2.1. Zwiększenie uwagi (ID 1524)

The claimed effect is “cognitive performance”. The Panel assumes that the target population is the general population.
In the context of the proposed wordings, the Panel assumes that the claimed effect refers to attention. Attention is a well defined construct which can be measured by validated psychometric tests.
The Panel considers that increased attention is a beneficial physiological effect.

2.2. Poprawa pamięci (ID 1528)

The claimed effect is “brain/memory/older people/parents”. The Panel assumes that the target population is the general population.
The Panel assumes that the claimed effect refers to memory, which can be measured by validated psychometric tests.
The Panel considers that improvement of memory is a beneficial physiological effect.

3.1. Zwiększenie uwagi (ID 1524)

None of the references provided addressed relevant endpoints in relation to attention, and included references on, for example, physical performance, recovery from brain injury, “mental fatigue”, memory and alertness. The Panel considers that no conclusions can be drawn from these references for the scientific substantiation of the claim.
The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of creatine and increased attention.

3.2. Poprawa pamięci (ID 1528)

Four of the references provided did not address relevant endpoints in relation to memory, and addressed endpoints such as physical performance, recovery from brain injury, and “mental fatigue”. The Panel considers that no conclusions can be drawn from these references for the scientific substantiation of the claim.
McMorris et al. (2006) studied the effects of creatine supplementation on working memory (measured by the random movement generation test, and by forward and backward verbal and spatial short-term recall tests) in 19 healthy young subjects, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Participants took 20 g/day creatine monohydrate (n=9 males, 1 female) or placebo (glucose polymer supplement, n=7 males, 2 females) for seven days prior to the day of the test. Measures of psychological, psychomotor and physiological endpoints were taken at baseline, and after 6 and 12 hours, with intermittent sessions of mild exercise, and after 24 hours of sleep deprivation. The Panel notes the methodological limitations of this study, including the lack of information on randomisation and between-group comparisons at baseline, and that multiple pairwise comparisons were performed without appropriate correction. The Panel considers that no conclusions can be drawn from this study for the scientific substantiation of the claim.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, McMorris et al. (2007) examined the effects of creatine supplementation on performance in memory tests (a random number generation test of working memory, forward and backward verbal and spatial short-term recall tests, and one long-term recognition test) in healthy elderly people (n=32, mean age 76.4 years) who attended a day centre. Group 1 (n=15) was given placebo (glucose polymer supplement) for one week, followed by a further week of pure creatine monohydrate (20 g/day). Group 2 (n=17) was given placebo for two weeks. Subjects were assigned to Group 1 or 2 depending on the days that they attended the day centre. Baseline measures on all tests were obtained prior to the dietary intervention, and again after one and two weeks. The Panel notes that the statistical approach used did not adequately address the differences between groups observed at baseline, and that multiple pairwise comparisons were performed with an inappropriate level of significance. The Panel considers that no conclusions can be drawn from this study for the scientific substantiation of the claim.
Rae et al. (2003) investigated the effects of creatine supplementation on verbal working memory (Wechsler Auditory backward digit span) in a double-blind, cross-over study of 45 young vegetarian adults (aged 18-40 years) of whom 18 were vegan. Participants received either 5 g/day creatine monohydrate or placebo (maltodextrin) for the first six weeks, followed by a six week wash-out period (no supplement), and the supplements were reversed during the final six weeks. The memory test was administered at baseline, week 6, 12 and 18. The Panel notes that while the study used a
cross-over design, insufficient information was provided on the statistical model employed for the treatment of this design, and that multiple pairwise comparisons were performed without appropriate correction. The Panel considers that no conclusions can be drawn from this study for the scientific substantiation of the claim.
The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of creatine and improvement of memory.