Creatine Supplements (Capsules, Tabs & Powder) • HSN
Creatine is an interesting food supplement for every athlete. It is an organic acid produced in the liver from 3 amino acids called L-arginine, glycine and L-methionine.
It is then stored in the muscle fibres. Of course, we are talking about an organic substance in the body.
Having said that, if you are a regular gym user, you will agree with us that creatine is the most popular and widely used food supplement, along with whey protein.
How can you remedy this? By using creatine supplements as part of your daily dietary routine.
In the case of vegans or vegetarians, this aspect takes on particular importance, as they have to cover the deficiencies inherent in a diet that does not include animal protein sources. It has been observed that vegetarians have lower intramuscular creatine reserves, which is why greater benefits can be observed in this population group when they supplement their diet with this food supplement.
How does Creatine work?
Creatine serves as the structural basis for phosphocreatine, a molecule that is stored in our muscle tissue and used as a rapid recovery energy reserve for times when we perform more intense physical exercise, experience muscle fatigue and need to recover quickly.
Creatine enters the muscle cell (muscle fibres) via specific transporters, where it is phosphorylated to form phosphocreatine by the enzyme creatine phosphokinase (CPK or CKP).
1. When muscle tissue contracts, it breaks phosphate bonds from ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate), which provide a large amount of energy that allows the fibres to contract.
2. The degraded ATP is transformed into ADP (adenosine di-phosphate), and we could say that it "loses its potential to provide energy".
3. CPK is able to remove the phosphate it added to creatine from the cells to donate it to ADP so that it is no longer di-phosphate, but tri-phosphate (again ATP).
Increasing the availability of creatine in the cells increases the ability to resynthesise, or recover energy quickly, without the need for prolonged breaks.
Who can take Creatine?
- It can be used by any healthy adult of legal age.
- Any athlete, male or female, young or old, can benefit from the positive effects of creatine on athletic performance. The effects are most noticeable in older people, adults over 55 years of age.
- Nowadays it is difficult to find a regular gym user or high-performance athlete who is not using creatine monohydrate as a supplement to their diet.
Benefits of creatine
A trendy food supplement among athletes, and it's no coincidence, as many are already using it to improve their training sessions and perform at their best.
IMPROVES TRAINING PERFORMANCE
HELP IN GAINING MUSCLE MASS
It's able to increase performance in sessions where efforts are short (in duration) and intense; such as in:
- HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions. Team sports training (Basketball, Handball, Futsal, Volleyball, etc). CrossFit® and other high intensity sports disciplines, such as combat sports.
Reducing the recovery time required between sets to re-express maximum muscle contractile capacity.
Creatine has been shown, at doses of at least 3 grams per day, consumed long-term, without breaks, to amplify the effects of weight training in adults over 55 years of age who are exposed to a specific training regimen.
Amongst its effects are increased strength, an adaptation of training with loads, which creatine is able to enhance.
The positive effects of creatine on muscle strength might be due to increased lean mass, another of the adaptations of weight training, which appears to be directly related to the ability to express strength.
Much research points to the positive potential of creatine on lean mass gain in older adults, as an adaptation to weight training. (Chiliback et al., 2017), which, in essence, can enhance strength building.
Creatine is your best ally in weight training for muscle development!
It hasn't been unequivocally associated with improved post-workout recovery. Creatine may increase the speed of recovery between high intensity, short duration efforts by increasing the availability of energy donors; hence the improved performance in this type of training.
Creatine: Supplement suitable for vegetarians
Creatine monohydrate is developed from the high-pressure mixture of sarcosine and cyanamide, two chemical compounds that result in the synthesis of creatine monohydrate.
Creatine is not made with any ingredients of animal origin, meaning it's a food supplement completely suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
It is important to highlight that the company where it is purchased from has the HACCP/HACCP certification that guarantees that during the whole development process the ingredients are not in contact with other ingredients of animal origin that could "contaminate" the product, making it unsuitable for vegans.
Types of Creatine
Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is the most-studied creatine, belonging to the exclusive group with the highest degree of evidence of efficacy and safety.
Its creatine content as a base molecule is approximately 88% of its total composition, and its bioavailability in the body is very high, making it the best value for money option for most users of this food supplement.
You can find various Creatine monohydrate products at HSN:
Creapure
Non Creapure
Both with maximum purity.
Kre-Alkalyn®
Kre-Alkalyn is a brand registered with the All American Pharmaceutical and Natural Foods Corporation, which develops a buffered creatine monohydrate, or alkaline pH, corrected to 12.
This pH-corrected modification is associated with a higher bioavailability of creatine in the body, higher absorption and better uptake by cells, so the recommended daily dose is usually lower than other forms of creatine monohydrate.
How to take creatine?
There are 3 ways:
-
Continuously over time, in a general dosage of 3g.
-
Continuously over time, at a individualised dose of 1g/10kg of body weight.
-
In a loading phase that goes from high to low. It starts with a dose of 10-20g for one week, followed by a phase with doses of 5-10g for 3-4 weeks and finally a break of two weeks.
It has long been recommended that creatine monohydrate should be used in conjunction with a high glycaemic index carbohydrate source such as sugar or honey, as the release of insulin appears to maximise creatine uptake into muscle cells.
However, the relevance of this possible effect is negligible, as due to the mechanisms of action of the compound, long-term consumption maximises its effects, simply by consuming it mixed in water.
Below you'll find a table in which you can obtain more visual information on how to take creatine monohydrate:
| Protocol |
Daily Quantity |
Duration |
| General Dose (Recommended) |
3 grams |
Continuous |
| Individualised Dose (Not recommended) |
1 gram x 10 kg of body weight |
Continuous |
| With Loading Phase (Not recommended) |
10-20 grams
5-10 grams
0 gramos
|
1 week
3-4 weeks
2 weeks
|
You can mix creatine in your bcaa’s or protein shake, and you can also combine it with glutamine or taurine, without problems, as it doesn't interfere with its absorption or its action in the body.
It is not necessary to discontinue the use of creatine – although it’s often been recommended to stop consumption for periods to increase its effectiveness, this hasn't been demonstrated and would be counterproductive, as in order to maintain the effects of creatine, the intracellular concentration reached must be maintained, which is essentially achieved by using quantities of 3 grams of creatine.
How much Creatine should you take?
It will depend on the strategy employed, according to the conditions set out above. At HSN we recommend you follow the recommended instructions for use of the food supplements purchased. The instructions for use of our creatine monohydrates (all of them, except Evokalyn) is 3 grams a day. It is not recommended to exceed the dosage expressly recommended on the product.
Expert opinions on Creatine
Creatine monohydrate is, without a doubt, the most promising food supplement for increasing athletic performance today.
Its cost-benefit ratio is excellent, due to the almost total absence of reports of adverse effects, good magnitude of the positive effects, and the low selling price of the food supplement.
Creatine is a product that you should take every day.
Best time to take Creatine
There is no one best time of day to use creatine. Its effects are identical whether it is taken in the morning, afternoon or evening.
Although many people associate creatine with an "energy" food supplement and therefore think it shouldn't be used at night, creatine has no stimulant compound and therefore has no contraindications for its use at night. In fact, many people use it before going to sleep, as it is a simple practice to avoid forgetting to take it.
Precautions when taking creatine
- Creatine is a very safe food supplement, which has been tested even on children and sick people with various conditions. However, food supplements are intended for use by adults of legal age and should be kept out of the reach of children.
If you suffer from any medical condition, or are undergoing drug treatment, you should contact your doctor before using creatine as a food supplement.
- There are no reports of toxicity associated with creatine when it is purchased in places that are properly licensed for its production and distribution.
However, in the medical literature, there are thousands of case studies that expose situations of toxicity or unexpected adverse effects due to the acquisition of food supplements from producers that do not have properly certified safety and quality control measures.
- At HSN, we develop the food supplements we sell in our own factory, which has certifications attesting to good production practices.
The only precaution, if you are a healthy person, that you should take when buying a creatine-based food supplement, is to make sure that the quality of the manufacturer that markets it.
How do you accelerate the effects of Creatine?
The effects of creatine can be accelerated by performing a pre-loading phase, of up to 20 grams per day for 5-7 days, and consuming it together with a source of sugars.
At HSN we strongly advise against this practice, and recommend using creatine according to the recommended use stated on the food supplement.
In approximately in 3-4 weeks the point achieved is the same, whether or not the loading phase is performed, so it should be avoided.
Where can I buy creatine?
You can find Creatine monohydrate at HSN, of the highest quality, your best food supplement.
All HSN food supplements are developed in our own factory, located in Spain and governed under the framework of the decisions established by the European Commission and the national executing body: AESAN.
Our laboratory is accredited with internationally recognised certifications that audit the factory on a regular basis, guaranteeing the total and complete traceability of the process of each product that arrives at the home of each of our customers.
We have:
GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE
Ensuring the lawful practice of product development and its content.
HAZARD ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS
This guarantees the follow-up after analysis of the possible hazards of the development process, throughout the entire production chain.
ISO8
It guarantees the treatment of products in clean rooms, with a particle filtration system that guarantees the absence of environmental contamination of any kind.
Top quality creatine from HSN at the lowest price. No intermediaries!
At HSN we are once again committed to quality, insisting on our commitment to the most internationally recognised raw materials.
You can find creatine with Creapure® raw material and its alternative used with a raw material of the highest quality, but without an associated registered trademark.
The entire development process is done in-house in our own factory, unlike other brands that distribute food supplements. In our case, there are no intermediaries that make the process more expensive:
The raw material arrives directly from the supplier. The food supplement or food preparation is developed in our plant, where quality control tests are carried out, it is stored in our warehouses, and it’s distributed directly from there.
That is why HSN's prices are so competitive, because as a consumer you are buying directly from the manufacturer, which is the distributor itself.
Find the highest quality Creatine monohydrate at the right price with HSN.
What can I combine with creatine?
Creatine can be combined with many food supplements as it has no negative interactions, and athletes use it for the benefit of all.
WITH NITRIC OXIDE
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Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid, which is particularly important for athletes undergoing high-intensity and long-duration training as it is the main amino acid present in muscle tissue.
Many experts are in favour of including its combined use as a post-workout drink.
The consumption of Creatine with Glutamine is recommended for any sportsperson and/or athlete who carries out moderately intense training. An example of this could be Weight Training.
Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid, used especially by athletes in anaerobic disciplines.
Its combination with creatine is a highly recommended and widespread practice.
You can find it in products such as Evordx 2.0
Between 2019 and 2020, a series of studies on athletes were published in which it was shown that the combination of creatine with HMB, a metabolite of the amino acid L-Leucine, was superior to the separate use of the compounds.
The research group of Fernández-Landa, a member of the Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy at the University of León (Spain), is responsible for these findings.
The combination of Creatine with nitric oxide precursors is very popular among athletes seeking maximum performance, as a pre-workout.
You can combine creatine monohydrate with:
To achieve this desired combination.
You can also find it, already formulated, in the Evobomb pre-workout.
Natural sources of creatine
Creatine is a compound that occurs naturally in the body of mammals, from guanidinoacetate in the kidney.
Meat and certain fish are therefore particularly rich in this organic acid.
Here's a short list of foods with creatine:
| Food |
Quantity of creatine |
| Pork |
5g/1000g |
| Beef |
4,5g/1000g |
| Salmon |
4,5g/1000g |
| Tuna |
4g/1000g |
| Cod |
3g/1000g |
| Sole |
2g/1000g |
| Milk |
0,1g/1000g |
| Prawn |
Traces |
| Fruits |
Traces |
| Vegetables |
Traces |
| Cereals |
Traces |
Getting effective amounts of creatine from the usual dietary foods is very inefficient, as to obtain an ergogenic dose of this compound (3g) from pork (the richest source of this compound), we would need to eat more than half a kg per day.
For this reason, food supplementation is advisable.
Which is the best creatine brand?
Many companies manufacture creatine, but, of all of them, the most important is AlzChem, with its Creapure® patent.
Creapure is micronised Creatine Monohydrate of the highest purity >98%.
It is known worldwide for the quality control that the company that manufactures it applies in its development processes.
This results in a creatine monohydrate with very low levels of diciandiamide (DCD) and Dihydro-1,3,5-triazine(DHT), undesirable compounds that are inadvertently created during the creatine development process, and whose control is crucial to the quality of the creatine.
At HSN we market 100% Creatine Creapure in our Excell Creatine, both in powder and capsules, entirely Creapure, with no other raw materials in its composition.
In 2020, HSN was certified as the company with the highest sales volume of Creapure creatine in Spain, well above the second company with the highest sales.
Athletes that take creatine
It's recommendable for:
- Bodybuilding and fitness and weight training practitioners.
- Powerlifting, weightlifting and other strength disciplines.
- CrossFit® and other military training programmes
- Obstacle courses.
- Team sports (football, basketball, handball, volleyball).
- Contact sports (Boxing, Kick-boxing, Muay-Thai).
And any sport that involves high intensity and short duration efforts.
Is Creatine really effective?
This is one of the biggest questions for all creatine users: what is creatine good for and what is it not good for?
It's effective and efficient for:
Improving performance when doing high-intensity interval training.
Increasing the effect of training with weights in people over 55 years of age.
Possibly not useful for:
Increasing fat loss.
Improving neurological functioning and providing cognitive support.
No scientific evidence to claim that it is effective for:
The treatment of any pathological conditions.
Improving rest and increasing the quality of sleep.
Myths about creatine
Creatine is shrouded in a great number of myths, but don't be fooled!
We explain why many of the negative things said about creatine are untrue, simply hoaxes, or lack scientific evidence:
Some people believe creatine is fattening.
This makes the female population in particular more reluctant to try it. This means that they do not benefit from all its advantages.
The reality is that creatine is NOT fattening, but it can make us gain body weight. But it should be made clear that gaining or losing weight doesn't mean gaining or losing fat. Body weight is the sum of lean mass, bone mass, muscle mass, fat mass and water.
The latter can be highly variable depending on our diet. And it is determined by our level of hydration and fluid retention.
What happens with creatine is that it increases the degree of cellular hydration due to its capacity to carry water.
Therefore, dietary supplementation with creatine may increase weight due to increased intracellular water volume.
Today, many questions and doubts have arisen around the protocols for taking creatine. If you have to load up and then rest, etc. And there are many theories about this.
There are theories that state that, in order to fill the phosphocreatine reserves quickly, it is necessary to load up.
This is not true because, as we have indicated above, although loading can increase the effect of creatine during the first few days, after 3 weeks of continuous consumption at a dose of 3g daily the effect achieved is the same, with less product expenditure and less risk of experiencing digestive discomfort and other undesirable effects.
There are also hypotheses or theories that creatine should only be consumed continuously for about a month, as after that time tolerance is built up and there is a lower rate of absorption.
This is why it is said that creatine has to be cycled. In other words, alternate periods of intake with periods of rest to ensure that sensitivity to creatine.
You don't need to cycle creatine.
Once optimal muscle creatine levels are reached, it is recommended that you continue to use it so that these levels are sustained over time.
This is to ensure creatine absorption rates don’t decrease again due to the onset of tolerance.
So, it is not necessary to perform this cycle or cycles of intake alternating with cycles of creatine rest.
It is easy to think that if creatine is eliminated via the urinary tract, the kidneys may be affected.
In studies of humans taking creatine, no markers of kidney damage have been found. Nor were any alterations found in glomerular filtration rate, blood proteins or urinary proteins, which leads to the conclusion that creatine is not bad for the kidneys.
Several studies have also been carried out in people with previous kidney damage, such as type II diabetes patients and haemodialysis patients, and none of them showed worsening of kidney function.
In summary, it can be concluded that creatine doesn't cause kidney damage in healthy people, and it has no negative effects in people with impaired kidney function either.
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