The “vegetarian brain” disadvantage

It is not a dishonest statement to say that creatine supplementation makes vegans/vegetarians SMARTER.

I know that sounds provocative, but hear me out...

In controlled studies, when researchers gave creatine supplements to vegetarians and vegans, something wild happened:

Their performance on memory tasks improved SIGNIFICANTLY...

With gains in working memory and number recall, and a reduction in variability of reaction time (PMID: 21118604).

Another well-known trial looked at 128 young women - about 70 of whom were vegetarian or vegan—and gave them either 20 grams of creatine or a placebo for 5 days (PMID: 21118604).

The results?

Creatine supplementation resulted in better memory in vegetarians rather than in those who consume meat!

Think about what this tells us...

Vegetarians and vegans are walking around with suboptimal brain function because they're missing a critical nutrient that ONLY exists in animal foods.

You could eat an entire bowl of beans for “protein” and still get ZERO creatine (while farting like crazy 💨).

Fact is, your brain requires a HIGH amount of energy for cellular processes…

Consuming approximately 20% of total resting energy despite accounting for only about 2% of total body mass.

The mechanism here is pretty straightforward:

Creatine facilitates the recycling of energy-providing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in BRAIN TISSUE – and supplementation increases brain creatine levels, which can increase cognitive performance.

In vitro, creatine elevates phosphocreatine and ATP levels and increases oxidative phosphorylation in brain mitochondria.

When your brain has more energy available through the phosphocreatine system...

You literally think better.

I think this is perhaps the most damning evidence against plant-based diets and PROOF the “vegetarian brain disadvantage” is real.

And yet, the plant-based propaganda machine continues to push the narrative that meat is unnecessary 🤣

Research CLEARLY shows that eliminating animal foods creates cognitive deficits that can only be corrected by supplementing with nutrients found naturally in... meat!

It's why all the vegan or vegetarian longevity gurus these days are almost certainly taking creatine – a nod to the Animal Kingdom.

Frankly, they probably should just be eating animal foods…

They would be getting all of the other things they need for optimal health instead of 100+ pills depending on who you're looking at…

Now, if you are NOT a plant-based longevity health guru…

And you DO eat a decent amount of meat…

You might be wondering whether you still need to supplement Creatine.

Listen, you’ll do infinitely better than most people with a whole-food Animal Based Diet.

But I think there absolutely are benefits to creatine supplementation in our daily life in 2025 - even beyond what you might be getting in meat.

Truth is, if you want to experience the full power of Creatine…

You need at least 5 grams per day.

That's equivalent to eating about 2.2 pounds of meat daily…

Which is TOUGH – even for carnivores.

On top of that, cooking will degrade some of the creatine too.

That is why I supplement with Lineage Provisions Creatine now

I take about 5 grams daily.

But doses of 10 or even 20 grams of creatine per day have been found to be beneficial in certain situations.

We live in a stressful world.
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And I know you, like me, don't always sleep perfectly, you're traveling, maybe you have children, or have a demanding job etc.

So, bigger doses of creatine – as we age especially – might also be helpful for us.

Honestly, once upon a time I didn’t think I needed Creatine…
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But I could not ignore the incredibly long list of health, performance and longevity benefits which you can learn about here​

Plus, when you consider how inexpensive it is for what it does, it just feels like a no-brainer.

Welcome to the Remembering 🏹

Paul

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