Creatine and Lion's Mane: Benefits and Taking Them Together

Yes, you can take creatine and lion's mane together. They support the brain in different ways: creatine helps cells recycle ATP, the molecule they use for quick energy, and has been studied for memory and reasoning, while lion's mane is a mushroom studied for focus and attention. Here is what research shows and how to take them together.

Key Takeaways

• Creatine helps your cells recycle ATP for quick energy, in the brain as well as the rest of the body, which is why it is studied for thinking as well as exercise.
• In 45 young adult vegetarians, 5 g of creatine a day for 6 weeks improved scores on a working memory test and a reasoning test compared with placebo (Rae et al., 2003).
• A pooled analysis of randomized trials found creatine improved memory in healthy people, with a larger effect in adults aged 66 to 76 (Prokopidis et al., 2023).
• In a pilot trial of 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45, people were quicker on an attention test 60 minutes after a single 1.8 g dose of lion's mane than after placebo (Docherty et al., 2023).
• The two work through different pathways, so many people pair them: creatine for cell energy and lion's mane for focus support.

Creatine vs Lion's Mane at a Glance

Creatine and lion's mane are both popular for the brain, but they are very different things. Creatine is a compound your body makes and also gets from food, and it is best known for exercise. Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus) is an edible mushroom, used in supplements as an extract. Here is how they line up:

	Creatine	Lion's mane
What it is	A compound made in the body and found in food	An edible mushroom
How it supports the brain	Helps cells recycle ATP for quick energy	In lab and mouse studies, its extract raised nerve growth factor (NGF)
Amounts used in trials	5 g a day in a 6-week trial; about 2.2 to 20 g a day across pooled trials	1.8 g a day in a 28-day pilot trial
What human trials measured	Short-term memory and reasoning	Attention speed and cognitive test scores
Groups in the trials	Healthy people; larger memory effects in older adults and vegetarians	Healthy young adults; middle-aged and older adults
Also known for	Exercise performance	Everyday focus as a daily mushroom

For more on the mushroom itself, see our lion's mane ingredient page, and for the bigger picture of thinking and memory, our guide to cognitive health and mental clarity.

How Creatine Supports the Brain

Creatine acts as a quick reserve that helps cells recycle ATP when demand rises, in brain cells as well as in the rest of the body. That is why researchers have looked at it for thinking as well as for training. Randomized trials in healthy people have measured:

• Working memory and reasoning. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial of 45 young adult vegetarians, 5 g of creatine a day for 6 weeks improved scores on backward digit span, a working memory test, and on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, a reasoning test (Rae et al., 2003).
• Short-term memory across trials. A systematic review of six randomized trials with 281 healthy participants found that creatine may improve short-term memory and reasoning, with a larger memory benefit in vegetarians than in meat eaters (Avgerinos et al., 2018).
• Memory with age. A 2023 meta-analysis of randomized trials found creatine improved memory compared with placebo in healthy people, and the effect was larger in adults aged 66 to 76. The finding held across doses of about 2.2 to 20 g a day and lengths of 5 days to 24 weeks (Prokopidis et al., 2023).

Vegetarians and older adults showed some of the clearest results. Our guide to creatine for brain health goes deeper into this research, and how much creatine per day covers dosing by goal.

How Lion's Mane Supports Focus

Lion's mane works along a different path. In a lab and animal study, an extract of lion's mane raised nerve growth factor (NGF) in cultured human astrocyte-type cells, and mice fed lion's mane powder for 7 days showed higher NGF gene activity in the hippocampus, a brain area tied to memory (Mori et al., 2008). NGF helps maintain nerve cells and the connections between them.

Human trials have measured focus and thinking directly:

• Attention speed. In a double-blind pilot trial of 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45, people were quicker on the Stroop task, a test of attention, 60 minutes after a single 1.8 g dose of lion's mane than after placebo. The trial also gave 1.8 g a day for 28 days (Docherty et al., 2023).
• Cognitive test scores. In a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in middle-aged and older adults, supplements made from the lion's mane fruiting body improved scores on the Mini Mental State Examination, a short test of thinking and memory (Saitsu et al., 2019).

For more on lion's mane and attention, see lion's mane and focus, and for amounts and forms, our lion's mane dosage guide.

Can You Take Creatine and Lion's Mane Together?

Yes. The reason to pair them comes from how differently they work. Creatine supports the energy supply inside brain cells. Lion's mane supports focus, and lab research ties it to NGF, which helps maintain nerve cells, so the two do not compete for the same role.

Here is how each fits a goal:

Your goal	Where creatine fits	Where lion's mane fits
Memory and reasoning	Studied for short-term memory and reasoning	Studied for cognitive test scores over 12 weeks
Focus and attention	Supports the energy behind mental work	Studied for attention speed in healthy adults
Healthy aging	Larger memory effect in adults aged 66 to 76	Studied in middle-aged and older adults
Exercise	Best known for exercise performance	Paired with cordyceps in Forage and Mushroom Cacao

How to Take Them

• Creatine every day. Our Creatine Monohydrate label directions are to mix 1 scoop (5 g) daily into water, juice or a smoothie, at any time of day that is easy to remember. Consistency matters more than timing.
• Lion's mane in the morning. Forage is taken as two capsules daily in the morning, with or without food. Mushroom Cacao is one rounded teaspoon (5 g) in 6 to 8 oz of hot water or warm milk, once a day, ideally in the morning or early afternoon.
• Same day, any order. There is no need to space them apart.
• Give it a few weeks. Creatine builds up over a few weeks, and the lion's mane trials above ran for 28 days to 12 weeks. Note how your focus holds up through a long workday, once a week.

Safety: Who Should Check First

Both are well tolerated by most people. An expert position stand from the International Society of Sports Nutrition concluded that short and long term creatine use is safe and well tolerated in healthy people, at amounts up to 30 g a day for up to 5 years (Kreider et al., 2017). See our guide to creatine side effects for more.

A few simple cautions apply:

• Kidney conditions. Talk to your doctor before taking creatine if you have kidney disease or take medicine that affects your kidneys.
• Mushroom allergy. Skip lion's mane if you are allergic to mushrooms. Forage also contains six other mushrooms plus shilajit and ashwagandha, so read the full ingredient list.
• Caffeine sensitivity. Mushroom Cacao is made with cocoa and cacao, which contain theobromine and a small amount of naturally occurring caffeine, so enjoy it earlier in the day if you are sensitive.
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding and medicines. Check with your doctor before starting either if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or take prescription medicine.

Our lion's mane side effects guide covers the mushroom side in more detail.

Where Our Products Fit

Our Forage capsules give 200 mg of lion's mane 8:1 fruiting body extract in every 2-capsule serving, alongside 8:1 extracts of cordyceps, reishi, chaga, maitake, turkey tail and shiitake, plus Himalayan shilajit and ashwagandha root extract. If you prefer a warm drink, our Mushroom Cacao is a mushroom hot chocolate with 500 mg each of lion's mane and cordyceps 8:1 fruiting body extracts in every rounded teaspoon, with 0g sugar.

Our Creatine Monohydrate is coming soon: a powder with 5 g of creatine monohydrate in every scoop, the most studied form of creatine. You can join the list on its page to hear when it launches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you take creatine and lion's mane together?

Yes. They work through different pathways: creatine helps brain cells recycle ATP for energy, while lion's mane is studied for focus and, in lab research, for nerve growth factor. There is no need to space them apart. Check with your doctor first if you have kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take prescription medicine.

Creatine vs lion's mane: which is better for focus?

They suit different goals. Lion's mane has been studied for attention directly: in a pilot trial, healthy adults were quicker on an attention test 60 minutes after a single 1.8 g dose. Creatine is studied more for memory and reasoning. Many people take both.

Does creatine help your brain?

Research supports a role in memory and reasoning in healthy people. In one trial, 5 g a day for 6 weeks improved working memory and reasoning scores in young vegetarians, and a pooled analysis of randomized trials found creatine improved memory, with a larger effect in adults aged 66 to 76.

What does lion's mane do for the brain?

Lion's mane is studied for focus and thinking. In lab and mouse research, its extract raised nerve growth factor, which helps maintain nerve cells. In human trials, a single dose was followed by faster attention test performance in young adults, and 12 weeks of use improved cognitive test scores in middle-aged and older adults.

When should I take creatine and lion's mane?

Creatine can be taken at any time of day; what matters is taking it every day. Lion's mane is often taken in the morning: Forage is two capsules daily in the morning, with or without food, and Mushroom Cacao is best in the morning or early afternoon. You can take them together or hours apart.

How long do creatine and lion's mane take to work?

Creatine builds up in your body over a few weeks, so daily use matters most, and the memory trials ran from 5 days to 24 weeks. Lion's mane trials measured a single dose as well as daily use for 28 days and 12 weeks. How soon you notice a difference varies from person to person, so give the pair at least a few weeks.

Is creatine good for vegetarians and older adults?

These two groups show some of the clearest results in brain research. A review of randomized trials found a larger memory benefit in vegetarians than in meat eaters, and a 2023 meta-analysis found a larger memory effect in adults aged 66 to 76.

Sources

• Rae C, Digney AL, McEwan SR, Bates TC. Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2003. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14561278/
• Avgerinos KI, Spyrou N, Bougioukas KI, Kapogiannis D. Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Experimental Gerontology, 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29704637/
• Prokopidis K, Giannos P, Triantafyllidis KK, Kechagias KS, Forbes SC, Candow DG. Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Reviews, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35984306/
• Mori K, Obara Y, Hirota M, et al. Nerve growth factor-inducing activity of Hericium erinaceus in 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 2008. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18758067/
• Docherty S, Doughty FL, Smith EF. The acute and chronic effects of lion's mane mushroom supplementation on cognitive function, stress and mood in young adults: a double-blind, parallel groups, pilot study. Nutrients, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38004235/
• Saitsu Y, Nishide A, Kikushima K, Shimizu K, Ohnuki K. Improvement of cognitive functions by oral intake of Hericium erinaceus. Biomedical Research, 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31413233/
• Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2017. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28615996/

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This content is for education and is not medical advice. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Talk with a healthcare provider before starting a new supplement if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication.