Creatine - Different types under scrutiny

Creatine is undoubtedly one of the most used supplements not only in the world of strength sports, but also among many athletes, swimmers and other sportsmen. And it's no wonder - it's one of the oldest supplements ever, and over the decades its benefits have been demonstrated by both scientific studies and enthusiastic users. But as time passed, other, seemingly even more effective and better forms were added to the classic monohydrate. So, in our article today, we'll take a look at all the used and popular forms of creatine and try to pick the best one.

What you should already know about creatine

Our article today will deal primarily with the different types of creatine, so it assumes that you know a few basics about it. Still, a little refresher is in order at the beginning. Creatine is an organic nitric acid and its main advantage is undoubtedly its ability to influence energy levels during training. During exercise, the body uses ATP (adenosine triphosphate), from which a molecule of phosphorus is released along with energy during training to form ADP (adenosine diphosphate).

This is no longer used by the body as an energy source, but at this point CP (creatine phosphate) comes in to replenish the missing phosphorus and rebuild the ATP stores. Thus, scientific studies show that it can, for example, reduce the rate of muscle damage, thus facilitating recovery, or increase strength and thus logically contribute to muscle mass growth.

Anyway, we've written a number of articles about creatine and if you're interested in more general advice, we recommend reading Creatine Under the Spotlight and our take on creatine dosing. In this article it's time to move on to the individual forms of creatine.

Creatine monohydrate

Creatine monohydrate represents the oldest, cheapest, most researched and most compared form of creatine. Older studies have examined its direct effects, while newer studies compare it to various alternatives. As the name implies, it is a hydrated form in which 88% of the product is creatine and 12% is hydrate, making monohydrate the most concentrated creatine variant ever.

Creatine Monohydrate by GymSupps is a great product to power up your workouts!

Studies have confirmed its effect on strength, recovery and weight gain. A huge benefit is good solubility and usability, availability in a wide range of health food stores and also low price - in our offer you can find creatine monohydrate from 150 CZK. The only negative is that it can cause stomach problems for more sensitive individuals. It is usually dosed at least once a day, 5 grams each. Of its variants it is worth mentioning especially:

• Micronized Creatine - This is a monohydrate that has been further modified into smaller particles, improving its availability and subsequent transport. It tends to be a bit more expensive, but in the case of products from our store, the difference is not staggering and micronized creatine is definitely a better choice.
• Creapure - It is a protected brand that prides itself on high product quality and maximum purity. In fact, some experts claim that unwanted and potentially harmful substances can be produced during the production of regular creatine. Creapure is a guarantee of quality, but again, you have to pay a few extra bucks for it.
• HPLC - Although many people see something special behind this creatine, in reality it is also an ordinary monohydrate. A great choice from this category is Creatine HPLC from Prom-In.

If you want to buy a monohydrate, a great option is Creapure.

Kre-Alkalyn

When the body metabolizes creatine, it converts a portion of it into an ineffective metabolite called creatinine. So some manufacturers have reasoned that by changing the pH of the whole supplement, there will be an improvement in usability. Kre-Alkalyn is therefore a combination of classic creatine with buffers that have a significantly alkaline pH. But it doesn't seem that this combination improves usability in any significant way. At the same time, it is not true that Kre-Alkalyn is poorly absorbed. Scientific studies agree that this buffered creatine works well, but not as well as regular creatine monohydrate. This form of creatine is a bit more expensive compared to monohydrate, but a dosage of one-third, roughly 1.5 grams once a day, is sufficient. Some of the Kre-Alkalyn works out even better than the classic monohydrate. And although some athletes won't give it a miss, if you're comfortable with regular monohydrate, you have no reason to change.

Creatine HCl

Creatine hydrochloride (sometimes just referred to as creatine HCl) is another very popular option that has gained popularity mainly because of its very good solubility. Available research suggests that HCl is up to thirty-eight times more soluble compared to classic monohydrate. This is probably the reason for the assumption that it is also more usable, but the necessary studies investigating the exact effect on humans in this area are lacking. What is certain is that it is a functional version of creatine, which also does not irritate the stomach as much. For athletes who have experienced stomach problems with classic monohydrate, supplementing with 1 gram of high quality creatine HCl before training can be a very good solution.

Creatine Ethyl Ester (CEE)

Creatine Ethyl Ester is, like the other variants, according to many manufacturers a revolutionary form with excellent absorption. This time, the manufacturers are relying on a creatine derivative that breaks down into creatine only after a certain period of time after consumption. The premise in this case is that the more lipophilic creatine derivative will break down more slowly and thus be more usable in the body. Unfortunately, studies show the opposite. In fact, it appears that the breakdown to ineffective creatinine occurs even faster than with other forms. Therefore, although you can find goods with a good price-per-dose ratio in our store, we definitely cannot recommend this form very highly.

What to take away from today's article?

Although today's article contained a variety of information about the different forms, you really only need to take away one single piece of information. The best and cheapest for the vast majority of people is plain creatine monohydrate. Only if you have intestinal problems after it, it is worth thinking about the possibility of supplementing with creatine HCl, which should be more gentle in this regard. We consider such revolutionary forms as creatine ethyl ester or cre-alkaline unnecessary due to their higher price and lower effectiveness.

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