The creatine conundrum: can it really help your muscles and your brain?

Long favoured by bodybuilders and other athletes, this supplement is breaking out into the mainstream, as study after study suggests a host of benefits for our minds as well as our bodies. Are there any caveats?

Until relatively recently, if you were mixing a scoop of powdered creatine into a glass of water each day, it probably meant you were a bodybuilder or training for an athletic event. Although creatine is a compound that occurs naturally in the body, its role in producing quick bursts of energy meant that, if you took extra, it was assumed to be in order to (legally) enhance your performance - to help you squat a fractionally heavier weight or run a bit faster.

But evidence has been mounting that creatine may play an important role in cognitive function and improving brain health - and could be more beneficial to women than it is to gym bros. So, should we all take it - or at least try to get more of it from food?