Creatine monohydrate

Last updated 2026-05-19 · 4 primary citations

Mechanism

Creatine is most famous as a muscle supplement. What's less well-known is that the brain uses the same energy system, and head-impact biology depletes brain creatine fast. Supplementing rebuilds the brain's energy buffer — the body of evidence specifically for head-impact populations is now solid enough that the US Department of Defense issued an information paper on it in 2025.

Why we use it

Of every supplement studied for head-impact recovery and resilience, creatine has the most consistent evidence. Athletes who hit their heads have lower brain creatine than non-impact athletes; restoring it is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.

How we dose it

Hericea uses 5,000 mg per serving (per AM stick pack). The clinical trial range that anchors this dose is 3,000–5,000 mg/day.

5 grams of Creapure® — the German pharmaceutical-grade creatine that's the most-tested form on the planet. Standard dose used in almost every clinical creatine trial.

Quality & sourcing

Creapure® AlzChem-licensed; pharmaceutical-grade.

AlzChem (Germany); NSF-CFS-clean.

Cautions

consult physicianMaintain hydration; consult physician if chronic kidney conditions.

Primary literature

Candow DG et al. (2023)

Sports Med

Source →

Comprehensive review

Reviewed creatine's emerging role in brain health, especially under cognitive stress and aging.

Single source for the broader brain-creatine case beyond muscle performance.

DOI 10.1007/s40279-023-01870-9

Sakellaris G et al. (2006)

J Trauma

PubMed →

Open-label RCT · 39 people · 24 weeks

Creatine for 6 months in pediatric brain-injury patients reduced recovery time and improved cognitive outcomes.

Strongest human evidence specifically in brain-injury recovery — the contact-athlete use case.

PMID 16424613

Marshall RP et al. (2025)

J Int Soc Sports Nutr

Source →

Scoping review

Reviewed neuroprotective effects of creatine in mild brain injury among contact-sport athletes.

Most recent (2025) systematic review focused on exactly Protect's target use case.

DOI 10.1080/15502783.2025.2533681

TBICoE (2025)

DoD Information Paper

Defense-health information paper

US Department of Defense Brain Injury Center of Excellence summary on creatine and head injury.

Highest-credibility institutional source — when the DoD writes a paper on creatine for head injury, that's the validation moment for this category.