The quality of various types of sports nutrition is a very complex issue. There are too many factors that determine it. The complexity of the issue is illustrated in the material about the harm of sports nutrition.
In this article, we will discuss the existing quality problems of creatine. The information is based on data from the website of a reputable independent laboratory in the USA, consumerlab.com, whose mission is to test the quality of dietary supplements from various brands, including sports nutrition.
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Common quality issues of sports creatine based on independent laboratory tests
After the use of creatine in the body, it is converted into a substance called “creatinine” – a waste product that is usually removed through the kidneys. The level of its content in urine is used to assess kidney function.
When the manufacturing technology is violated or the creatine itself is degraded, some unstable supplements contain a certain amount of creatinine and another byproduct – dicyandiamide.
The most common reason for low-quality creatine is the presence of contaminants such as creatinine and dicyandiamide
In laboratory testing, the quality indicator of creatine is the total amount of by-products of creatinine and dicyandiamide not exceeding 0.1%.
Important
Creatine converts to creatinine in water under acidic conditions [8].
Creatine converts to creatinine – a by-product that is useless for muscle growth in water under acidic conditions
Testing in an independent laboratory revealed issues with liquid forms of creatine: they are characterized by a higher proportion of damaged creatine in the form of creatinine.
Although small amounts of creatinine and dicyandiamide are not harmful to health, they also provide no benefits. Once in the body, they must be eliminated through the kidneys.
This is why manufacturers like to claim that their product is “100% pure,” “99% pure,” or “does not contain dicyandiamide,” because high-quality creatine should not contain these impurities.
The issue of purity is relevant, as the doses in which creatine is taken are relatively large: ~20 g/day (about 4 teaspoons of powder) during the “loading” phase.
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Laboratory analysis shows a high percentage of low-quality creatine in liquid form
In the USA, there is no government quality control for all types of sports nutrition, including creatine. This mission is taken on by a number of independent laboratories, including consumerlab.com.
In the laboratory quality test of creatine, researchers check:
- the correspondence of the ingredient amounts on the packaging to reality;
- the presence of contaminants such as creatinine and dicyandiamide;
- the ability to properly dissolve during the digestive process (for non-chewable and non-oral forms of creatine)
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Results of independent quality testing of creatine supplements
No quality issues were found for powdered and chewable tablet forms of creatine during testing, but all three types of tested liquid supplements failed the test for the following reasons:
Muscle Marketing USA ATP Creatine SerumTM Unisex — Blueberry
The claimed content of the proprietary creatine complex is 250 mg per 5 ml serving, but the exact amount of creatine is not specified.
During testing, it was found that the actual amount of creatine in a serving is 9.2 mg, i.e. less than 5% of the declared amount and significantly lower than what is usually recommended in sports.
In addition to this, a significant amount of creatinine was found – 68 mg – which is more than 7 times compared to creatine.
Thus, at the production stage, 250 mg of proprietary creatine in this product actually contains only ~77 mg of creatine (~27% of the declared amount). This same discrepancy issue for this product was also found in previous tests.
Muscle Marketing USA Endurus Runners Serum Female – Cherry
Contains even less creatine than ATP Creatine SerumTM Unisex Blueberry from the same manufacturer (see above): only 3.7 mg per 5 ml serving.
As with the previous product, the manufacturer claims on the packaging that one 5 ml serving contains 250 mg of proprietary creatine phosphate. However, of the 250 mg, only 1.5% is creatine monohydrate.
The product also contained a fairly large amount of useless creatinine (55 mg – 22% of the serving size).
VPX Creatine Plasma – Grape Flavor
Contained the declared 2.5 g of creatine monohydrate per serving, but it was found that there are 29.4 mg of creatinine and 0.06 mg of dicyandiamide per 10 ml serving (i.e. 1.1% of the amount of creatine in the product, which exceeds the 0.1% accepted as the purity standard).
It should also be noted that the total amount of creatine in supplements from Muscle Marketing USA was very low – less than 20% of the amount used in clinical trials – and absolutely insufficient for a positive effect on muscle mass in bodybuilding. See How to properly take creatine in bodybuilding? The cheapest and most effective method.
All types of creatine in powder and tablet form have undergone quality testing. Most of them provide from 5 to 20 g of creatine monohydrate in a daily serving, as indicated on the label.
Creatine in powder and tablet form is generally recognized as higher quality based on testing results than in liquid form
Regarding one product, Betancourt Nutrition Creatine Chewies, it was unclear how much creatine it actually contained: the packaging only indicated 10.1 grams of “creatine blend,” consisting of two forms – creatine and creatine AKG.
Since different forms provide different amounts of the actual active substance (for example, in monohydrate it is 88%, in AKG creatine – 47.5%), when stating “creatine blend,” it is unclear how much of it is actually contained in a serving.
However, testing showed that this product had at least as much creatine as one would expect from an equivalent dose of creatine monohydrate.
When this same supplement was tested in 2010, the blend consisted of other types of creatine, and the actual beneficial share was 20% less than what could be expected from an equal dose of creatine monohydrate.
Price: Among creatine supplements recognized for quality based on laboratory testing, the price of a serving equivalent to 5 grams of creatine monohydrate ranged from 0.09$ to 1.36$. The cheapest of them is Vitacost Creatine.
To obtain the same amount of creatine from supplements that did not pass testing (Muscle Marketing USA ATP Creatine Serum Unisex Blueberry and Muscle Marketing USA Endurus Runners Serum Female), one would have to pay 191.21$ and 247.03$ (!) respectively, as they contained significantly less.
Among quality creatine supplements, the price of an equivalent dose varies widely from 0.09$ to 1.36$ for 5 g
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Results of independent quality expertise of CREATINE/BCAA complexes
BIORhythm AfterGlow Watermelon
Did not pass the test for two reasons: the form of creatine used is not clearly defined (only the brand “KreAlkalyn” is mentioned) and it contains a small but unacceptable amount of contaminants such as creatinine and dicyandiamide (~0.3% of the amount of creatine).
Compared to other products in this review, the creatine content in a serving is small (~0.5 g), although the amount of KreAlkalyn creatine is comparable and possibly even higher than in an equivalent serving of creatine monohydrate.
(Despite the lack of information about the form of creatine, the manufacturer’s website states that it is a buffered form. In one study commissioned by the manufacturer of creatine monohydrate, it was shown that KreAlkalyn is not more effective than creatine monohydrate.
Six Star Pro Nutrition Creatine X3 – Fruit Punch
Was approved, as was Body Fortress Super Advanced Creatine – Fruit Punch. It should be noted, however, that both of these products describe the composition of creatine and BCAAs in terms of blends of various forms of these substances, rather than a list of specific amounts of each ingredient.
It was found that the creatine content in the Body Fortress and Six Star blends is 83.9% and 88%, respectively, each providing more than 10 times the amount of creatine per serving compared to the BIORhythm AfterGlow product.
The description of BCAA blends in both of these products lists taurine as the first and therefore the most important ingredient. Testing showed that only about 5 – 10% of each of these blends were BCAAs.
| Name | Test Result | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Creatine (powder and tablets) | ||
| Betancourt Nutrition Chewies | Yes | |
| BodyTech® 100% Pure Creatine Monohydrate | Yes | |
| EAS® Phos HP – Fruit Punch | Yes | |
| MusclePharm® Creatine | Yes | |
| “ON Micronized Creatine Powder | Yes | |
| Vitacost® Creatine | Yes | |
| Creatine (liquid form) | ||
| Muscle Marketing USA ATP Creatine Serum Unisex- Blueberry | No | The detected “serum creatine” contains only 3.7% of the amount of creatine that could be obtained from an equivalent serving (0.25 g) of creatine monohydrate. Detected 68 mg of the contaminant creatinine per 5 ml serving (27% of the found amount of creatine) |
| Muscle Marketing USA Endurus Runners Serum Female – Cherry | No | The detected “Creatine Phosphate Complex” provides only 1.5% of the amount of creatine that could be obtained from an equivalent serving (0.25 g) of creatine monohydrate. Detected 55 mg of the contaminant creatinine per 5 ml serving (22% of the found amount of creatine) |
| VPX Creatine Plasma – Grape Flavor | No | Detected 29.4 mg of the contaminant creatinine and 0.06 mg of dicyandiamide per 10 ml serving (1.1% of the found amount of creatine) |
| Combined Creatine/BCAA Supplements | ||
| BIORhythm AfterGlow – Watermelon | No | The labeling does not meet the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): the exact composition of the creatine complex KreAlkalyn and the BCAA complex “Amino acids AKG” of proprietary production is not specified. Contaminants creatinine and dicyandiamide were found (0.3% of the found amount of creatine) |
| Body Fortress® Super Advanced Creatine – Fruit Punch | Yes | |
| Six Star Pro Nutrition Creatine X3TM – Fruit Punch | Yes | |
