Q. Is there a difference between types of creatines
that are currently available?
A. As some people are aware, you can now find creatine
on the market in different forms: phosphate, citrate, and
monohydrate. My feeling is that the phosphate variety is
not easily absorbed by the body and for this reason will
not yield effective and substantial results. The citrate
variety seemed to be catching on for a time, but again the
research is sketchy here. In fact, nearly all the positive
clinical studies that have been done on creatine have utilized
the monohydrate form, and this is the only form that I currently
recommend.
Q. Should you use creatine and an ECA Stack together?
A. Depending on your training and physique goals, doing
so may be counterproductive. You see, one of the primary
ways creatine works is by loading the muscles with water—this
is why consuming large amounts of water is such a critical
part of effective creatine supplementation. On the other
hand, the caffeine included in the typical ECA Stack has
a diuretic effect—it draws water out of the muscles
and the body. So if you take your creatine simultaneous
with your ECA Stack, or with a cup of coffee for that matter,
you’ll tend to cancel out the cell-volumizing effects
of the creatine.
Q. Is all creatine monohydrate alike, or are the
name brands really better?
A. There’s a ton of cheap, generic creatine monohydrate
on the market (especially on the web), but I’m convinced
that most of it is of significantly lower quality than the
reputable brand name versions. Supplement companies and
distributors in the U.S. currently get their raw creatine
from two primary sources: China and Germany. The creatine
that comes in from China is almost always less expensive,
but it’s also much more likely to be impure. Typically,
it’ll be cut with the complex carb maltodextrin. This
is the dirt cheap “creatine” that many wholesalers
offer. No wonder some people don’t see any results.
Reputable creatine suppliers prefer the German version,
which is a bit more expensive but tests out at a significantly
higher level of quality. With creatine you really do get
what you pay for.
Q. Is micronized creatine just hype or is it really
better?
A. Micronized creatine is very interesting. Basically,
it’s produced through a process that finely grinds
or “micronizes” the creatine particles themselves
into particles that are 10, 15, even 20 times smaller than
regular creatine particles. There’s no doubt that
micronized creatine dissolves better in liquid—this
just makes sense. It’s also theorized that the smaller
particle size leads to easier and faster digestion and uptake
into the blood. Individuals who report stomach upset with
regular creatine intake almost always find the problem alleviated
by switching to the micronized version. Many of the top
creatine monohydrate products on the market—including
AST’s Creatine
HSC—have already switched to using micronized
particles. This trend is likely to continue and accelerate
in the near future.
>>
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>>
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