department: the first-ever randomized controlled trial looking at creatine and cognitive function in peri- and postmenopausal women dropped a few months ago.
Yes. First ever. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, I’m annoyed too.
So let’s break this thing down like adults with sarcasm, science, and nada tolerance for bullshit.
What did they actually do?
Researchers took 36 peri- and postmenopausal women and followed them for 8 weeks. Not huge, not useless… just… modest. They split them into four groups:
Low-dose creatine HCl : 750 mg/day
Medium-dose creatine HCl : 1.5 g/day
Creatine + creatine ethyl ester combo
Placebo (aka the emotional support capsule 💊)
They measured:
Reaction time
Cognitive performance
Fatigue
Mood symptoms
Brain creatine levels using MRI spectroscopy (which is actually pretty cool)
As you can see, this wasn’t energy-based wellness nonsense. This was real physiology.
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So what the funk happened, Kevin?
The medium-dose group (1.5 g/day) was the star of the show.
Here’s the good shit:
Reaction time improved ~6%
Placebo? Basically flatlined.Frontal lobe brain creatine increased ~16%
Placebo saw a sad, lonely ~1% increase.Fatigue scores went down
Concentration improved
Mood swings trended better (not dramatic, but noticeable)
No weight gain
No serious side effects
Read that again:
→ No bloating apocalypse
→ No mysterious scale creep
→ No “creatine made me bulky” nonsense
One group also saw small improvements in blood lipids, but honestly? That part is interesting, not conclusive. Don’t tattoo it on your soul just yet.
Why might creatine help the menopausal brain?
Here’s where the biology actually gets spicy.
During menopause, estrogen levels drop, and estrogen isn’t just about periods and hot flashes… it plays a huge role in brain energy metabolism. Crazy, I knowww!!
When estrogen falls:
The brain becomes worse at using glucose
Mitochondria become less efficient
ATP production drops slightly
AKA: Your brain is running on a shittier power grid.
Creatine acts as a rapid energy buffer inside brain cells. Think of it like a backup battery that kicks in when energy demand spikes, focus, stress, multitasking, decision fatigue, life.
So instead of your neurons going: “Sorry, we’re tired today,”
creatine says: “Sit tf down, I’ve got this, boo.”
That’s why it’s plausible (not magical) that creatine could help with brain fog, mental fatigue, and slow processing speed during menopause.
But before we start a creatine cult…
Let’s talk limitations, because science doesn’t care about your excitement.
Tiny sample size
Only ~9 women per group. Fine for a pilot study, not fine for sweeping conclusions.No diet or activity tracking
We don’t know who was eating like a saint or training like a CrossFit demon.They excluded women with chronic disease
Which means this doesn’t reflect… you know… real life.No weight-adjusted dosing
Women ranged from ~49 kg to ~88 kg.
Giving everyone 1.5 g/day is… biologically lazy.Only 8 weeks long
Brain adaptations take time. This is short.They used creatine hydrochloride
Not creatine monohydrate, which is the most studied, cheapest, and best-supported form we have.
So yeah… promising, not definitive.
The real takeaway
This study doesn’t prove creatine is a miracle menopause brain pill.
What it does prove is something far more important:
Women’s brains are finally being studied properly. 😑
And creatine… a compound with decades of safety data might have real cognitive benefits in a population that’s been ignored for way too long.
Is this a win? Absolutely.
Is it the final answer? Hell no.
But for once, science is moving in the right direction… and honestly, that alone deserves a slow clap and maybe a well-earned “about f*cking time.”
Stay curious. Stay skeptical. And stop letting wellness influencers pretend they invented mitochondrial biology.
Until next Saturday,
Dr. Kevin Cutthebull, MD
P.S. Another value station, you can download my favorite guide of the week here. For free (no opt-in required)→ (Download Here)
