I happened on a video by Will Brink where he states that creatine needs to be dissolved before consuming. He says it’s unusable and may cause stomach problems if not dissolved. I’ve always just given my creatine a good stir before each sip and not worried if it was dissolved - I thought the stomach could digest it either way.
I’ve tried getting my creatine to dissolve lately, with poor results. Only about half of it will fully dissolve. I’ve even tried drinking 3/4 and then adding more OJ/Gatorade. This all seems like a pain in the ass. Does it matter if the creatine is fully dissolved? I’ve never heard or read anything that said this prior to seeing Brink’s video.
I’ve tried Cell Mass and a GNC Monohydrate and never really had any luck getting either to fully disolve. The Cell Mass was slightly worse in this regard.
I have heard you need to take creatine with a sugary drink, something like a fruit juice.
For the most part I try to stay away from supplements other than a quality protien. I knows guys that swear by prohormones, but that stuff seems a little scary to me. It seems they are on the market for a while, then taken off.
Thats because they’re steriods, plain and simple. Not only that, but they’re “supplements” so they aren’t held to any standard as far as purity, ingredients, manufacturing technique etc… goes. As far as I know just about anybody can make these things and sell them. I would equate it as being sort of similar to buying drugs from the guy on the corner. You’re not really sure whats in it, but he seems nice enough.
Prohormones are awefull. Most of them are made from harsh “methelated” compounds, which makes them pretty hard on your liver.
All of the safest and most effective prohormones got banned years ago, and it seems like every time they figure out a way around the ban, it’s with a compound more harsh and less effective than the last.
If somebody is going to do juice the best option is to just get the real shit and quit fuckin around.
My personal opinion is that there’s a reason most professional sports ban them. I agree with the other poster that many people trying to get quicker results “abuse” these dietary supplements. If you eat “right” or a balanced diet as it should be referred to you shouldn’t need these supplements. There are many things we ingest in our bodies that our bodies truly don’t absorb completely. I’d consult a medical doctor or a nutritionist to come up with a proper diet to achieve desired health/ fitness level.
If you want a natural source of ingestable Creatine then Tuna is generally regarded as the highest known natural source for it. It’s in trace amounts but safe amounts as well. You could do canned in a pinch but it tastes better grilled or broiled and lightly seasoned in my opinion.
I think there’s a few others, but can’t remember the names right now…
Out of the three listed, I had the best results with (Kre Alkalyn Creatine).
Some creatine companies will tell you that you you can take creatine any time of day, and you’d be fine… I’ll usually take it thirty minutes before going to the gym. You shouldn’t be having to wait for creatine to dissolve before consuming. Just take the creatine. =)
If you are using warm water and micronized creatine, it dissolves easily. For people who get stomach upset, non responders (approx 30% of users) will get better responses from fully dissolving. It’s not a black/white issue. Clearly, some of the creatine not dissolved in the glass will be made soluble and absorbed, but it’s well established in human digestion that compounds with poor solubility are often poorly absorbed.
If you have gotten good response from not fully dissolving, don’t sweat it, but it’s my opinion that fully dissolving optimizes absorption, reduces waste, may improve effects in non responders, and will reduce stomach discomfort in those who experience it with creatine.
Use Creapure (micronized recommended but not essential) creatine at 3-5g.
Will my routines are somewhat similar to a Crossfit routine, thus I do a fair amount of running. I’ve noticed that if I take creatine before a run I ALWAYS get really bad cramps. Is this common? A result of poor absorbtion?
I would think you’re dehydrating yourself with the creatine. As Will said, it is not important when you take it with monohydrate. I drink a lot when I wake up, take my creatine mid morning, then try to re-hydrate before lunch.
There are other forms of creatine that don’t seem to dehydrate as much. I was taking creatine HCL and I didn’t notice the dehydration like I did with mono. I’m not sure about MCC. I actually really liked the HCL but it’s like 10x the price of mono.
if you are looking for an endurance type of creatine as opposed to a strength type, I have had massive success with CE2 Hi-Def… it is a thermogenic creatine easter tablet you take twice a day, no pre-load and no cramps. I increased my mileage a crap ton when taking it, I started at around 3-4 miles a day, and now I’m up to more than 9. I stack the CE2 with Plasma Jet Nitric Oxide booster, and it is by far the best combination I’ve tried.
As a solvent, hot water can dissolve more solute and dissolve it quicker, so you can get the same results with cool water using more and taking longer. But I agree warm water is more convenient.
Of course, but how much time you got and how much H2O you wanna drink?
That’s why I made that particular vid, to show how much more convenient/quicker it is using warm water. Micronized creatine is yet faster due to smaller particle size.
Well, I drink my creatine while sitting at my desk at work, so I have a couple hours! Also, I figure if I need a certain amount of water to dissolve the creatine, I should be drinking AT LEAST that much water with it. Otherwise I get dehydrated. So I completely agree on the time factor, and the water amount factor I would agree as long as the person drinking it understands how much they need to drink to stay hydrated, which most people taking creatine do know.
Not sure I fully understand your hydration comments. Studies don’t find CM dehydrates people, at least not in the classic sense. I have read the studies to date, but here’s a good summery:
Creatine Does Not Promote Dehydration or Rhabdomyolysis in Athletes
In 2007, the Research Committee of the ISSN formed a team of sport nutrition researchers, dietitians, and physicians to extensively review the available scientific literature on creatine supplementation and exercise and to develop a Position Stand for the Society which was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sport Nutrition (see: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition After extensive review of the literature, the ISSN adopted the following positions relative to this issue:
1.***** Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.
2.***** Creatine monohydrate supplementation is not only safe, but possibly beneficial in regard to preventing injury and/or management of select medical conditions when taken within recommended guidelines.
3.***** There is no scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals.
4.***** If proper precautions and supervision are provided, supplementation in young athletes is acceptable and may provide a nutritional alternative to potentially dangerous anabolic drugs.
5.***** At present, creatine monohydrate is the most extensively studied and clinically effective form of creatine for use in nutritional supplements in terms of muscle uptake and ability to increase high-intensity exercise capacity.
6.***** Creatine monohydrate has been reported to have a number of potentially beneficial uses in several clinical populations, and further research is warranted in these areas.
Specific to the alleged association of creatine to development of rhabdomyolysis and ACS; a number of studies have evaluated the effects of creatine supplementation on dehydration, cramping, fluid retention, muscle injury, CK levels, and health status in athletes engaged in intense exercise (including football players engaged in intense training in hot and humid environments).These studies have consistently indicated that creatine supplementation does not promote cramping, muscle injury, elevations in CK, and/or heat related injuries.*
Conversely, studies report that creatine may improve the athlete’s ability to tolerate intense exercise in hot and humid environments and lessen the incidence of injury.
Athletes have been using creatine on a widespread basis as a dietary supplement since the early 1990’s.No clinically significant side effects have been reported and a number of potentially beneficial medical uses are being studied. Itis the opinion of the ISSN that suggestions that creatine caused this incident is inconsistent with the scientific literature and implausible.**
According to noted sports nutrition scientist Richard Kreider, Ph.D., FACSM, FISSN of Texas A & M University, "Many studies have been done (since the early 1990’s) that show creatine does not cause dehydration, muscle damage, or increase susceptibility to heat-related illness in athletes involved in intense training in hot and humid environments. If anything, research shows that creatine promotes hyperhydration (i.e., whole body fluid retention) leading to less thermogregulatory stress during intense exercise in the heat.
It is unfortunate that individuals unfamiliar with the creatine literature are speculating that creatine caused this problem when the athletes indicated they did not take creatine and they ignore the obvious precursors: excessive and inappropriate training in a hot and humid environment."
About the ISSN:* The International Society of Sports Nutrition is the only non-profit academic society dedicated to promoting the science and application of evidence-based sports nutrition and supplementation. www.theissn.org**
After I take my creatine, I get thirsty. Maybe it works like this…
Caffeine causes you to urinate out water to get rid of the caffeine. Therefore you get dehydrated.
Creatine causes you to retain water, but your body will need more water, so you get hyper-hydrated.
So your body is telling you that you need more water either because it’s expelling it or storing (for lack of a better word) it, but either way, you’re gonna be thirsty.
That’s my hypothesis. I know we’re splitting hairs here, but I’m an engineer and I can’t help it
I’m a scientist by nature and training, so I can split some hairs down to the molecule with the best of 'em, but the hard data (ergo, where the hairs really get split) finds creatine does not dehydrate and actually improves thermo regulation, etc per comments post above by Dr Antonio.
