Creatine is an energy bank, which fulfils your body’s energy requirements for intense training sessions and sports. It comprises of a bunch of essential amino acids which helps in building muscles.
To know more about how creatine supplies energy to our body and helps in muscular growth, please go through the article on “How creatine works”
There are different types of creatine available in the market, with different compositions, concentrations, and benefits. It indeed becomes difficult to choose from among the best creatine types which deliver best effect on our body.
What’s more, the body builders often feel confused like- what type of creatine should I take? But, before taking a leap into the best form of creatine, let us have a look at the popular types of creatine available in the market:
Different Types of Creatine:
1) Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is the purest form of creatine. Monohydrate refers to the composition of creatine- one molecule of water for every molecule of creatine compound.
It is best suited to improve athletic performance, enhance speed, increase muscle volume, and give strength to your body. It is generally taken in two phases- loading phase of 4-5 doses per day for up to 5 days, and then regular phase of one dose each day. Each dose comprises around 5 grams creatine monohydrate.
Similar Article: The Benefits of Creatine Monohydrate Powder
2) Ethyl Ester Creatine
It is a form of creatine monohydrate with ester attached. Ester is formed by replacing the hydrogen of monohydrate molecule by an organic compound. It can be as effective as creatine monohydrate, but with lesser intake (2-3 grams per dose is sufficient). It is available in the form of pills and powder.
3) Tri-Creatine Malate
It is formed with creatine monohydrate and malic acid in the ratio 3:1 respectively. Malic acid is useful for relieving pain and boosting energy. It also increases the solubility of creatine, thus making the supplement easily absorbable.
4) Buffered Creatine
The idea behind this product is that- when creatine is dissolved in water, it gradually starts converting into a bi-product creatinine, gets filtered through the kidneys and passes out in the urine. Creatinine does not contribute into boosting energy.
Buffered creatine is a patented product, which prevents the formation of creatinine after dissolving creatine into milk or water. It also requires lesser total creatine per servings.
5) Micronized Creatine
Smaller the particle, greater is solubility. Micronized creatine works on this principle and smaller particles than regular creatine powder. Similar to creatine monohydrate, it is also taken in larger dose during loading phase and then smaller dose thereafter.
With micronized creatine, you need to drink more water (at least 8-10 glasses of water per day), which eventually is a healthy habit to take in.
6) Liquid Creatine
It is a creatine supplement which comes in a liquid state. There is no loading required for liquid creatine, and it can be taken for days without giving a break. It was once popular, but due to lack of stability, this creatine type is no longer in the good books of the athletes and bodybuilders. It is not as effective as micronized creatine in building muscular mass.
7) Conjugated Creatine
It is a concentrated variant of creatine monohydrate, which requires only one fourth of the normal dose. It gets absorbed faster, and accounts to less total creatine required.
Which Type of Creatine should I buy?
The main aim of all the creatine supplement variants is to provide energy and endurance for sustainable work out sessions. It is always an ongoing research to make the supplement more effective and more adaptable for different body types. So, the manufacturers have come up with different compositions of creatine supplements.
The best form of creatine supplement is the creatine monohydrate with micro particles. It has greater solubility, gets absorbed quickly in the body, and requires a moderate dose as compared to other creatine types. But it is important to ensure that the product you are buying is of good quality and it complies with the nutrition it claims to provide.
For example, MFF creatine 200 mesh brings finest quality 100% pure creatine monohydrate. It has ultra small particle size (200 mesh grade) for faster absorption by the body tissues.
Folks, now that you know the different types of creatine, I guess you can decide yourself the best form of creatine according to your body requirement.