Can you get it from food?
Red meat and fish carry roughly 3–5 g of creatine per kilogram raw. Hitting 2.5 g from food alone means eating in the region of 500 g–1 kg of raw-weight beef, salmon or herring every day. Cooking degrades some of it, so the real figure is higher.
| Food | To match the dose | |
|---|---|---|
| Beef (raw weight) | ~600 g – 1 kg daily | Roughly 3–4.5 g creatine per kg raw |
| Herring (raw weight) | ~400–800 g daily | Among the richest natural sources |
| Salmon (raw weight) | ~600 g – 1 kg daily | Cooking reduces content further |
| Pork (raw weight) | ~600 g – 1 kg daily | Comparable to beef |
Creatine is essentially absent from plant foods, which is why vegetarians and vegans typically show lower baseline muscle creatine — and why several studies find larger effects in that group.
What the research actually shows
Long and unusually consistent evidence base for muscle strength and power output. The cognitive evidence is newer, more mixed, and openly contested — one 2024 meta-analysis reports benefits with moderate certainty for memory, while a separate systematic review the same year argues the theoretical basis for a cognitive effect isn't supported.
On certainty: Authors of the 2024 meta-analysis graded memory as moderate certainty and processing speed, executive function and attention as low certainty.
The studies referenced
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The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Reported improvements in memory, attention time and information processing speed. Memory graded moderate certainty (GRADE); other domains low certainty. -
Creatine supplementation research fails to support the theoretical basis for an effect on cognition: evidence from a systematic review
Argues the proposed mechanism for a cognitive effect is not supported by the available evidence. Included deliberately as the counterweight. -
Creatine and cognition in aging: a systematic review of evidence in older adults
Five of six studies reported a positive association with cognition in older adults, chiefly memory and attention.