0

USD

Search products, brands, workouts...

WE SH IP TO ALGERI A VIE W D E TAILS

Types Of Creatine: Is Creatine

Monohydrate Still The King?

Which creatine supplement is currently the best option? This

article explores the various forms of creatine and tells you if
creatine monohydrate is still the way to go.

If you’ve dabbled in the supplement industry much you’re likely well aware of the popular
sports supplement creatine monohydrate and its performance-enhancing effects.
However, as with most any industry, the natural evolution of supplements has led to
companies taking on their own endeavor to create a better, more efficient creatine
product.

But do any of these new, “advanced” forms of creatine really present better options than
that of the time-tested, proven creatine monohydrate form. Read on as we look at what
the research has to say about all the creatine hoopla in the supplement industry and
which form is really the best bang for your buck.

A look at 13 popular forms of creatine

Creatine Monohydrate: Bar none the most available and research-backed form of
creatine (and for good reason), creatine monohydrate has stood the test of time when it
comes to weight training and athletic performance. It’s one of the most efficient
supplements to consider when looking at its cost-to-benefit ratio and safety/tolerability.
Many creatine monohydrate products come in “micronized” powders, such as that of the
patented Creapure product, which is a unadulterated form of creatine tested for purity,
safety and made from carefully selected raw materials.
Creatine Salts: It has been hypothesized that the binding of creatine to various salts
will produce a product that is more bioavailable and soluble in liquid than creatine
monohydrate. Below we will take a look at the popular forms of creatine salts and the
research findings behind them.

Creatine Citrate—This citric acid-bound form of creatine does not appear to be more
absorbable (nor effective) than creatine monohydrate.[1] It is however suggested to be
more soluble in liquid solution.

Creatine Nitrate—A popular salt of creatine is the nitrate salt. The research is still
somewhat scarce on creatine nitrate, but it is a highly soluble form of creatine and
should cause less gastric distress than creatine monohydrate.

Creatine Malate—The malic acid-bound form of creatine has yet to be studied (at least
as far as it’s effects on athletic performance). However, malic acid on its own has
demonstrated performance-enhancing benefits.[2]

Creatine Orotate—Similar to the above scenario with creatine malate, creatine orotate
has little scientific research behind it at the time of this writing. However, orotic acid is a
pivotal organic acid in the biosynthesis of pyrimidines, and also spares vitamin B12 and
folate in animals. [4]

Creatine Pyruvate—Probably the most intriguing salt of creatine is the pyruvate salt.
Research does indicate that it is more effective than creatine citrate and produces high
plasma levels of creatine.[3] That being said, there is yet to be conclusive research that
suggests creatine pyruvate is more effective than creatine monohydrate.

Magnesium Creatine Chelate—It appears that magnesium creatine chelate

enhances the uptake of creatine into muscle tissue, but the significance of this
enhanced uptake on athletic performance is still up for debate. [5]

Buffered Creatine (Kre Alkalyn): This is a form of creatine purported to be buffered

at a basic pH and more absorbable then creatine monohydrate. The buffer used is
simply baking soda, but the irony here (as below with esterified creatine) is that studies
show it to be no more (or even less) effective than creatine monohydrate in terms of
performance enhancement. [6]

Creatine Esters: Esterified creatine is somewhat ironic in that supplement companies

claim it has “enhanced uptake” over creatine monohydrate, but the research has shown
it is actually less bioavailable . [7] Upon ingestion, creatine esters are readily converted to
the creatine byproduct creatinine.

Liquid Creatine: It’s a bit disconcerting that supplement companies even go down
this route with creatine products given that creatine monohydrate is not stable in
aqueous solutions. Essentially, these products are rendered into the useless byproduct
creatinine long before they even hit store shelves. Moral of the story—stick to powdered
creatine supplements.

Effervescent Creatine: Given the unstable nature of creatine in liquid solutions, some
manufacturers created an effervescent form of creatine which is comprised of creatine
monohydrate, citric acid and bicarbonate. However, studies show that this form of
creatine ultimately becomes unstable in solution just like other forms of liquid creatine
monohydrate supplements. [8]

Glycosylated Creatine:  This is actually one of the more intriguing “new” forms of
creatine due to the absorption-enhancing effect polyethylene glycol (PEG) produces. In
fact, studies seem to suggest that polyethylene glycosylated creatine is just as effective
as creatine monohydrate at doses 75% less than that of monohydrate treatments. [9,10]
This suggests that PEG acts as a highly efficient vehicle for oral creatine supplements.
However, this is still a somewhat scarce creatine form in the supplement industry.

So which form of creatine is really the “gold

standard”?
At this point in time, it’s rather hard to argue against creatine monohydrate powders as
being the best, most efficacious form of creatine supplements available. Some of the salt
forms of creatine may present decent alternatives with other performance-enhancing
benefits, and glycosylated creatine does appear to have some potential as well, but at
the end of the day you really can’t go wrong with plain ol’ creatine monohydrate. It’s
proven, time-tested, and comes in pure, safe and quality-assured forms like that of
Creapure.

References:
1. Jäger R, Harris RC, Purpura M, Francaux M: Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine
levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2007, 4:17

2. Wu, J., Wu, Q., Huang, J., Chen, R., Cai, M., & Tan, J. (2007). Effects of L-malate on physical stamina and
activities of enzymes related to the malate-aspartate shuttle in liver of mice. Physiological research, 56(2), 213.

3. Jäger R, Metzger J, Lautmann K, Shushakov V, Purpura M, Geiss K, Maassen N: The effects of creatine
pyruvate and creatine citrate on performance during high intensity exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2008, 5:4

4. Abraham, Sal, and Shengli Jiang. "Process for preparing a creatine heterocyclic acid salt and method of
use." U.S. Patent No. 6,838,562. 4 Jan. 2005.

5. Brilla, L. R., et al. "Magnesium-creatine supplementation effects on body water." Metabolism 52.9 (2003):
1136-1140.

6. Jagim, A. R., Oliver, J. M., Sanchez, A., Galvan, E., Fluckey, J., Reichman, S., ... & Kreider, R. B. (2012). Kre-
Alkalyn® supplementation does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition,
or training adaptations in comparison to creatine monohydrate. Journal of the International Society of Sports
Nutrition, 9(Suppl 1), P11.

7. Spillane M, Schoch R, Cooke M, Harvey T, Greenwood M, Kreider R, Willoughby DS: The effects of creatine
ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle
performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2009, 6:6.

8. Ganguly S, Jayappa S, Dash AK: Evaluation of the stability of creatine in solution prepared from effervescent
creatine formulations. AAPS PharmSciTech 2003, 4:E25.

9. Herda TJ, Beck TW, Ryan ED, Smith AE, Walter AA, Hartman MJ, Stout JR, Cramer JT:Effects of creatine
monohydrate and polyethylene glycosylated creatine supplementation on muscular strength, endurance, and
power output. J Strength Cond Res 2009, 23:818-826.

10. Camic CL, Hendrix CR, Housh TJ, Zuniga JM, Mielke M, Johnson GO, Schmidt RJ, Housh DJ:The effects
of polyethylene glycosylated creatine supplementation on muscular strength and power. J Strength Cond Res
2010, 24:3343-3351

Join over 500k subscribers who receive weekly

workouts, diet plans, videos and expert guides
from Muscle & Strength.

First Name

Email

Choose Your Goal

Subscribe Free
 58 SHARES

5 4
RATE THIS
STARS VOTES

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Learn Why Creatine Is So Popular Creatine & Glutamine Information! Should You Take Creatine Pre Or Post
Workout?

3 Myths About Caffeine That You Still Build a Body Like A Greek God! 5 Protein Powder Types You Should
Believe Consider Trying

About The Author

Elliot Reimers
Elliot is a raw powerlifter who enjoys researching the science behind how
the human body works. He has a BS in Biochemistry.
View all by Elliot Reimers »

8 Comments + Post Comment

Posted Thu, 12/19/2013 - 08:42 LIKE 31

Jim
How about creatine hydrochloride - such as con-cret? The manufacturers claim superior
absorption.
 REPLY
REPLY

Posted Wed, 12/11/2013 - 07:15 LIKE 29

Jason
1tsp/day of creatine mono powder and any label with Creapure to ensure quality is all you
need.
And yet look at all the creatine variants that supplement companies pimp when they know it's
about BS marketing.

REPLY
REPLY

Posted Fri, 05/11/2018 - 12:29 LIKE 1

red
creatine pyruvate has acute performance enhancing effects, creatine orotate provides
orotic acid which has benefits far greater than most popular ergogenics and creatine-
nitrate creates increased vasodilation for a very long time leading to improved nutrient
uptake and consistently fuller muscles. there is no need to take nitrates or orotic acid
bonded to creatine but it is practical, however pyruvate and creatine neither have acute
benefits while creatine-pyruvate increases performance with the first dose. generally
creatine is far overrated, atp production and muscle contractions can be increased
acutely with the right substances to instantly add 10-20% weight or increase higher
reps around 12 to around 20 or so. 3-4x more cellular energy and drastically increased
ca+ ion release from the sarcoplasmativ reticulum will lead to metabolically induced
performance independant of muscle gains or such. steroid users are limited by their
weight, a pro bodybuilder is weak considering his size. the muscles are mostly
glycogen and inefficient. i used steroids but was stronger than any mr. olympia at
180lbs, doing dumbell rows with 220lbs per arm for 18 reps or pullups with added 140
pounds. bench they manage more due to the cushioning of the glycogen and their
mass but someone benching 440 pounds for reps should be rowing a lot more and jay
cutler could not do more than 310 pounds for a working set. i experimented with it all
and found that even 5 grams of steroids do not increase performance or muscle mass
unless one eats to gain intracellular water, not structural protein. 700mg masteron for
cns recovery and drive combined with the right nutraceuticals and 5kg were gained in
3 months while dropping bf from 8% to around 5-6%max. strength also went up like
crazy. this is supposedly not possible but when you manage to eat 5000calories a day
and train full body daily, gaining strength daily then it is, all it takes is optimizing
metabolic functions. for example shuttling 200g carbs into muscles without an insulin
response and blocking fat cells from bein able to absorb carbohydrates.
problem is that such optimazation costs a lot of money as a perfect preworkout would
cost around 30 dollars in raws, if you bought those as a consumer you would spend
300-500 dollars. try buying 90g arginocarn, 12g purenergy (pteropure-caffeine), 6g
teacrine, 450mg methylfolate, 180g creatine-pyruvate, 90g calcium-orotate, 6g
ubiquinol, 6g shilajit, 30g pomegranate extract, 60g leucine nitrate, 30g acerola
powder, 7.2g amentoflavone, 60g creatinol-o-phosphate
18g c3g blackberry extract,15full spectrum blackberry extract, 15g aurora blue, 10g
banaba full spectrum.
 400 min. for first product, 300 min. for second. now they could be offered for 200
dollars by a fair company but people will not believe it without major marketing which is
why such products for such a price will never happen. and people will still speak of
beta alanine and bcaas when already in 2018 type-2 diabetes, allergies, high blood
pressure can be cured easily and cancer etc. prevented and even some form selectively
treated by substances occuring in nature but with enormous pharmacological activity
and health benefits. 100mg pterostilbene, equalling 1000kg blueberries can not be
considered just a supplement. neither tinofend which calms a hyperreactive immune
system eliminating allergies and prevents one from getting viral and bacterial infections
as it is an immune modulator.

REPLY
REPLY

Posted Tue, 12/10/2013 - 23:05 LIKE 34

Cody
+1 Take your creatine mono- if your going to use another source use it pre-workout, and keep
the proven stuff post.

REPLY
REPLY

Posted Tue, 12/10/2013 - 17:35 LIKE 41

Devan
Bottom line, F**k the bs marketing

REPLY
REPLY

Posted Tue, 12/10/2013 - 17:24 LIKE 42

ryan
What about creatine hydrochloride? ?

REPLY
REPLY

Posted Wed, 12/11/2013 - 00:05 LIKE 32

Elliot
What about it?

REPLY
REPLY

Posted Tue, 12/10/2013 - 17:18 LIKE 36

Guido
So much for telling me not to changing anything from the good ol' creatine

REPLY
REPLY
HELP & SH IPPING M&S RE WARDS
Help C enter How to e ar n points?
C ont ac t Suppor t Rewards Cat alog
Your Ac c ount
FOLLOW M&S
Order S t atus
Shipping & Retur ns

C ONTACT U S
Muscle & S treng th, LLC
1180 Fir s t S treet S outh
C olumbia, SC 29209
PH : 1 - 8 0 0 - 5 3 7 - 9 9 1 0
Email : click here

JOIN OUR NE WSLE T TER

Build muscle, lose fat & s t ay
moti vated. Join 500,000+
new slet ter sub scr iber s!

First Name

Email Address

Choose Your Goal

Sign Up

About Ca re e r s Wr i te fo r U s A ffi l i a te s Te r m s o f U s e P r i va cy Po l i cy C o o k i e Po l i cy
© C o py r i gh t 2 0 0 5 - 2 0 1 9, M u s c l e & S tre n g th L LC . I m ag e s c o py r i gh t o f th e i r re sp e c ti ve ow n e r s .