The Study
The Effects of 8-Week Creatine Hydrochloride and Creatine Ethyl Ester Supplementation on Cognition, Clinical Outcomes, and Brain Creatine Levels in Perimenopausal and Menopausal Women (CONCRET-MENOPA): A Randomized Controlled Trial.
This is like a controlled experiment where some women got a special supplement and others got a fake pill. Because it was randomized and double-blind, it's a strong type of study. But only 36 women took part, so it's a small test. We can say the supplement might help with certain things, but we need more studies to be sure if it really causes the changes.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists tested if a special creatine pill could help women going through menopause. They gave some women creatine and some a fake pill for 8 weeks.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1These changes are meaningful because they suggest that a simple supplement could help with common menopause symptoms like brain fog and mood swings.
- 2Women taking 1500 mg of creatine had faster reaction times (1.2% improvement vs 6.6% in placebo), had more creatine in their brains (16.4% increase vs 0.9%), and had better cholesterol levels.
- 3They also felt less moody (though this was not quite strong enough to be sure).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of the American Nutrition Association
Year
2025
Authors
D. Korovljev, J. Ostojic, Jovana Panic, M. Ranisavljev, N. Todorović, David Nedeljkovic, J. Kuzmanovic, Milan Vranes, V. Štajer, Sergej M. Ostojic
Related Content
Claims (6)
Creatine supplementation improves attention. This means that taking creatine can enhance a person's ability to focus and pay attention.
Taking creatine supplements increases the speed at which the brain processes information.
Taking 1500 mg of creatine hydrochloride daily for 8 weeks improves blood lipid levels in perimenopausal and menopausal women, and these changes reduce cardiovascular risk.
A study found that taking 1500 mg of creatine hydrochloride daily for 8 weeks improves reaction time in women going through perimenopause or menopause. The improvement was significantly greater than in a placebo group.
Taking 1500 mg of creatine hydrochloride daily for 8 weeks increases creatine levels in the frontal brain by 16.4% in perimenopausal and menopausal women, while placebo only increased by 0.9%. This suggests the brain's energy metabolism is enhanced.
Taking 1500 mg of creatine hydrochloride daily for 8 weeks reduces the severity of mood swings in perimenopausal and menopausal women. However, the statistical analysis showed a trend that did not reach conventional significance (p=0.06).
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.