Creatine Supplementation and Function in Older Adults
Can creatine supplementation improve physical function or cognition in older adults, and how much depends on accompanying exercise, diet, or guanidinoacetate?
Following this research could clarify whether changes in muscle and brain energy measures translate into meaningful everyday benefits, and which intervention components contribute.
Where it stands now
Main bottleneck
The bounded evidence does not establish whether creatine itself produces lasting functional or cognitive benefits independently of the accompanying interventions.
Watch next
Comparative trial results that isolate creatine’s contribution and show whether measured changes translate into sustained improvements in physical function or cognition.
Progress timeline
How the evidence has changed over time.
2026 · 1 update
- What did creatine add to a 12-week exercise and diet program?Partly supportedResearch note 2 of 2 · Source date 2026-08-11
Since the previous research note · Partly supported
Track continuity
Since the previous research note: A creatine combination changed tissue and movement measures in older adults
Previous expectation: A supplementation approach might help older people preserve mobility and independence if functional benefits prove reproducible and sustained use is acceptably safe.
What this study adds: This 12-week creatine trial adds body-composition and laboratory-strength findings in healthy adults aged 45–65, including participants pursuing exercise and diet-induced weight loss. Those intermediate findings support part of the rationale, while everyday mobility, independence and sustained safety remain unestablished by the supplied evidence.
Current research note
2021 · 1 update
- A creatine combination changed tissue and movement measures in older adultsResearch note 1 of 2 · Source date 2021-08-30
How this Track works
This page changes as new evidence arrives. Open any update to see what researchers found at that point in the story.