Which type of creatine is best?
Creatine is tried and tested, but the human condition is that we see something great and immediately want to make it better (for some reason).
When we look at the research, creatine monohydrate has been shown to saturate your muscle cells 100%, therefore giving you all the associated benefits. In an effort to improve this, there are various other forms of creatine such as creatine ethyl ester, liquid creatine amongst many, many others. These forms are usually 5-10 times the price and promise to do the job ‘better’ than regular creatine monohydrate, but let’s just think about this for a second.
Every study done showing benefits of creatine used monohydrate.
Creatine monohydrate saturates your muscles 100%; you can’t really get better than that can you?
Types of creatine
Creatine Citrate
Creatine citrate is creatine bound to citric acid and research indicates it’s more water soluble than creatine monohydrate but no better in terms of absorption and effectiveness.
Creatine Ethyl Ester
Creatine ethyl ester is a form of creatine that is supposed to convert back to usable creatine in the body. It’s usually marketed as having better absorption properties than creatine monohydrate, but research shows it’s actually less effective than monohydrate, on par with a placebo. The reason for this is once creatine ethyl ester enters your body, it’s converted into an inactive substance known as “creatinine.”
Liquid Creatine
Liquid creatine is simply a form of creatine, usually monohydrate, suspended in liquid. Studies show that it’s less effective than creatine monohydrate because, when suspended in a solution for several days, creatine breaks down into the inactive substance creatinine.
Micronized Creatine
Micronized creatine is creatine that has been processed to reduce the particle size of the powder. The form most commonly sold as micronized creatine is monohydrate. Micronization increases water solubility but changes nothing in terms of absorption or effectiveness.
Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is the form used in the majority of studies demonstrating creatine’s benefits and is the most researched backed fitness supplement on the current market. It’s the gold standard of creatine and a time-proven winner. Stick to what the science says, no other creatine form has enough evidence to claim it is better than creatine monohydrate
Sure, some of these other forms may saturate the muscle cells a little faster, but let’s face it, you can wait an extra week to get a 2-3% improvement in performance, if it costs you 10-20% of the price, can’t you?
When it comes down to it, there is no evidence at all that ‘fancy’ creatines do anything different to creatine monohydrate other than costing more.
Pharma Fitness Creatine Monohydrate
