Does It Matter What Type of Creatine You Use?
Creatine is one of the only ergogenic supplements that is proven to work. That's why dozens of supplement companies have creatine products on the market. They try to distinguish themselves from each other with subtle differences in their fomulations, which, each company claims, make all the difference in terms of results. Is this really true? A new study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests not.
The authors of the study compared the effects of three different types of creatine--creatine monohydrate, tri-creatine cytrate, and creatine pyrvate--on plasma creatine concentrations and pharmacokinetics. Six healthy subjects were randomly assigned to consume a single dose of one of the three supplements. Plasma creatine concentration curves were determined by measurements taken over the next eight hours.
The researchers found that creatine pyruvate resulted in a 17% higher peak level of plasma creatine compared to creatine monohydrate and a 14% higher peak level of plasma creatine compared to tri-creatine cytrate. Despite the higher peak concentration with creaine pyruvate, there was no difference between the estimated velocity constants of absorption or elimination between the three treatments.
The authors concluded that despite the higher plasma creatine concentrations resulting from creatine pyruvate ingestion, "Differences in bioavailability are thought to be unlikely since absorption of [creatine monohydrate] is already close to 100%. The small differences in kinetics are unlikely to have any effect on muscle creatine elevation during periods of creatine loading." |
