Buying Creatine

Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid that’s produced in the body. But if you’re looking to pack on muscle, or improve your sporting performance, then you can boost your creatine levels significantly by taking a creatine supplement.

You see, creatine works by quickly replenishing ATP energy stores in your muscles, so you can exercise with greater intensity for longer. This, in turn, can lead to an increase in muscle and strength gains.

And of all the types currently available, Creatine Monohydrate is arguably the most popular and best creatine supplement for gaining muscle. Creatine monohydrate is a synthetic version of the creatine that the body produces naturally all by itself. And the very best creatine supplements will primarily consist of this creatine monohydrate in its purest form.

Just so you know, creatine monohydrate is a supplement on which thousands of tests have been performed, and upon which countless bodybuilders and weight lifters have found to be the most effective.  In fact, Creatine Monohydrate has been proven through more than decade of research to enhance strength, endurance, and subsequent athletic performance.

The other main type of creatine you may have heard of is Creatine Ethyl Ester, and it’s manufacturers will claim faster absorption rates. However, in reality, creatine ethyl ester tastes bitter, is more expensive, and is almost impossible to dissolve into liquid form for consumption.

Bottom line, definitely buy creatine monohydrate. It’s by far the most tested type of creatine, and it’s effects have been well documented and researched by plenty of scientific studies.

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It’s true. Creatine is available in powder, pill and even liquid form.

But what works best?

Well, I’d have to recommend you stick to taking pure Creatine Monohydrate Powder.

Why?

For a start, creatine monohydrate powder is by far the most tested and documented type of creatine. And, in fact, more than 20 separate scientific studies have demonstrated the energy-enhancing and strength-boosting benefits of creatine monohydrate, and how it improves both endurance and speed of recovery after exercise.

And while creatine is indeed available in other forms, such as creatine ethyl ester, the testing on these is far less extensive and not as convincing.

Comparing creatine powder to creatine pills, there’s yet another good reason to stick with the powder. And that’s ‘Surface Area’:

Here’s what I mean: When you consume creatine powder, you immediately expose a greater surface area of creatine to the walls of your digestive tract (compared to pills), helping boost the speed with which your body is able to absorb and transport it to the cells of your muscles.

Finally, like for like, buying creatine powder is going to be easier for your wallet to handle too. This is because pure creatine monohydrate powder is by far the cheapest form of creatine. So you’ll get more ‘bang for you buck’ if you buy creatine powder instead of creatine pills.

As of the time of writing this, all studies have shown creatine to be safe. Just make sure you stick to the instructions provided by the manufacturer when you take it.

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Creatine works by raising the energy stores in your muscles, so you’re able to perform more work. But is it best to take creatine in its purest form, or does it work better when combined with other ingredients as a ‘mixed’ creatine formula?

Well yes, it’s true. Some scientific studies have suggested that taking a combination of both creatine and sugary carbohydrates (like glucose or dextrose) can help to boost the uptake of creatine to your muscles.

And yes, it’s also true that many ‘mixed’ creatine formulas contain both creatine monohydrate powder AND a sugary carbohydrate like dextrose.

But despite all this, I’m going to suggest you stick to buying pure creatine, and that you DON’T buy the mixed creatine formulas.

Why?

It’s very simple really.

Mixed creatine supplements are normally much more expensive, and they usually just serve as a way for nutrition companies to extract more cash from your wallet.

Instead, you can buy pure creatine MUCH more cheaply than mixed creatine supplements. Pure creatine monohydrate is not at all expensive. In fact, there’s no real need to pay more than ten cents per 5-gram portion of the stuff.

Simply buy a packet of powdered dextrose too – again very cheap – and mix the pure creatine monohydrate powder and dextrose together yourself. It’s just as good, and your wallet will thank you for it too.

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