So I haven’t gotten all the details yet but would love to see your thoughts on if one is better than the other? If they’re the same? Let me know your thoughts and once I get a reply from Dr. Jeff Golini from EFX Sports I will let you know what he says! I believe they even have the studies/trials one of their websites I’m going to link later!
It worked for me about 5-6 years ago, still, it’s usually more expensive than basic mono.
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I never believed in one variant being dominant over another. I prefer certain variants because there’s other benefits that come with the bond. Creatine MagnaPower being an example… Bonding it with chelated magnesium makes me feel better about hydration and electrolyte issues.
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Just use regular creatine monohydrate. There is a reason why its been around the longest…Its effective. Not to mention, the most studied. Plus, if Kre-Alkalyn was so good, it would be made by about every supplement company and be included in pre workout formulas.
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I think this is a well done and very digestible analysis of the difference between forms of creatine. Kre-Alkalyn is discussed starting around the bottom of page 17. It’s a perfect example of how studies funded by the producer can come up with vastly different results than independent studies.
The whole thing is worth scanning through if you have time. My biggest takeaway is that solubility and benefits are closely linked. Makes sense why anecdotally people prefer micronized over non-micronized monohydrate. It also explains why people can have digestive issues when taking creatine. It won’t dissolve substantially in the stomach, and it doesn’t dissolve well in cold water, so if you drink water with creatine suspended in it, it’ll just settle as powder in your stomach and intestines and cause the cramping and diarrhea that people complain about.
It’s hard to justify any form of creatine having more efftiveness, and certainly no better value, than micronized creatine monohydrate.
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Seems best to just stick with Monohydrate. Kre-Alkalyn is much too expensive for the majority of athletes, especially for such limited research on it.
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@Robert recently emailed CJ and I a link/study about how Creatine HCl works well if you take it in the same dose as mono. Now I can’t find it though. Robert do you have it?
I never liked the whole “2g creatine HCl” thing. How dumb is that?
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That is an amazing read. I hope someone drafts something like this with what we’re using these days for uptake.
Here’s the link you were looking for @Mike
Basically both improved strength the same but HCl had a minor improvement in lean body mass. That may be due to HCl being absorbed faster you can get the same effects from mono but it may take a bit longer (the study was only 4 weeks long and mono has been shown to improve body mass in previous studies).
Also a good read:
https://medium.com/@anthonyroberts/everything-wrong-with-creatine-hydrochloride-424a8ceea6a4
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Love the article you linked. Certainly enlightening and helpful to clear up this new buzz and confusion around the HCl version.
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Kre-Alkalyn is just made by buffering Creatine to reduce it being denatured. So, mixing your Mono with baking soda, an acidity buffer, which is superbly cheap, achieves the exact same result as buying the stupendously overpriced Kre-Alkalyn.
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Sorry been lagging on posting the link to their study on it, lots of college hw.
It was done by him, but your own choice to believe if they chose results that makes the product look better than another. Anyways here you go if anyone is still interested!
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CM is the cheapest and theres little reason to use something else if you are looking at it from a cost benefit standpoint.
CHCL is more water soluble so its nice if you want something easily mixable/a premium feel to the product.
CALK is creatine with a lower PH to prevent degradation in water, which stops working as soon as the ph is different, only situation i can think of for it being good is in a ready to drink product, assuming it doesn’t degrade into creatinine(I am unclear on how well it stops the degradation).
But yes just adding a bit of baking soda to your creatine will work, and also break patent law but I would argue it wouldn’t hold up for being too obvious.
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Baking soda in and of itself is a performance booster too!
There’s a bunch of studies, that’s just one I believe
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Yep, Do note the dose how ever(The study looked at 0.4 gram per KG of body weight, so thats looking at allot of baking soda)(much much more then is in Krealykn if anyone is wondering).
Most of the benefits are due to a lowered PH I believe. Eating an alkaline diet or supplementing it at a smaller dose daily might give benefits but I have not seen to much research on that outside of elderly population. All of that said it seems beta-alanine does a similar thing and stacking both doesn’t seem to add up enough to make it worth investing in. Well maybe as a poor man’s beta-alanine.
If only there was a patent version of this.
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I’ve heard before (but I’ve never verified) that kre-alkalyn is 97% creatine, leaving very little space for any real amount of buffering ingredient. I also know Dr. Golini has sued almost every researcher that’s published studies showing negative results on kre-alkalyn. Additionally, the concept of buffering creatine seems to be flawed. Most of the research I’ve seen shows creatine to be relatively stable in water. There’s also been an article on SuppVersity showing creatine is relatively stable at extremely low pH (<2). Therefore, if taken on an empty stomach, there should be no trouble taking monohydrate. Apparently stability goes down in the pH 3-4 range, which is often seen following meals, making creatine less optimal if taken with food. Given the minimal available space for buffering agents in kre-alkalyn, it could possibly (not conclusively) raise stomach pH into a range in which it actually breaks down faster. I’d stay away from kre-alkalyn, but if you are overly concerned with the pH, as others have said, throw in baking soda.
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HCl, nitrate and magnesium are the forms that i like for myself. But what about Micronized. I follow brands like AI sports and their creatine is micronized, but how well micronized is it?
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But it is patented by EFX
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Given how nearly nobody gets enough magnesium unless they’re supplementing before bed or whatever, this is never a bad idea to consider taking. Get it wherever you can.
Ha, there’s definitely some “micronized” powders I’ve used that were like 40 grit sandpaper. Anyone can write Micronized on a tub!
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