The effectiveness of liquid creatine appears to be disappointing based on research results. The conclusion: Creatine monohydrate is cheaper, more stable, and works better.
What is the “best creatine”?
Earlier, I posted the first part of this series of articles on the topic of “the best creatine”. In that, I discussed the circumstances under which creatine monohydrate is not optimally absorbed. Instead of seeking the solution in “better” creatine, I wrote that it has been found that by changing the circumstances themselves, you can optimize the absorption of creatine monohydrate. I also showed that special forms of creatine actually contain less creatine.
I recommend reading the first part first: buying the best creatine. It explains the factors that influence the absorption of creatine and how to improve it. In fact, that should be sufficient to conclude that you don’t need to waste your money on expensive forms of creatine.
However, since I didn’t extensively cover the specific forms of creatine, there are undoubtedly still people who say, “But the creatine I have is really great!” We are simply susceptible to loud marketing, filled with superlatives and pictures of muscular bodybuilders who supposedly achieved their entire physique thanks to a certain supplement.
In the upcoming parts, I will therefore delve into as many types of creatine as possible and their effectiveness as evidenced by research. Our first candidate is liquid creatine.
Why liquid creatine?
Like all nutrients, creatine must be dissolved to be absorbed from the stomach into the bloodstream and then taken up by muscle cells. When creatine is not fully dissolved, some of it may be excreted before it can do its job.
Liquid creatine is purported to be the solution to this, according to the producers at least. The idea is simple: Pre-dissolve the creatine, and it will be fully absorbed.
Breakdown into creatinine before use
However, once creatine is in liquid form, its stability decreases. That is to say, in solid powder form, you can store it for several years, while in liquid form, it breaks down more quickly into the breakdown product creatinine [1,2,3]. Not a problem if you mix it yourself with, for example, fruit juice, drink it right away, and it’s already at the muscles before it breaks down. But a problem if it sits on a shelf in liquid form for a few months, and half of the creatine has already broken down before it’s ingested.
I actually explained this in the first part, but then I limited it to references to studies on stability. From this, you can infer that liquid creatine, depending on the degree of breakdown, is actually less effective than creatine monohydrate.
There are manufacturers who try to ensure the stability of liquid creatine by working with a special solution or gel. However, the question is whether a stable, liquid form of creatine is actually better. So let’s take a look at the actual effect of liquid creatine in humans.
Liquid creatine
Researchers from Baylor University, Texas Christian University, and McMaster University compared the effects of creatine monohydrate with those of liquid creatine in 2003 [4]. They used the liquid creatine called ATP Advantage™ Creatine Serum from Muscle Marketing USA. According to the manufacturer, a stable form of liquid creatine [6]. Forty men received one of the following:
A. 5 ml liquid creatine. This was supposed to contain 2.5 grams of creatine according to the manufacturer.
B. A 5 ml placebo.
C. 40 ml liquid creatine. This was supposed to contain 20 grams of creatine according to the manufacturer.
D. A 5 ml placebo, taken 8 times, totaling 40 ml.
E. 20 grams of creatine monohydrate, divided into 4 doses of 5 grams each.
Comparing Creatine monohydrate and liquid creatine
The idea behind this was that 5 grams of creatine is normally sufficient to keep creatine levels stable. From research I covered in the article “Creatine, loading or not,” it was found that 2 grams of creatine monohydrate in powder form was already sufficient for this. So, you would think that 2.5 grams of creatine per day in 5 ml of liquid (situation A) is enough to keep creatine levels in the muscles stable. After all, manufacturers claim that you need less of liquid creatine because it is better absorbed than monohydrate in powder form.
In the graph on the right, you can see that this was not the case. The “low dose creatine serum” of 5 ml was not enough to compensate for the daily use of creatine by the muscles. The amount of “free” creatine in the muscles decreased accordingly.
When we look at an amount that is typical for a loading phase, 20 grams per day, we also see that liquid creatine offers little result. 20 grams of liquid creatine in 40 ml solution (“high dose serum creatine”) increased the levels of free creatine in the muscles by only slightly over 2% on average. In contrast, with 20 grams of monohydrate, you could achieve an increase in creatine levels by almost 28% in just a week. For comparison: 20 grams of creatine monohydrate increased creatine levels by nearly 28 percent.
The researchers therefore saw little value in liquid creatine and stated that claims that liquid creatine is better than monohydrate are incorrect.
These findings suggest that claims that CS (red: liquid creatine) is an effective form of creatine and/or more effective than creatine monohydrate in increasing muscle creatine and phosphagen content appear to be false.
-B. Kreider Baylor University
Not effective due to breakdown or dosage?
So, the manufacturer claimed that 5 ml of their liquid creatine contained 2.5 grams of creatine. Why did 40 ml not yield the same or better results as 20 grams of creatine? This could be for various reasons.
I already mentioned breakdown in liquid form. Although the manufacturer claims that their product is stable, we still need to consider this. Something must explain the disappointing results.
If the 5 ml actually contained 2.5 grams of creatine at production, then possibly some could have broken down during the elapsed time from production to use. However, the length of this time is not clear. The researchers simply ordered the creatine through the manufacturer’s website [6]. Upon receiving the 48 ordered bottles, half were emptied and filled with a colored placebo (you might think that’s a waste, except that the stuff turned out to be virtually worthless). Then the bottles were forwarded to Texas Christian University. This process may not have taken much time, although it is not mentioned. Moreover, we also do not know how long it sat on the supplier’s shelf.
Another option is, of course, that there was simply less than 2.5 grams of creatine in the original 5 ml of liquid.
Poor marketing
The nonsensical marketing story on their site claims that they are the only ones who have managed to stabilize creatine in liquid. Where did that creatine go then? Moreover, that sales pitch doesn’t really inspire confidence. Some nonsense about a man falling in love with a girl who doesn’t notice him because he’s skinny and she’s into bodybuilders.
I thought that I was in love with her. There’s no other way to go about it: she was a total babe. One problem: she thought I was too skinny, and she loved bodybuilders….
That’s when I first found out about creatine. I thought it was magic. I went to the store and bought all the creatine that I could find—I would’ve consumed all of it at once if it meant that I could get the body I wanted. That’s the thing with falling for a beautiful woman: there’s always (a lot of) competition.
Taking creatine powder was awful. It was like eating sand, and my stomach rejected it every time.
Firstly: Like eating sand? Who the heck eats creatine instead of drinking it? Yes, creatine is difficult to dissolve. I already covered that in the first part. But to say it’s like you’ve eaten sand is quite exaggerated.
Secondly, that story about falling in love really reminds one of the classic sales story from bodybuilder Charles Atlas cartoons in the forties of the scrawny boy on the beach who can’t get the girl until he’s been bodybuilding for a year and the following year walks ripped on the beach like a muscular Casanova. Not very original, therefore. As a blogger, I can only be annoyed that such a beautiful domain name (creatine.com) is used by a one-page site with a nonsense story. I could appreciate Monty Python’s parody of these cartoons more [7].
Such a story also does not inspire confidence in the knowledge level of the founder of this supplement company.
Special forms of liquid creatine
Of course, there are manufacturers who believe they have a better form of liquid creatine. A “better form of the better form,” considering that liquid creatine itself is already an improvement. Think of “colloidal creatine” [5]. Although there is a theoretical basis for the claim that creatine in that solution is stable and does not break down, no studies have been conducted that have actually demonstrated the added value compared to creatine monohydrate.
Conclusion
So, I can keep the conclusion short and to the point: Based on research conducted so far (or rather, the lack thereof), it is clear that liquid creatine at best has no added value compared to the much cheaper creatine monohydrate. It is even more likely that it is simply a lot less effective, whether due to breakdown of creatine or because less creatine is actually added than stated by the manufacturer.
References
- Jäger R (2003) The use of creatine monohydrate in sports nutrition, Freising, Germany
- Ralf Jäger,Martin Purpura,Andrew Shao,Toshitada Inoue,Richard Kreider. Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine. Amino Acids (2011) 40:1369–1383 DOI 10.1007/s00726-011-0874-6
- Ganguly S, Jayappa S, Dash AK (2003) Evaluation of the stability of creatine in solution prepared from effervescent creatine formulations. AAPS PharmSciTech 4 (2):E25. doi:10.1208/pt040225
- Kreider RB, Willoughby DS, Greenwood M, Parise G, Payne E, Tarnopolsky MA. Effects of serum creatine supplementation on muscle creatine content. J Exerc Physiol online. 2003;6(4):24–33.
- Kessel K, Scherr G, Bogenstätter T, Berndl G, Breitenbach J (2004) Process for producing solid creatine dosage forms and dosage forms obtainable thereby. US Patent
- Creatine.com
- youtube.com/watch?v=Ro96FnQir44
