What This Means
This research suggests that taking guanidinoacetic acid (GAA), a compound the body uses to make creatine, either alone or combined with creatine monohydrate (CrM), for six weeks may offer some modest cognitive and well-being benefits in healthy adults. Specifically, people taking GAA combined with creatine showed faster reaction times and improved memory retrieval speed compared to those taking a placebo. People taking GAA alone also tended to be more physically active, reported feeling less stressed, and had some improvements in quality of life measures like feeling less worn out. However, most of the cognitive tests examined — including tests of attention, visual memory, spatial memory, and mental flexibility — showed no significant differences between supplementation groups and placebo.
The study enrolled 58 healthy, active adults who were randomly assigned to take either a placebo, GAA alone (2 grams per day), or GAA combined with creatine (12 grams per day total) for six weeks. Blood tests showed no clinically meaningful safety concerns, and participants did not report notable side effects, suggesting the supplements were well tolerated. Some sleep quality findings were mixed, with both positive and potentially undesirable changes observed.
This research suggests that GAA supplementation, particularly when combined with creatine, may have some promise for improving certain aspects of memory speed and retrieval, as well as stress and quality of life perceptions. However, the authors emphasize that this was a preliminary exploratory study with several inconsistent findings and results that often only approached statistical significance. They concluded that additional, larger studies are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn about the cognitive benefits of GAA supplementation.