Creatine with a transport system: pros and cons

Author: Purik Kirill - manager of the sports nutrition store Atletic-Food.
2014-06-09

Creatine exists in many forms: creatine alkaline, creatine hydrochloride (Con-cret), creatine monohydrate, creatine phosphate, and others.

However, few people consider what these additional names for "creatine" actually mean. Many websites (including Wikipedia) state that creatine is a nitrogen-containing carbon acid. It is also mentioned that there are over 20 types of creatine, including creatine monohydrate.

What many may not know is that many companies use creatine monohydrate as the basis for producing creatine with various transport systems. This means that most supplements featuring transport systems are just creatine monohydrate with various additives.

What exactly does the term “transport systems” mean?

Transport systems are substances that enhance the absorption and biological value of creatine.

Here are the main transport elements:

• Amino acids (arginine, taurine, glutamine),
• Vitamins and minerals (Magnesium, potassium, calcium, vitamins C and E),
• Esters,
• Phosphates,
• Carbohydrates.

It should be noted that transport creatine is usually flavored, unlike monohydrate.

Not all manufacturers use pure substance when producing transport creatine. As mentioned earlier, it is mainly creatine monohydrate. Furthermore, the value of transport creatine remains questionable.

Many people buy transport creatine and simultaneously take individual amino acids, carbohydrates, and vitamins. This is an unnecessary expense, as the substances interact better when taken separately. Typically, the concentration of amino acids or vitamins in creatine supplements is very low.

Thus, it is better to buy creatine monohydrate separately along with amino acids or vitamins to enhance absorption.

New Forms of Creatine

Recently, entirely new forms of creatine have appeared on the market: ethyl ester (Ethyl Ester) and Kre-Alkalyn (Kre-Alkalyn). However, it should be noted that their effectiveness is still in question. For instance, despite positive claims that these forms do not retain water and have high biological value, the substances ester and alkaline negatively impact the gastrointestinal tract.

Creatine and Carbohydrates

When taking creatine together with a gainer (a protein-carbohydrate mix), the effectiveness of creatine increases, thereby increasing the gain in muscle mass. Therefore, when trying to gain mass, it is beneficial to consume creatine with a gainer.

Conclusions

In reality, creatine with transport systems is not as effective as it is marketed. It’s better to buy creatine monohydrate and the transport substances separately. Additionally, the price of creatine with transport systems is significantly higher than that of monohydrate. Many manufacturers indeed use creatine monohydrate as the foundation of the transport creatine rather than pure creatine substance.