Creatine supplementation for six months led to significantly improved scores for several symptoms related to post-Covid-19 fatigue syndrome, including loss of taste, breathing difficulties, body aches, headaches, and difficulties concentrating.
It also resulted in a significant reduction in general fatigue after three months, according to researchers from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
“This is the first human study known to the authors that evaluated the efficacy and safety of supplemental creatine for fatigue, tissue bioenergetics, and patient-reported outcomes in patients with post-Covid-19 fatigue syndrome,” they wrote in Food Science and Nutrition.
Creatine ‘significantly improved scores’ for long Covid symptoms
Creatine, an amino acid that is essential for muscle and brain health, is commonly used by athletes looking to improve their exercise performance or increase muscle mass.
In this trial, 12 people suffering from moderate symptoms of long Covid were randomised to take a placebo or 4 g of creatine monohydrate per day for six months.
Creatine supplementation significantly improved scores for several symptoms related to post-viral fatigue syndrome. There was also a significant increase in creatine levels in leg muscles and across the brain at both three and six months of follow up.
“We found that creatine outcompetes placebo to improve brain and skeletal muscle creatine levels after the medium-term intervention, and reduces several features of post-Covid-19 fatigue syndrome, including lung and body pain, and poor concentration,” the authors write. “Creatine induced no major side effects, and might be thus recommended as a safe and effective intervention to tackle post-Covid-19 fatigue syndrome.”
‘Additional studies warranted’ to confirm findings in other cohorts
However, there were some limitations with the trial, the researchers conceded.
The focus on young to middle-aged adults with moderate post-Covid-19 fatigue syndrome constitutes one such limitation; whether creatine is equally effective in other populations, such as the elderly, children, or people with more or less severe symptoms, remains unknown.
In addition, the small sample size restricts the possibility of identifying gender-related relationships in the data.
Finally, it was not possible to account for dietary creatine intake outside of supplementation that might impact the total net exposure, as well as for habitual physical activity that could affect tissue uptake of creatine.
However, the positive effects of creatine supplementation on tissue bioenergetics and clinical features of long Covid make this an intervention worthy of further investigation, the authors argued.
“Endorsing creatine might be of great importance in tackling this prevalent condition, but additional studies are warranted to confirm our findings in various post-Covid-19 cohorts,” they concluded.
