Why Creatine Monohydrate Doesn’t Work! by Jason Mathas

Creatine is one of the most well known supplements for increasing strength and muscle mass. Amazingly, it’s been around for almost 10 years. Take a minute to see what other supplements were around 10 years ago…and are still successful today. Remember boron, ferulic acid, gamma oryzanol to name a few?…probably not. Aside from protein powders/meal replacements, essentially there aren’t any “anabolic supplements” that have demonstrated the staying power of creatine.

Good News/Bad News Creatine Works Great for Some People… Just Not for You!

So if creatine is so great and has stood the test of time…how is it possible that it doesn’t work? Well, that’s an excellent question, and the key to your future muscle and strength gains is found in the answer. But before I send you on your way to build the powerful, chiseled physique you’ve been working so hard for—but have yet to attain—let’s backtrack just a bit. Sure creatine is practically a household word in the bodybuilding industry, still many people—even the majority who take it on a regular basis—don’t really have much of an idea as to what it is or why it works for them. I’m sure you’ve heard creatine is supposed to give you a great pump…that makes you feel like your muscles are gonna burst through your skin. And creatine is supposed to turn what used to be your 1-rep max on bench press and squats (and other exercises) into a weight you can handle for 5, 8 even 10 reps within a matter of a few weeks.

Hey, that sounds great, so who cares what creatine is…as long as it works…what’s the difference? But that’s what it’s supposed to do. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way for most people who’ve tried creatine. If you’re reading this, you’re probably among those who haven’t had the pleasure of being a creatine responder. Why doesn’t it work for you? That’s the right question. The right answer will soon be revealed.

But, for the rare few who’ve experienced the benefits of creatine, it’s hard to argue with that “unconcerned with details” logic. As long as it works, that’s all that matters. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Well, it may not be broken for the “easy responder”…but what about the rest of us? Creatine’s not just “broke”, it’s completely bankrupt. So, do we just give up on creatine, and leave the phenomenal muscle and strength gains for the few who respond to basic creatine monohydrate? Luckily, there is good news…if you’re looking for a way to maximize your efforts, get the most out of every workout and minimize any wasted time, energy, and money…there’s something you must know about creatine.

Creatine is a combination of 3 amino acids (arginine, glycine and methionine), but is not stable once it is introduced into the human body. That’s why it has to be bonded with something. You’re, of course, familiar with creatine monohydrate…maybe you’ve even heard of the lesser known creatine phosphate. Both monohydrate and phosphate bind with creatine to stabilize it so that the potency and chemical properties of creatine remain intact during manufacturing, packaging, shipping…right up to point where you mix it into a delicious anabolic cocktail.

Creatine Is Not Easily Absorbed by the Body

But, while every attempt is made to maintain the integrity of creatine…there’s still a major problem. Creatine is not easily absorbed by the body. To many creatine users and manufacturers, that point seems somewhat insignificant. But if you’re at all interested in utilizing one of the most amazing muscle building and strength enhancing supplements legally available, it is of major importance.

Once creatine enters your body, all the precautions and efforts to stabilize the compound are now rendered practically useless because your body is not designed to handle, absorb, and utilize creatine monohydrate, creatine phosphate or any type of creatine that is bound to something else.

This is why diarrhea, nausea, bloating, gas, cramping, etc…are often the unwelcome bedfellows of creatine use. For most, the pain and discomfort…basically the agony…of taking creatine, far outweighed the potential benefits. Sure some people got results using creatine, just like some people bench 225 their first time in the gym or build 19 inch arms without any real commitment…genetics play a role in this. Just as some people are genetically predisposed to being superior physical specimens, some people are genetically more able to absorb and digest certain foods…and in this case, certain supplements, namely creatine.

But just because a few people are able to make gains with the most basic forms of creatine, doesn’t automatically translate into it being the best possible product. So if creatine is unstable and creatine monohydrate is not easily absorbed by the body…how do you solve this “Catch-22”?

Let’s say you’re driving a fast car, like a Porsche…and you’re speeding on the freeway…you’re approaching 70 mph. But the ride is not smooth and you’re not even going as fast as some VWs. You can’t figure it out. The Porsche is clearly superior to the VW, yet the ride is far from what you expect it to be. What’s the problem? How can this happen? Well, you come to find out the emergency brake was on in the Porsche the whole time…no wonder performance was severely limited and impaired. Once the emergency brake was released, all of a sudden the Porsche drove like the dream it is. What’s this got to do with creatine? Well, using creatine without a highly efficient delivery system is like driving a Porsche with the emergency brake on. Clue #1: The effectiveness of creatine has something to do with the delivery system.

But back to some “drawing board” solutions. Since creatine wasn’t easily absorbed in the form of creatine monohydrate, initially some people figured, “hey let’s just take more”. They assumed that since absorption is limited, simply taking more would increase the amount of creatine that would be absorbed. So if less than 1 gram of creatine was absorbed for every 5 grams taken…then, logically, if you take 25 grams, you’ll absorb about 5 grams. Mathematically it works. Hey, mathematically an equal dose of a sedative counteracts the effects of an amphetamine. Skewed logic doesn’t usually result in the right answer, though. In the real world of practical application, the megadosing of creatine, was a real blow to the gut…a low blow, if you get my drift.

Next up in the wonderful world of creatine creativity. Since megadosing creatine didn’t work…“Wait, I’ve got it all figured out now…let’s take it with grape juice”—a simple sugar—which will cause an insulin spike, thus carrying the creatine with it and driving the creatine into the bloodstream. Of course you’ve heard of the “take creatine with grape juice” theory. Well I don’t like grape juice…and that solution was severely lacking. Here’s why.

While an insulin spike will cause the nutrients in the bloodstream to be more quickly and completely transported to the muscle cells, an insulin spike will not increase the amount of free creatine that actually gets into the bloodstream. Sure it gets the small amount of active creatine to the muscles, but as a solution it’s similar to a bus that picks up only 2 members of a football team and drives them really fast to the stadium for the Superbowl…but neglects to bring the rest of the team. It’s not really a solution at all.

If you take a 5 gram serving of creatine monohydrate with grape juice, the grape juice does not have any effect on the amount of free creatine (free=useable by the body). If your body was able to effectively utilize 10-20 % of a dose of creatine monohydrate (it’s doubtful that the percentage is even that high, but for discussion purposes we’ll give regular creatine the benefit of the doubt), that’s still only 1/2-1 gram of creatine available for anabolic (muscle building) purposes. Not really a very good tradeoff, especially given the fact that the creatine that isn’t freed or unbound, is left in your stomach to wreak havoc on your digestive system. Remember the upset stomach, the runs, the gut wrenching pain?

So creatine monohydrate isn’t broken down very easily. And creatine monohydrate with grape juice isn’t really much better. Of course the next step was simply a modification of creatine monohydrate with grape juice. You’re no doubt familiar with many of the famous creatine monohydrate “transport” supplements that incorporate combinations of carbohydrates with varying glycemic indexes for quick and sustained release etc… While these products were more sophisticated (in design) than creatine with grape juice, they still did not address the limiting factor: poor absorption of creatine monohydrate. Despite all the fancy ingredients added, like alpha lipoic acid, lysophosphatidylcholine etc…none of them had any effect on making creatine more absorbable by the body. So you got megadoses of carbs (sugars) and increased doses of creatine (along with many “bells and whistles” extra ingredients), but you didn’t experience a significant improvement of the body’s ability to process and absorb creatine monohydrate.

But, as you know, creatine products—in their most basic form and as a mixture with carbs added—have flooded the market over the past several years and have been met with great success. So obviously there must be some validity to the effectiveness of creatine. It can’t be completely worthless. Yes, that’s true. But the success of inferior creatine products is more a testament to the amazing potency of creatine than to the formulations on the market.

Just because something works relatively well, doesn’t mean it can’t be significantly improved. Remember cell phones from 10 years ago? They looked like military “walkie talkies” and weighed about 10 pounds. They cut out if you turned your head and radiated into your brain. But, they worked. You could make a call without being connected to a land line or using a pay phone that some bum might have recently turned into his own personal outhouse. But, given the progress of cell phones 10 years later: tiny in size, lightweight…well, the clear connection and radiation may not have been completely fixed…but you get the picture. But imagine if people had been satisfied with what was cutting edge 10 years ago? You can’t imagine it, because it’s ludicrous. That’s kind of like using outdated creatine monohydrate.

Yet, in spite of primitive delivery systems, creatine still resulted in beneficial effects. If creatine was powerful enough to overcome inefficient delivery systems, imagine what it would do for strength and muscle gains if it was combined with the perfect delivery system? You don’t have to imagine for long…keep reading. In late 1998, finally, a legitimate solution appeared that actually approached the problem of creatine monohydrate absorption from a logical standpoint. In order to absorb and use creatine monohydrate, the monohydrate bond that keeps creatine stable before entering the body must be broken once it enters the body. At last this major stumbling block was considered. Sure monohydrate was great for binding creatine and making it stable, the problem was that after it entered the body, the monohydrate was reluctant to let go of the creatine. We were talking about the football team, remember? Imagine a rookie scoring his first touchdown and then refusing to let go of the ball once he got into the end zone…and there’s only one ball left in the stadium. The game’s over. Monohydrate wouldn’t let go of the creatine very easily. So little escaped its stranglehold.

But once it was discovered that if the pH of creatine was altered, with a cutting edge delivery system, so that the monohydrate bond would be easily broken, instantly a quantum leap occurred in terms of how effective and potent creatine supplementation actually is. With this major discovery, creatine was finally available to work its magic in the body, instead of wreaking its havoc on the potty. The pitfalls of basic creatine products had been due to the fact the monohydrate bond could not be broken, so very little of the creatine ever made it through the stomach intact. Most simply remained as bonded creatine monohydrate in the stomach or degraded to the creatine waste product creatinine.

But with this major alteration to creatine monohydrate (effervescent creatine) came the most amazing results. The creatine was actually being absorbed by the body and driven into the muscle cells…causing unheard of strength and muscular weight gains. Before this, only mild steroid cycles had been able to deliver these types of results. But now, a safe and legal alternative was mimicking the results of potent drugs.

But the Introduction of Effervescent Creatine Also Came With a Steep Price Tag

Sure this was a quantum leap forward in creatine delivery technology…in supplement delivery technology in general, since the effervescent technology was borrowed from the pharmaceutical industry. But along with the good, also came a little bad. For years creatine monohydrate had been one of the most reasonably priced supplements on the market. That’s probably one reason why so many people used it, despite its relative ineffectiveness. It was cheap and affordable…so even if it didn’t work miracles, you wouldn’t end up in the poor house while taking it with regularity. But the introduction of effervescent creatine also came with a steep price tag. Unfortunately, the quantum leap in absorption technology was also accompanied by a quantum leap in price. The 5-gram serving of powdered creatine that once cost just pennies, now skyrocketed to nearly $2.00 in the form of effervescent creatine. In spite of its higher price tag, people gladly paid for the results it delivered, as well as the negative side-effects it eliminated.

As you’ve, no doubt, observed over the past few years, the cutting edge of bodybuilding supplementation is not a fixed point. What was once cutting edge, often becomes obsolete in a matter of months. That doesn’t necessarily mean the product was never any good, simply that the progressions and discoveries made involving supplements are so rapid that unless something is truly revolutionary it will be surpassed in a relatively short time. Effervescent creatine was a revolutionary introduction…it is a revolutionary product and continues to be one.

Still, the price prevents many people from using it with regularity. It’s simply too costly. Given the manufacturing processes and packaging necessities, it’s no wonder it costs more. So, at last, a nearly perfect creatine supplement is available, but it’s still got a major drawback…the price is too damn high! What’s the answer? Well, since I already know it…it seems pretty simple to me. Think about it. All you need is a creatine product that does the same thing effervescent creatine does, but costs about the same as the basic creatine products. That’s like saying all you need is a Marshall Faulk or Kurt Warner on your team, as long as he’ll play for the league minimum salary…it ain’t gonna happen. Well, in pro football, that type of win-win will definitely not happen. But when it comes to creatine…you’re in luck.

Taking the premise of a technologically advanced creatine supplement with an affordable price tag, the ultimate creatine delivery system was recently formulated and invented. It’s called buffered creatine and is the result of years of research and development. Buffered creatine is the ideal creatine product because it’s easily absorbed once it enters the body and doesn’t require the excessive manufacturing processes and price tag of effervescent creatine. Buffered creatine does everything effervescent creatine can for less money because its brilliant design doesn’t require the effervescent process.

It’s appropriately called CreaSol because it is the perfect creatine solution. CreaSol…Creatine Solution…get it? This amazing new creatine solves the problems of absorption and excessive cost in one fell swoop.

To truly appreciate the greatness and revolutionary design of CreaSol, think about this. Imagine you’re going skydiving with a parachute in a pack strapped to your back…The pack is the monohydrate bond. The chute is the creatine. With regular creatine monohydrate, when you pull the ripcord to release the chute…the chute doesn’t open…well, it might open a little bit, but not enough to catch any air to prevent you from plummeting to the ground and becoming “high speed dirt”. With creatine monohydrate transport products, the main ripcord still doesn’t work, so the reserve cord is pulled…but it still doesn’t open the chute fully. The result is the same.

But with effervescent creatine, the ripcord is pulled, the chute opens and you land safely on the ground, intact. But when you get to the ground and check the price of your ride, you realize you can’t afford to make a habit of skydiving. This is where CreaSol (buffered creatine) comes to the rescue. You pull the ripcord, the chute opens, and you land safely...with money to spare. It’s win-win. CreaSol works phenomenally well and is reasonably priced.

If you’ve taken creatine monohydrate with mixed results or if you’ve never taken creatine, get ready to experience the most amazing strength gains and rapid increases in the quality of your muscularity as well as overall muscle mass. With CreaSol, your body will absorb the muscle building, strength enhancing nutrients creatine provides with almost 100% efficiency. When this happens you’ll finally understand how powerful a perfect combination can be. You will be in charge of using CreaSol to unlock the full potential of your physique.

I demonstrated several reasons why creatine monohydrate doesn’t work…well, CreaSol has proven me wrong…in a huge way. But for once in my life I’m only too happy to acknowledge my mistake. By combining technological sophistication with affordability, CreaSol will maximize muscle mass and strength gains, while simultaneously going easy on your wallet. The massive, vascular, powerful physique you’ve always wanted, along with the head-turning, heavy poundage lifting strength in the gym are just a phone call away. IM

Buy CreaSol Now