They used to say they could never fly a plane too idiot
I already proposed a community note on the muscle mass claim. It was measuring water retention, not contractile proteins. Creatine increases water in muscle, that’s exactly how it works. But it’s literally impossible for creative to increase contractile proteins in the absence of exercise. I can provide proof if anyone wants.
On the cognitive function claim, a counter factual is obvious:
Imagine creatine has zero cognitive effect. Researchers nevertheless measure 18 outcomes. Pure sampling variation produces two p<.05 results—say delayed word recall at week 6 and word-recognition accuracy—while the other 16 are null.
A summary saying
“Creatine improved delayed recall and recognition”
would be literally compatible with the data.
A headline saying
“Creatine improves cognitive function”
would nevertheless manufacture a general effect from a pattern entirely compatible with chance.