Taking creatine, a supplement often used by athletes, can lessen the sad mood and low energy that come with depression.

See the scientific wording

Creatine supplementation reduces symptoms of depression in humans.

Supporting

Strong

2 studies

Very strong evidence

Randomized trials

2 good-quality studies support this claim.

What the research says

2 studies reviewed

Supporting (2)

Strong

Efficacy and safety profile of oral creatine monohydrate in add-on to cognitive-behavioural therapy in depression: An 8-week pilot, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled feasibility and exploratory trial in an under-resourced area.
Randomized Controlled TrialHuman2025
Taking creatine along with therapy helped people with depression feel better than therapy alone, with no extra side effects.
A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral creatine monohydrate augmentation for enhanced response to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in women with major depressive disorder.
Randomized Controlled TrialHuman2012
The study gave some people with depression a supplement called creatine (along with regular medicine) and others a sugar pill. The people taking creatine felt better faster and more of them got much better, so creatine seems to help with depression.

Contradicting (0)

None

No contradicting studies found yet

That doesn't mean it's settled — it just means no study has tested the opposite.

Quality-weighted scoring: we follow the GRADE framework — each study is rated High, Moderate, Low, or Very Low based on study design, methodology rigor, and risk of bias. A single high-quality RCT can outweigh several weaker observational studies.

Scores reflect study quality, not just count.

Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 2 supporting studies

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