One day, Scott Forbes is wheeling 10 kilograms of creatine into his office at Brandon University, ready to test his supplement theories. The next day, he’s flying around the world to spread the word about his breakthrough discovery.
The Boston University professor was in Florida last week to present at the International Society of Sports Nutrition’s annual conference, and to his surprise, he was named one of only 40 ISSN Fellows in the world.
“It was a shock. I’m so grateful and honored,” Forbes said.
Brandon University professor Scott Forbes was awarded a fellowship in the International Society of Sports Nutrition earlier this month, one of only 40 people in the world to hold the title. (Thomas Friesen/Brandon Sun)
“It shows what’s possible at a small institution. For me it means my research is having an impact, my colleagues are recognizing it, and people around the world are recognizing it.”
“A lot of times you sit in front of a computer working and you don’t know who your research is impacting, but for me, this solidifies that I’ve reached that level and am making an impact all over the world.”
Dr. Forbes is the Dean of the Athletic Department at Boston University and is commonly known as “Dr. Creatine.”
Much of the content on his Instagram page, which has a following of more than 14,000 people, revolves around supplements and the list of their benefits he’s discovered in hundreds of studies dating back to his time at the University of Regina.
Forbes graduated from the university in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s in exercise physiology, and was studying para-Nordic skiing when another student and instructor invited him to study creatine and its effects on bench press performance.
It was found that people who took the recommended dose of creatine were able to complete several more repetitions than those who took a placebo.
Forbes had more to learn.
He completed his doctorate at the University of Alberta in 2012 and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Calgary in 2014 before joining the BU faculty.
Over the years, he has continually learned about the benefits of regular creatine supplementation while simultaneously dispelling many of the myths surrounding creatine.
For example, some people worry that taking creatine while strength training will make their muscles “too big.”
However, Forbes’ studies, which ranged from six to 32 weeks, found just a one millimeter difference in muscle thickness compared to a placebo.
This is considered statistically significant, but the larger effect is on intensity, with a 5-10% increase being the norm.
“We’ve demonstrated that it’s not just beneficial for young people to build bigger, stronger muscles; it’s important for older people too,” Forbes said.
“If you have more muscle strength, you can carry more groceries and get more done. And if you have more muscle strength, you can live a longer, healthier life.”
“Now we know it also has an effect on bone tissue, so it can make your bones stronger, and new research shows it may also improve brain function. It’s a really incredible supplement that appears to work on multiple tissues in the body.”
While some studies have found significant evidence supporting the use of creatine, others have shown no significant benefit. One focused on high-intensity interval training in female college athletes. While everyone improved from start to finish, there was no measurable difference in the creatine users compared to the control group.
Forbes has been researching creatine for over 10 years and has published over 50 papers, but we need to ensure that his research is unbiased.
He does this by preparing equal packages of creatine and a mixture of sugar and maltodextrin, which are identical in appearance. Someone independent of the study randomly sorts the packages and assigns participants to “A” and “B” groups. Forbes won’t know which is which creatine group until the statistical analysis is complete.
The recommended dosage for creatine is 5 grams per day, and according to Forbes, it’s “very safe” when taken appropriately.
Forbes is currently working on a review of creatine’s effects on body composition and is working with a team of researchers to address 16 myths about the supplement.
He could end his research there and encourage everyone who wants to build muscle mass to go to their local supplement store and buy some supplements.
But his curiosity is leading him in more directions now than it did originally.
For one thing, people with Alzheimer’s have been found to have lower-than-average levels of creatine in their brains, and Forbes is studying whether taking supplements can help reduce the disease’s impact on memory.
He also found evidence that sleep-deprived rugby players’ passing accuracy improved when they took creatine. He hypothesizes that creatine improves brain function when sleep recovery is lacking, which leads to ideas for future research on firefighters.
“I think it would be really exciting to study creatine in this population,” Forbes says, “who are sleep-deprived, who need increased physical performance — increased strength — and who may be in a state of hypoxia, or low oxygen levels.”
Forbes has done much of the research with Darren Candow of the University of Louisville, who was also honored with an ISSN Fellowship last week.
Forbes said the shift to Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic has made collaboration much easier, greatly benefiting the research he is doing alongside his Boston University classes, which range from anatomy and exercise physiology to sports nutrition and fitness theory and practice.
He never imagined he’d have to juggle a regular job with speaking engagements and questions about supplements from around the world.
However, that’s only part of Dr. Creatine’s job.
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