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Influencer Science-Check

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RC Yu
Jordie Li•20 days ago
cognition

Creatine for cognitive function?

Eating creatine for physical health has become an accepted thing. But what about for the brain?

A while back, I watched this Huberman Labs episode, that covered this.Huberman podcast (with guest Rhonda Patrick) And I wanted to look at the research myself: here's one 2024 systematic review, covering 16 randomised control trials with a total of 492 participants.

You can see the full methodology and results in the credo summary of the paper -- but essentially the review concluded that creatine did have benefits for cognition.

As per the credo summary tldr:

This supplement may modestly improve memory and help people complete attention and fast-thinking tasks more quickly.

  1. Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Dr. Andrew Huberman discuss the multifaceted benefits of creatine for muscle and brain health, highlighting how dosages of 10 t...
  2. 2024 | Xu Chen, Siyuan Bi, Wenxin Zhang | Frontiers in Nutrition | (2024)
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RC Yu•23 days ago
sleep

Does “mouth taping” improve sleep?

TLDR: there is some (non-conclusive) evidence mouth taping improves sleep. But if you have trouble breathing through your nose (e.g. have some nasal-blockage condition, or a cold), then give mouth taping a skip.

I’ve been seeing these companies selling mouth tape on instagram — to prevent mouth-breathing when sleeping (which is suppose to help). I have tried them, but I can’t really say for sure if they help me.

Found this aptly titled 2025 review “Breaking social media fads and uncovering the safety and efficacy of mouth taping in patients with mouth breathing, sleep disordered breathing, or obstructive sleep apnea: A systemic review” .

What the review looked at?

  • The paper reviewed 10 other studies – that tested either mouth tape, mouth-sealing patches, or chinstraps.

  • Those study participants were mostly sleep-clinic patients. (So unclear whether the findings apply more generally)

  • It wasn’t a meta-analysis, as the 10 studies weren’t similar enough. The review authors also rated the 10 studies’ methodology poorly (in terms of ability to draw generalised findings). 

  • (So all-in-all, take the results (below) with a pinch of salt!)

What the review found? (My interpretation of the findings: check out the credo summary yourself!)

  • Some (weak) evidence that mouth taping reduces sleep apnoea. 

  • Some evidence mouth taping reduces snoring and “oxygen desaturation” (when blood oxygen go below a certain level)

  • Mouth tape likelier to be effective if used with a jaw device.

  • Some of the studies excluded people with “nasal obstruction” (which makes sense). So we can’t say mouth taping helps these people (which isn’t surprising).

  1. 2025 | Jess Rhee, Alla Iansavitchene, Sonya Mannala | PLoS ONE | (2025)
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RC Yu•20 days ago

Another post / paper on creatine.

RC Yu•20 days ago
Podcasts We Lovecreatine

20g of creatine to boost cognition?

On an episode of Huberman Labs, guest Rhonda Patrick talks about creatine for cognition. When she's sleep deprived, she takes 20g of creatine, and says it helps (could be placebo effect, she says).

I looked up a specific paper that mentions this 20g figure. Interestingly, the paper is a review by the European Food Safety Authority, and it reviews 21 studies.

As the credo summary highlights, the review found:

Two studies suggested short-term working-memory benefits at 20 grams daily, but lower doses and longer use did not reproduce them.

Would be interesting to deep dive into those two studies!

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RC Yu•20 days ago

Sharing this from another Board!

RC Yu•24 days ago
Parentingeducation

Should we tell our kids "good effort" instead of "you're smart"?

TLDR: For some kids (from low socio-economic status / lower-achieving students), it helps. For kids in general, it might help though only a little bit (but might as well do it).

I've heard (a version of) this advise on social media / podcasts a few times (including on this Huberman Labs episode). The idea (roughly speaking) is: we should praise children's "effort" (as opposed to their "ability") -- because if we praise effort, kids will take a "growth" mindset, and try new things/improve (as opposed to have a "fixed ability" mindset and stagnate).

Sounds logical, but I was curious what the research actually says. I looked into two studies:

(1) This 2018 study by Sisk et al. investigated whether growth mindsets improve academic performance. The meta-analyses (covering over 300 other studies) found:

  • Overall, having a "growth mindset" or having growth mindset intervention (in schools) only has weak effects on academic achievements.

  • However, it also found that students with low socioeconomic status or at academic risk might benefit more from these interventions.

(2) This 2019 standalone randomised control trial by Yeager et al. tested a "growth mindset" lesson with 12,490 ninth graders from 65 schools in the US. It found:

  • Critically, among "lower achieving students", the intervention worked. Check out the paper's credo summary to check out the specifics (which are really interesting!).

Following the public debate, it sounds like a takeaway from the 2018 Sisk paper was that "oh growth mindset works, but not by that much", and the 2019 Yeager paper helped emphasised that "well actually for students who aren't doing so well, it actually helps quite a bit".

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RC Yu•a month ago

Welcome!

Hello! The spirit of this Board is to share & discuss interesting content from your favourite (or not!) influencers.

We don't have to just "debunk" people (but we certainly can). Rather the broad idea is explore the actual research behind influencers' claims.

Give us a follow!

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