Creatine recommendations of 5g/day are based on 1990s muscle research. Your brain requires a different protocol. After digging into 1,000+ papers, the data on cognitive function is startling. A 2024 Nature Scientific Reports study found a single high dose (~20g) improved processing speed by 24.5% and buffered against sleep deprivation for 9 hours. While 5g saturates muscle, recent reviews suggest 15–20g is necessary to maximize brain creatine levels (9–11% increase vs. 4–6%). Vegetarians respond nearly 2x better due to lower baselines. The safety data holds up, kidney and cramping myths have been thoroughly debunked by the ISSN. I’m shifting from a flat 5g/day to experimenting with 15–20g doses before intense mental work.