When I wrote The Creatine Graveyard, per comments in THIS recent vid, creatine ethyl ester (CEE) was all the rage and the “high tech” creatine that was gonna show itself to be “9,372,401 X better absorbed & superior to monohydrate blah blah blah” and so the marketing hype machine claimed. CEE, like every “superior” form of creatine before it (e.g., liquid creatines, serum creatine, etc, etc) dropped off the radar after numerous studies showed it was not only not superior to monohydrate, but clearly inferior. To those who know a thing about creatine, none of that came as any surprise but we had to wait patiently while studies were done to confirm what we knew. See article linked for that info on CEE if interested.
So fast forward to 2012. Although “buffered” creatine (BC) existed at the time (see list) it was not as popular as it came to be (after the fall of CEE there was less competition of course) and made steady increases in popularity. Me, I had it firmly in the graveyard for reasons outlined in the article. As of writing the article I’d say it had “one foot in the graveyard” as they say, and as of now, both feet firmly planted.
A recent study done at Texas A&M examined the claims made my makers of buffered creatine (Kre-Alkayn®) to test it’s claims of being superior to monohydrate and found it was neither more effective than good old monohydrate nor had an improved safety profile over CM.
When looking at whether BC was superior to CM for increasing tissue levels of creatine, strength, and LBM, the study concluded “Neither manufacturers recommended doses or equivalent loading doses of KA promoted greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, strength, or anaerobic capacity than CrM. These findings do not support claims that KA is a more efficacious form of creatine.”
If one looks at the graph, one can see CM actually had a slight edge over BC in terms of actual muscle creatine content…
On the issue of whether or not BC has a superior safety profile over CM, the study authors concluded “Neither manufacturers recommended doses or equivalent loading doses of KA compared to CrM resulted in any negative side-effects or health outcomes. Additionally, there was no evidence that CrM supplementation experienced a greater degradation to creatinine. These findings suggest that KA is just as safe to consume as CrM with minimal side-effects.”
Color me not the least bit surprised…People can read the study poster session and abstract – “Kre-Alkalyn® supplementation does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations in comparison to creatine monohydrate” & “Kre-Alkalyn® supplementation does not exhibit a safer clinical profile or have less side effects in comparison to creatine monohydrate” – on the Texas A&M web site which was submitted for publication as a full length paper.
Will Brink is the owner of the Brinkzone Blog. Will has over 30 years experience as a respected author, columnist and consultant, to the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively published. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.
His often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors.
He’s also been published in peer reviewed journals.
Will is the author of the popular e-books, both accompanied by private members forum access , Bodybuilding Revealed & Fat Loss Revealed.
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Thanks for article its about time these people.were.taken to task. imagine this happening in any other industry. talk about bullshit baffling brains.
A very interesting artical, well written thanks Brink.
I don’t know if you talked about this before but ultimately which one is the best creatine type in the market to take?
Thank you for your time. to answer.
I think a casual read of any of my articles, vids, etc is VERY clear on that…CREATINE MONOHYDRATE VIA CreaPure as the source.
Excellent! You are right on with your information. I was talking with a doctor who was involved in a clinical trial that was using Creatine to help the medical condition. This doctor had some of the same misconstrued ideas that many bodybuilders have about Creatine. I printed out your ebook The Creatine Report (gave you full credit) and gave it to the doctor. Guess what? The doctor came back after having her researchers look in to all your references and said WILL BRINK IS RIGHT!!!!!!
Here’s what I think is scary – this doctor and team is doing a clinical trial with Creatine and they don’t fully understand Creatine. This just goes to show that YOU are the EXPERT. Glad to have you on my team. Keep sending out the good information.
Yes, most medical professionals have very little understanding and knowledge of the many potential health benefits of creatine. That’s one reason I wrote that report, for both medical professionals/clinicians, interested in a science based objective guide to creatine, and the general public looking for accurate info on the topic, which is not easy to find due to economic interests and or simple lack or knowledge of the topic.
The creatine info was a good read and nice to see what the outcome of the study was. I have to say though, the build up period with the monohydrate for some reason or other gave me a rather nasty headache where the syrup with the dropper and the capsules did not. I am unsure whether this was down to the load up period or simply dehydration at tue time but had better results with the later where myself and training partner were able to push eachother to lift more and longer. All in all creatine is now a daily addition while going to the gym. Many thanks for the info as usual another good article.
Thanks for making good on your promise to update when the link was active- very much appreciated. Got a question on interpretation of the findings. Here’s a quote:
Muscle free creatine content increased in all groups over time (1.7±22 and 10.2±23 mmol/kg DW, p=0.03) with no significant differences among groups (KA-L –3.3±19.3, 0.53±22; KA-H 1±12.8, 9.1±23; CrM 8.2±32, 22.3±28 mmol/kg DW, p=0.19). In percentage terms, free creatine muscle content significantly increased over time (10.7±41, 29±46%, p= 0.003) with no differences observed among groups (KA-L -5.9±35, 11.9±40; KA-H 6.2±29, 27.3±49; CrM 34.6±50, 50.4±45%, p=0.10). Bodyweight increased in all groups over time (0.9±1.9, 1.42±2.5 kg, p<0.01) with no significant differences among groups (KA-L 0.7±0.83, 0.9±1.6; KA-H 1.7±2.9, 2.3±3.7; CrM 0.56±1.1, 1.1±1.4 kg, p=0.29). Fat-free mass significantly increased over time for all groups (0.67±0.9, 0.89±1.2 kg, p<0.01) with no differences among groups (KA-L 0.42±1.2, 0.37±1.3; KA-H 0.96±0.9, 1.2±1.4; CrM 0.6±0.8, 1.1±0.9 kg, p=0.16). Body fat percent decreased over time (-0.28±1, -0.22±1.4 %, p=0.42) for all groups with no differences among groups (KA-L -0.04±1.3, 0.15±1.2; KA-H -0.3±0.7, -0.31±1.6; CrM -0.5±0.9, -0.5±1.4 %, p=0.35). There was a significant increase in 1RM for bench press in all groups over time (8.1±9.7 kg, p<0.01) with no differences between groups (KA-L 7.1±3; KA-H 7.3±15; CrM 10±8 kg, p=0.73).
From what I am reading here, there was no significant increase between all three groups- the CM folks at the 5g/day dosage, the KA folks at 1.5g/day, and the KA folks at 5g/day. If KA argues that their method is more efficient and less dosage is needed to get the same results, doesn't this study actually prove they are correct? They are showing that the 1.5g people got the same growth, bf loss, and bench 1RM increase whether they took 1.5g/day of KA or 5g of CM. I know for most people the minimum effective dose would be the more desirable one.
Perhaps I'm reading that (or interpreting that) wrong? I can see where the study is showing that you don't get more results from KA, but it seems like you can get the same results using a smaller amount. The graph does show that CM delivered more creatine to the muscle than either of the KA dosages, but if the actual growth was the same regardless, perhaps Creatine in general is dosed too high at 5g/day if there is no additional growth or strength from the extra creatine in the muscle?
Let me know where I am amiss.
No Dave, I agree, it’s a tad confusing. However, the difference between 3.3±19.3 (for low dose KA) and 22.3±28 (for full dose CM) is significant. They mean “statistically significant”, but their n number a decent size, I’m confused how they didn’t reach statistical significance also. Looking at changes all through the study, seems big differences between groups, yet consistent statement of “no significant differences among groups…” is there due to statistical effects and I agree, it’s confusing the way it’s worded. However, if you look at the graph and the actual figures, you can see there’s clear differences between them. I’ll try and get more clarity on that in the future. Also, that’s where a full paper is needed, to get to the nitty gritty of such things. Hope that helps 🙂
You have said that you use creatine on a daily basis. Do you have a routine urinalysis or other kidney tests done on a 3 month,6 month or yearly basis?
HI, if the question was to myself. No I have not had any problems as yet. I know there is a little controversy on if it causes any problems. It is used every second day on lifting and not during cardio. I have yet to see any proof on any short or long term damage caused by regular useage. As my training partner is a third dan black belt in karate and a kickboxing class under his belt as well as a lecturer in sports sience I would imagine any concerns would have been brought to my attention by now. How about anyone here, has there ever been a bad report on the amount of creatine to use? As stated my only problem was with the monohydrate where I was advised to let it out the system before trying anything else. Hope this answers any questions, cheers, Ali
There used to be controversy over renal function with regards to creatine. (ie, kidneys) Which is probably why the OP asked about that. The Texas A&M site that Will’s article links to has a great overview of creatine’s studies performed to date (400+):
http://www.jenb.or.kr/article/xml/sub/view.kin?id=15.2.53
(if the link doesn’t show, simply to go the root site for Will’s article, and then along the right side bar look for:
Creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine
In short, none of the studies were conclusive in any sort of negatives or side effects. I can speak from my own usage over the last 2 years. I find that I had some stomach/digestion issues with CM, taking 5g/day. On a whim I tried Krealkalyn (the subject of this article) because it advertised being easier on the stomach. I have not had any stomach issues since, but I question myself often when taking it if the reason I don’t have stomach issues is because it’s a lower dose or because of the buffering they do. I also question whether taking more would get more results- certainly not growing as fast as I’d like to, but in that sense, what natural bodybuilder is?!
Will suggested on the prior article to use warm water and fully dissolve the CM and the stomach issues should subside. I am going to try that again, as it didn’t work for me the first time I tried it a year back, but I may not have given it enough time.
That’s my summary of experiences with Creatine in general. Hope it’s helpful!
Creatine has been shown to have no effects on healthy kidneys. Read my other articles, and or see vids on that topic.
Why would I? Studies have shown it’s not toxic to the kidneys of healthy people.
Funny that i just had my daily creapure dose right before i opened this e-mail, i got this one that is micronized and blends completely in water using just a scoop, 100% creatine..awesome..The guy at the suplement store tried to sell me Kre-Alkalyn again and i’m happy that i said no and went for Creapure monohydrate again, this article shows why..
I have had good results everytime i used it, for a few years now and i dont think that the results can get any better than the ones that i get from the monohydrate form..
Just a question Will, with the time past and new research done, do you still recomend cycling or not ?
No cycling needed or recommended. See other articles and or vids that cover that topic.
I have read all your articles on it and they werent very clear on the subject of cycling because there were no long term use studies yet, so the question remained..
I’m happy to know that it is not needed, as i said before the results i get from it are wonderfull and its allways a bummer to cycle it and lose that litlle edge for a month.. also, the only bloating i get is during the loading phase, so, not cycling takes care of that issue, wich, during the summer is even better 🙂
Thanks a lot for the help !!
Hi,
So, 1.5g Kre-Alkalyn is the same as 5g of old Monohydrate C?
And does Kre-Alkalyn makes you hold water like old Monohydrate C or less because the dose is smaller?.
THANKS
There were clear differences if you look at the graph and the actual numbers. Yes, it’s confusing how they worded it. CM holds water in the muscle (intra cellular) which is exactly what you want. If it does not, it means it’s not working, and if you only take 1.5 gram of CM, you’d get the exact same effects. Kre-Alkalyn is nothing but CM and some soda ash added as buffer, which claims addition of buffer helps with issues covered in the study, shown not supported by actual head to head testing. Hope that helps.
BTW, this is from the conclusion from their poster session that’s far less confusing then the web site above:
•Recommended daily doses of Kre-Alkyln does not increase
muscle creatine content as much as normal amounts of CrM.
•Kre-Alkalyn (at recommended or equivalent doses) is not more
efficacious than creatine monohydrate in promoting changes in
muscle creatine content and/or training adaptations..
I’ve always thought KA was basically just an expensive way of underdosing Creatine Mono so good to see some evidence of that. Shame though that the study was funded by AlzChem AG the manufacturers of Creapure. It would be nice to see some non-commercial interest, ie truly independent, studies done for a change. A study funded by a manufacturer can (and will) be interpreted differently to get the desired results. I’m sure the manufacturers of KA will come out, as they already have, with a similarly funded study to discount the findings of this study.
Andrew, I agree with “I’ve always thought KA was basically just an expensive way of underdosing Creatine Mono so good to see some evidence of that.”
I do not agree with:
“Shame though that the study was funded by AlzChem AG the manufacturers of Creapure. It would be nice to see some non-commercial interest, ie truly independent, studies done for a change. A study funded by a manufacturer can (and will) be interpreted differently to get the desired results. I’m sure the manufacturers of KA will come out, as they already have, with a similarly funded study to discount the findings of this study.”
I don’t worry about who funds the study, I worry about who DOES the study. I assure you, researchers at a place like Texas A&M don’t hand you the results you want because you funded a study. Now, I will say, (1) studies should be replicated by other respected labs to be legit and (2) if the manufacturer of KA steps up and funds a legit study in a legit third party location (as AlzChem did) and that study comes to a different conclusion (and I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one…), then I’ll be more then happy to give them full credit for that and happy to alter my position on KA.
Thanks for giving us the skinny – and keeping us updated on Creatine since
I feel it is a vital part in our workouts. And as a Gulf coast Texan – and proud
of it – I’m happy that the researchers at Texas A&M get it right the first time.
I will now ease up on the A&M jokes! Dave
Is there a study that shows the amount absorbed of CM dissolved in warm H20 vs. just mixing it in cold water and not dissolved?
As usual, I always recommend to mix in warm water based on your info! 🙂 However, just curious if non-dissolved CM gets digested or absorbed in any amount.
dear brink…iam from india
iam totally confused of creatine mh whether its good for health or bad,if good how long we can take it
if you clarify my doubt i will helpful
regards
saravanan
Will I have been using KC for some time now. I’m 56 and still quite strong and have good musculature. I take two protiens; Whey Isolates from ON and a Casien from ON. I take 5 grams of L-Glutamine and 5 mg of BCAA’s prior to and post w/o. Good muti’s a few times a day with fish oil and a good Chondroitin/Glucosamine complex twice a day, all with food. My water intake is good, but kinda stuck on Pepsi Max. Anyway, the biggest reason I switched to KC is that that data stated you wouldn’t need as big a dosage because of the superior delivery. Bottom line, about 3000mg pre workout in my NO Explode. My question to you is, how much and how often should I take my KC, and, after I run out and buy some CM, how much and when should I take it, in your opinion? I have been a reader of yours for quite some time and value your thoughts. Thank you.
Eldon, “Anyway, the biggest reason I switched to KC is that that data stated you wouldn’t need as big a dosage because of the superior delivery.” The data stated no such thing, the manufacturers claims did, which this latest study shows is not true. On your other questions, watch my creatine series of vids found on this site, and read my various articles and free reports on creatine covering A-Z on creatine. You might want to consider my latest book The Sports Supplement Bible as it will save you years of wasted time and $$$ on worthless supps. Good luck.
I’m totally sold on Kre-alkalyn. When I took monohydrate, I felt bloated and really awful. That’s not happened once with Kre-alkalyn and the gains I’ve made with it have been phenomenal.
It’s simply creatine monohydrate combined with some soda ash (baking soda), so if you’re convinced it’s working better then CM, simply add some baking soda to your CM and there you go…good luck.
BTW Jimmy/CG, nice attempt at posting as two different people, but I checked the IP and they are identical (IP Address: 207.81.149.211/ISP:Telus Communications) which usually means the person is a company rep and or has some
vested interest in the product.
So, you are busted and incorrect. Good luck…
I’m not with any company and you could check my ip all you want and I do applaud you for doing that sincerely. ..all I want is not to out anything into my body that down the road can cause my kidney failure from too much creatinine…anyways isn’t kre is buffered during manufacturing process and wouldn’t adding baking soda to regular cm turn it into creatinine once it’s already made?…you said in the other reply that any good study should be replicated…are there any other studies with same claims as texas A & M?
Will,
Looks like a great study. I see that AlzChem funded the study. I know that you like Creapure.
So it kind of concerns me you did not mention that as a disclaimer in your article as to who it was funded by. I would think if it was funded by the makers of Kre-alkalyn and it showed a result positive for there supplement you would have gave us a lesson on how studies can be set up to get a desired result(for the funding company) and you would like to see a study that was independently funded.
Joe
Did you take a few minutes to read some of the comments below the article? I think you will find the issue adequately covered.
the results are off the chain,, try loading for a week…2 wks maintain.3 to 5g.. and after 21 days ..walk away for a week
WILL: YOU ARE ALWAYS FIRST AND ALWAYS THE MOST RELIABLE. THANKS WILL FOR BEING YOU. RICH
Well, I just bought a bunch of KreAkalyn and so thats a lot of money down the drain! At least I know now and will just by CM moving forward.
Hey will, wouldn’t skipping the occasional dose of creatine mono. Be ok if you saturate the muscle full of it, seems that PARTIAL usage of creatine would keep the stores high enough AND possible keep the body from turning off its own ability to produce/utilize creatine , not to mention the fact that I eat meat anyway, recently I read a study on gentlemen who took eight grams three times a week and AS USUAL made great gains on the creatine, your thoughts?
Once the muscle is saturated, my guess is intermittent use, such as the 8g 3 X per week schedule you mention would probably work fine, but we don’t have any real data there, so what the optimal intermittent schedule is is not clear at this time. I can say, occasional skipping of dose should have not negative impact.
So just 1 study suddenly makes it to your “graveyard”??? Are there any other studies saying the same?? Isn’t there like 1500+ studies that say it’s good?? Isn’t the difference between buffered kre-alkalyn and cm is that kre doesn’t turn into creatinine and not how much of actual creatine found in the muscle at the time of testing? Isn’t it possible that whatever amount of creatine was shown in the muscle during tests is the maximum muscle could hold? And the biggest difference is the waste creatinine which is very very bad?
Victor:
“So just 1 study suddenly makes it to your “graveyard”???”
Yup. Unless there’s some study to counter those finding, yup
” Are there any other studies saying the same?? Isn’t there like 1500+ studies that say it’s good??”
1500? There is not one single study showing it to be superior to CM, and the one study where tye were directly compared head to head? You guessed it. It’s the one posted here.
” Isn’t the difference between buffered kre-alkalyn and cm is that kre doesn’t turn into creatinine and not how much of actual creatine found in the muscle at the time of testing?”
No and no.
” Isn’t it possible that whatever amount of creatine was shown in the muscle during tests is the maximum muscle could hold? And the biggest difference is the waste creatinine which is very very bad? ”
You need to take some time and bone up on your knowledge of creatine, which you can do by reading the original grave yard article, as well as my various free articles, and vids found on this site.
Good luck! 🙂
Thanks for the reply…didn’t expect it to be so quick…for 1500+ studies I meant that were done on creatine monohydrate which is what kre-alkalyn is with 1 big difference that it’s stable. ..isn’t why they got patent for it?…I don’t pretend I’m an expert. .if anything I’m new to it but my questions were legitimate. ..as far as your material goes I only read your article in original and updated about creatine plus reading the book about dangers of creatinine by I’m sure you know who…and other replies on here which did raise legitimate questions for me…anyways thanks again for your time…
“Thanks for the reply…didn’t expect it to be so quick…for 1500+ studies I meant that were done on creatine monohydrate”
Yes, done on the monohydrate form only
” which is what kre-alkalyn is with 1 big difference that it’s stable. ..isn’t why they got patent for it?…”
No and no. CM is very stable, and any claims to the contrary are marketing. Again, I recommend you take time to look through this site which can and will answer all of your creatine Qs.
“I don’t pretend I’m an expert. .if anything I’m new to it but my questions were legitimate. ..as far as your material goes I only read your article in original and updated about creatine plus reading the book about dangers of creatinine by I’m sure you know who…and other replies on here which did raise legitimate questions for me…anyways thanks again for your time…”
Hope the info helps, good luck!
Wow…then what did they get patent for? So according to you everybody lied or was deceived including the United States government that granted them the patent for creating pH stable CM!!!
I just read your short creatine book and it’s no help…It says what I’ve read everywhere else about how wonderful creatine is but what what about the side effects? You claim that it’s been proven that it’s safe but basic logic/common sense tells me otherwise. ..if all creatine isn’t stable and turns completely into creatinine within minutes when mixed with water or even seconds with juice because of acidity then how is it safe? You claim that creatinine doesn’t cause kidney failure! Why? Because it’s not instant? Sugar doesn’t give you diabetes but you keep bombarding your body with it and eventually it might…you talk about all the positive things creatine does and it’s probably true but my problem is if creatine turns into creatinine before it reaches muscles then how can it do any of it? Or u dont agree that mixing regular cm with water or juice doesnt turn it into creatinine within minutes/seconds? With available technology it should be easily proved or disproved…and if it was just that then its just waste of money but what about all the waste/creatinine? It’s safe too? Anyways if buffered cm is as good as regular cm wouldn’t it make sense to be safe than sorry and use stable 1 that doesn’t turn into creatinine at all?
“I just read your short creatine book and it’s no help…It says what I’ve read everywhere else about how wonderful creatine is but what what about the side effects? You claim that it’s been proven that it’s safe but basic logic/common sense tells me otherwise.”
Excuse me? Science and data are not trumped by your logic and common sense, I covered the side effects in the book, sorry they don’t agree with your “common sense” which has no bearing on the topic,
” ..if all creatine isn’t stable and turns completely into creatinine within minutes when mixed with water or even seconds with juice because of acidity then how is it safe?”
What part of CM is stable didn’t you understand?
“You claim that creatinine doesn’t cause kidney failure! Why? Because it’s not instant? Sugar doesn’t give you diabetes but you keep bombarding your body with it and eventually it might…you talk about all the positive things creatine does and it’s probably true but my problem is if creatine turns into creatinine before it reaches muscles then how can it do any of it?”
What part of NO don’t you understand? As in NO, it does not covert to creatinine before it reaches the muscles. One type of creatine (CEE) which was also pushed hard as superior to CM did in fact suffer that issue, and is covered in the first article BTW.
” Or u dont agree that mixing regular cm with water or juice doesnt turn it into creatinine within minutes/seconds? With available technology it should be easily proved or disproved…and if it was just that then its just waste of money but what about all the waste/creatinine? It’s safe too? Anyways if buffered cm is as good as regular cm wouldn’t it make sense to be safe than sorry and use stable 1 that doesn’t turn into creatinine at all?”
Now you’re just annoying me or trolling. Last time I’ll this: I Have series of creatine vids here you can watch covering most basic Qs, including stability, etc. I have a ton of free articles, and that ebook you read, which sounds like maybe you need to re read that as you appear to have ignore the parts that didn’t agree with your “common sense” which are various studies that find no toxicity in healthy active people and plenty of potential health benefits.
It’s your money, go purchase “buffered” creatine if you wish, if the marketing of said companies seems to have worked so well on you you’re convinced it will convert to creatinine and the added buffer worth your money, etc. when we science types no it’s not the case and a major recent study showed it.
I’m not interested in debating it further, so unless you have a new Q, please don’t repeat yourself,
Any thoughts on liquid droppers versus dry powder or capsules?
You’ll see liquids of various types listed in the original article linked above. They are not stable regardless of claims. Caps are OK, but far less $$ to simply use powder.
Have been considering creatine nitrate to increase blood flow, up until recently nitrates and nitites were seen as harmful, should these be used sparingly as a supplement or not at all or do the supposed dangers of nitrates just not hold true any longer? Or to cut a long question short, is creatine nitrate safe?
As CM is very safe, the safety aspect would come down to the nitrate aspect. If you do a search on nitrates you’ll find Monica M covers the topic of nitrate supplementation.
Hi Will good articles lots of good info, I keep hearing that there are no side affects to CM and KA I have tried both plus a bunch of others and they all do the same thing to me some worse than others and that is give me the runs badly at the maintenance dose and lower doses. I can get away with a dose of 2gs or less mixed with Fenugreek and some powdered magnesium it takes a little while to feel the benefits but it happens and with out the side effects of having the runs, this has been my experience over the years.
See the graveyard article linked.