{"id":6272,"date":"2023-08-04T21:03:29","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=6272"},"modified":"2023-08-04T21:03:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:03:29","slug":"creatine-for-depression-the-science-behind-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=6272","title":{"rendered":"Creatine for Depression &#038; The Science Behind It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"drop-cap text-big text-gray\"> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">M<\/span>ovement boosts mental health, to the point where some research shows physical activity may actually be <a href=\"https:\/\/bjsm.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2023\/07\/11\/bjsports-2022-106195\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/bjsm.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2023\/07\/11\/bjsports-2022-106195\"><em>more<\/em> effective<\/a> at reducing mild-to-moderate symptoms of depression than medication or cognitive behavior therapy<em>.<\/em> But could the supplements that support your workouts enhance those brain benefits even further?<\/div>\n<p>While the world of supplements is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/new-supplements\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/new-supplements\/\">a murky one<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/what-is-creatine\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/what-is-creatine\/\">creatine<\/a>\u2014an amino acid produced in the body that helps your muscles produce energy\u2014is one that\u2019s generally considered safe. Supplementing up to 30 grams a day was shown to be well-tolerated over at least five years in a 2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28615996\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28615996\/\">review<\/a> published in the <em>Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<div class=\"experts-in-article noskim py-[24px] px-[40px]\">\n<p>Experts In This Article<\/p>\n<ul class=\"!ml-[18px]\">\n<li> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.integrativepsych.nyc\/experts\/dr-ryan-sultan\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.integrativepsych.nyc\/experts\/dr-ryan-sultan\">Ryan Sultan, MD<\/a>, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the Mental Health Informatics Lab at Columbia University <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Most of the creatine (<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/treatments\/17674-creatine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/treatments\/17674-creatine\">95 percent<\/a>, to be exact) your body makes or consumes goes to your skeletal muscles, where <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28615996\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28615996\/\">research<\/a> shows it can help improve athlete performance, speed up recovery, and prevent injury. But the rest goes to other tissues, including your brain.<\/p>\n<p>Turns out, people who consumed the most creatine in their diet\u2014about one gram a day\u2014showed a 31 percent <em>lower <\/em>risk for depression compared to those who only got 0.15 grams a day, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSFD-1099321%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nature.com%252Farticles%252Fs41398-020-0741-x&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fcreatine-for-depression%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41398-020-0741-x\">data<\/a> from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Researchers at the University of Utah suggested that creatine might boost brain energy metabolism and capacity, which could ward off the blues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/creatine-for-depression\/\" current-title=\"Could Creatine Be the Secret Ingredient in Combating Depression?\" current-image=\"GettyImages-creatine-for-depression-425x285.jpg\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-02-04\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/creatine-for-depression\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/creatine-for-depression\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/creatine-for-depression\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOne key hypothesis involves creatine&#8217;s ability to enhance cellular energy metabolism, potentially ameliorating the energy hypometabolism often seen in depression,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.integrativepsych.nyc\/experts\/dr-ryan-sultan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.integrativepsych.nyc\/experts\/dr-ryan-sultan\">Ryan Sultan, MD<\/a>, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the Mental Health Informatics Lab at Columbia University. Evidence has shown that major depressive disorder is linked with impaired energy metabolism in the brain, Sultan explains. Supplementing with creatine might work by helping restore energy balance within the brain.<\/p>\n<p>For people already battling depression, creatine supplementation was shown to enhance antidepressant response in a 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSFD-1099321%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs40279-023-01870-9&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fcreatine-for-depression%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s40279-023-01870-9\">review<\/a> published in <em>Sports Medicine<\/em>. \u201cTraditional psychotherapies might not effectively address its core symptoms, so using creatine in combination with antidepressants could be a beneficial strategy,\u201d says Sultan. When women who failed to respond to other antidepressants were treated with five grams of creatine daily (along with 200 milligrams of a serotonin precursor for eight weeks), their depression significantly improved, a 2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28787372\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28787372\/\">study<\/a> in the <em>Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology <\/em>found.<\/p>\n<p>Creatine\u2019s therapeutic effects may go beyond energy metabolism, too. People with depression have reduced levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which plays a critical role in generating new neurons in the brain, strengthening the connections of those neurons, and overall brain health, Sultan explains\u2014and \u201cit\u2019s suggested that creatine can increase levels of BDNF.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But before you go all-in on creatine supplementation, Sultan warns that \u201cwhile initial data is promising, to really prove that a treatment like creatine is effective for depression, more thorough, high-quality studies would be needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/exercise-as-therapy\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/exercise-as-therapy\/\">exercise <em>isn\u2019t <\/em>a replacement for therapy or medication<\/a>, if you\u2019re dealing with mental health issues, the best place to start is with a professional who can help you get to the root of the issue\u2014not the supplement aisle.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Movement boosts mental health, to the point where some research shows physical activity may actually be more effective at reducing mild-to-moderate symptoms of depression than medication or cognitive behavior therapy. But could the supplements that support your workouts enhance those brain benefits even further? While the world of supplements is a murky one, creatine\u2014an amino &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}