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I've read enough posts on here about aminopeptidewhozits and funtibular ligawhetevers that I know there are some eggheads with papers reading this stuff, so help me out.

Just bought a new brand of creatine ("Perfect") that is different from the stuff I used to get: for one, it's sparkly. Practically looks like it's got ground up glass in it.

The really weird thing, though, is that when I try to spoon out some, it sticks out like icicles on all sides of the spoon. Figure it's a static thing, but that's as far as my petty grey matter could take it.

Somebody tell me what the deal is before I start hooking up car batteries and pouring iron filings into my supplements in a juvenile attempt at mad-scientistism.

Careful, it actually IS ground glass.

Great. Halloween all over again.

Creatine monohydrate is clearly the most effective strength- and performance-enhancing supplement ever developed. So, why has it been getting such a bad rap? That’s easy. It’s the same reason that so much of it gets left in your glass: Creatine doesn’t dissolve well in water, and that can cause a number of problems.
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Traditional creatine is only about 30 percent dissolved when you swill it down, so at most only about 1.5 grams are available for delivery.
Contrast that with the new effervescent creatine, which is nearly 100 percent dissolved when you drink it, and you see the obvious superiority. With effervescent creatine all five grams are available for delivery.

That means no more creatine-associated dehydration, diarrhea or cramping. Effervescent creatine is also far superior when it comes to transport across the intestinal cell membranes. Creatine has ionic regions. Parts of the molecule have electric charges, like static electricity, and those ionic regions prevent creatine from passing through the intestine without the use of energy to counteract the electrical repulsion. If the creatine molecule is electrically balanced, or neutral, it’s called a zwitterion and it can pass through the membranes of the intestine without having to use the receptors for extra energy. That’s exactly what effervescent creatine accomplishes. It stabilizes the gastric environment, meaning the stomach and intestines, so the creatine molecules exist as zwitterions.

http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/PDF/suppchps/suppch3.pdf

I dont know a thing about creatine. This is an article I found. But it sounds to me that if your creatine crystals are so ionically charged that you have static "cling" (tee hee hee), then you have the lesser effective form of creatine. But as I said, I dont know about creatine but what I just read. Check it out.

I love your always-thorough responses, Caslon.

x

You'll also get gas the first few days on it... lol

Dissolve your creatine in DMSO... that should help

(btw, i am kidding, please don't do that... i don't want to be sued)

...I've got nothing...

If the name of the product is called "Perfect," I'd personally try to avoid it. I know how some other products that have had similar effects (freezing) but I'm not too sure about the results they produce. Either way, be careful with creatine. Once you finish your supply, you want to stay away from it for at least 2-3 months because of the huge strain it puts on your liver and kidneys. Good luck though!

From what I understand, creatine doesn't do a whole lot to your liver or kidneys... in fact, there's a fair amount of creatine in most food (pork contains a HUGE amount!) Usually, a person's natural intake of creatine is roughly 2-3g a day. With creatine, you want to take about 5g post-workout with juice or, if you're cheap, koolaid.

Your body takes a couple days to adjust to the sudden increase in your creatine load, and this usually results in bloating, mild water-retention, and one hell of a case of gas and/or diarrhea. I usually get the symptoms if I skip a couple days and then get back on. After about a week, you'll notice you're looking a bit bigger and fuller, and you'll be able to lift a bit better and recover a little faster. Creatine's worth it if you can handle the shits for a couple days

EDIT:
Remember to drink a ton of water and keep hydrated when you're using creatine: it's main function is to load as much water into the cells as possible (hence the big, full look) and it sucks up ALL the water in your system! I go through about six to eight liters of water a day keeping up (but I'm also using some other shit to do the same thing.) Remember to keep with it, otherwise your cells will deflate and you'll look like you've just spent two months without hitting the gym.

javaman9999 saidDissolve your creatine in DMSO... that should help

(btw, i am kidding, please don't do that... i don't want to be sued)

maybe you should have said something like 20% PEG, at least it's non toxic (but note to people reading this, don't do it, it's probably not a good idea)

From a science guy.

More than likely the crystalline form and appearance, and the static issues are due to the drying process and/or stabilizers.

Lyophilization can cause the visual appearance you are see as opposed to other processes such as spray drying. The overall appearance depends a lot on the crystalline natural of the molecule. I've never looked at creatine to check its appearance as when I did take it years ago it was in capsule form.

Some of those Creatine supplements are mostly sugar. Sugar is sticky.

that's not science, mike. It's magic!

try GHB instead

I've tried the effervescent creatine and the usual creatine powders - notably MetRx - and the regular stuff seems to go into solution just fine if:

1) you use tepid or warm-ish water instead of cold
2) you stir, let it sit and settle out...
3) and repeat step two until until essentially nothing settles out

That approach seems to address the cramping/gas/bloating problem, which I've been told comes in part from creatine which is NOT in solution drawing water out of the intestines.

J.

I wonder if creatine is more soluble in ethanol... Maybe you could make a creatine cocktail with vodka!

Was reading about the kinetics of cyclization of creatine to creatinine. I do wonder if the increased solubility in dissolving creatine in warm water would be negated by the increase in kinetics...