Creatine for older adults

For adults over 50, the Candow meta of resistance-training studies is the single best summary: 5 g/day of monohydrate, paired with progressive lifting, produces a small but durable increase in lean mass and a meaningful improvement in lower-body strength vs. placebo. Effects without resistance training are negligible — you have to lift.

The cognition picture is softer. Forbes' 2023 meta finds a modest signal on memory tasks in sleep-deprived or older adults, but the studies are heterogenous and the effect is not robust in well-rested younger adults. L. Patterson recommends loading is unnecessary at this age — 5 g/day, taken whenever, is the operational consensus.