Creatine is is one of the most widely used supplements on the market, and it is used predominantly weightlifters or individuals who do explosive power sports. It is also the most widely investigated sports supplement in the world, with literally hundreds of clinical studies to support its benefits.

Creatine is made from the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine and is stored mainly in muscle tissue. The body contains approximately 120 grams of creatine in the form of creatine phosphate. In the diet, it is found in meat and fish.  Omnivores or meat eaters consume about 1g creatine per day. The body also synthesises about 1g of creatine per day endogenously. Consequently, it would be necessary to consume kilograms of food to obtain the same amount of creatine as is available from creatine supplementation.

How creatine works

When ATP loses a phosphate molecule and becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP), it must be converted back to ATP to produce energy. Creatine is stored in the human body as creatine phosphate (CP) also called phosphocreatine. When ATP is depleted, it can be recharged by CP, whereby CP donates a phosphate molecule to the ADP, making it ATP again. This is a a permanent ongoing process, allowing the muscles to quickly expend and replenish energy. The body uses approximately 2g per day. Therefore supplementing in greater volumes of creatine than this amount, increases the concentration of muscle tissue creatine /phosphocreatine. An increased pool of phosphocreatine means faster and greater recharging of ATP, which means more physical activity can be carried out. For short-duration explosive sports, such as sprinting, weight lifting and other anaerobic activity, ATP is the energy system which is used primarily. Using creatine can increase the total body pool of phosphocreatine, which leads to greater generation of energy for anaerobic activity.

Greater volumes of creatine within the muscle cells also cause a “water drag”, whereby water is pulled into the muscle cells and increase water retention in the muscles, which explains the typical gain of 1-3 kg in bodyweight from the first week of supplementing creatine. Increased water retention produces increased visible muscle size. Given that the water retention is intracellular, it is not usually associated with bloating or loss of muscle definition.

There is a threshold point in the body for creatine, which lies somewhere between 10 and 40% greater than normal endogenous levels. Once at saturation point, there are no added benefits to ingesting additional creatine, and excess will be excreted through urine.

Type of Creatine

Multiple types of creatine are sold on the market. There are so many types of creatine of various forms, many of which bonded to another “active” ingredient for different purposes.

Creatine monohydrate

The most widely researched form of creatine is creatine monohydrate. It represents both as a cost effective and extremely ergogenic means of using creatine as a supplement. Micronised creatine is ground down to a smaller powder than other forms of monohydrate, enabling it to dissolve better within solutions than other types of creatine. Additionally Creapure represents a purer form of monohydrate absent of impurities found in pharmaceutical grade monohydrates. Moreover Creapure is stable below a ph of 2, compared to other monohydrates, which denature in acidic formulas (such as orange juice).

Creatine Ethlyl Ester (CEE)

CEE is a creatine with an ethyl group attached, which theoretically enables it to cross cell membranes in order to absorbed by the intestines.

Creatine Pyruvate

Creatine is bonded with pyruvate, as pyruvate is purported to enhance muscle endurance in addition to buffering lactic acid during exercise, which supposedly enables the individual to train for longer and at a greater intensity.

Kre-Alkalyn

Kre-Alkalyn represents a buffered creatine which means that it is produced at ph level which exceeds that of creatine monohydrate, which theoretically prevents the conversion of creatine to the toxic by-product creatinine, and is proposed to improve the uptake and effectiveness. Research has shown however that these superior benefits are not true. Dosage of kre-alkalyn is lower and given the high ph does not cause stomach discomfort as is reported to be the case with monohydrate.

Tri-Creatine Malate

Tri-Creatine Malate represents a form of creatine which bonded to malic acid with the intention of assisting absorption and increasing energy production in the muscles.

Creatine Gluconate

Creatine bonded to a type of glucose in order to elevate creatine uptake.

Creatine Hydrochloride

Creatine hydrochloride is creatine which is attached to hydrochloric acid. It is reported to be absorbed by the body by 60 percent more than creatine monohydrate (I will refer to that point later), thus enabling improved results (supposition). It is also reported to reduce any gastrointestinal distress and subcutaneous water retention which has been clinically shown to not occur.

Creatine Alpha-Ketoglutarate

Creatine is bonded to alpha-ketoglutarate, much like many other amino acids or amino acid derivatives like ornithine or arginine, in order to increase creatine uptake.