ANSWER
What is Creatine?
Creatine has become one of the most popular dietary supplements in the sports nutrition market. It is a naturally occurring nitrogenous compound synthesized from the amino acids Glycine, Arginine, and Methionine and is present in relatively large quantities in most animal fleshes such as fish and red meat.
Different forms of Creatine
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Creatine Monohydrate |
Creatine Liquid |
Creatine Ethyl-ester |
Creatine Micronized |
| Description |
- Highest form of Creatine content among these different forms.
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- Content of Creatine may be far lower than Creatine in its powdered form.
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- Creatine Ethyl-ester works by binding Creatine with a fat soluble ethanol ester.
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- Micronized Creatine monohydrate – regular Creatine monohydrate powder that has been micronized (the process of grinding powder to ultra-fine form).
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| Stability |
- Very stable in powder form even at elevated temperature.
- Not very stable in solution (liquid) form and tends to degrades to its inactive form (Creatine) more easily.
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- Less stable than Creatine Monohydrate due to addition of ethyl group to Creatine actually reduced acid stability and accelerated its breakdown to Creatinine.
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- Less stable compared to Creatine Monohydrate
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- Stable in powder and dissolve faster and more completely compared to Creatine Monohydrate due to smaller particle sizes.
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| Advantages |
- Lower price and widely used.
- Most extensively studied and clinically effective form of Creatine.
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- With improved aqueous solubility and more pH stable.
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- Dissolves faster and more completely due to smaller particle sizes.
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(Acton, 2013; Jager et al., 2011).
References
Acton, Q. A. (2013). Phosphoamino Acids – Advances in Research and Application. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholarly Editions.
Jager, R., Purpura, M., Shao, A., Inoue, T. & Kreider, R. B. (2011). Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine. Amino Acids, 40(5), 1369-1383.
