Creatine monohydrate is not only the cheapest and most common form of creatine, but it’s also the best choice. It’s been researched well, and no other formulation has been shown to be more beneficial in terms of improving performance. Arazi H, Rahmaninia F, Hosseini K, Asadi A. Effects of short term creatine supplementation and resistance exercises on resting hormonal and cardiovascular responses. Science and Sports. 2015;30:105–9.

Persky AM, Brazeau GA, Hochhaus G. Pharmacokinetics of the dietary supplement creatine. Clin. Pharmacokinet. 2003;42:557–74. Allah Yar R, Akbar A, Iqbal F. Creatine monohydrate supplementation for 10 weeks mediates neuroprotection and improves learning/memory following neonatal hypoxia ischemia encephalopathy in female albino mice. Brain Res. 2015;1595:92–100. Most creatine goes to your skeletal muscles, which convert creatine into a compound of creatine and phosphoric acid (phosphocreatine or creatine phosphate). Phosphocreatine then helps create adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a source of energy that your cells use when you exercise. So, creatine helps maintain a continuous energy supply to your muscles during intense lifting or exercise.

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Creatine can also increase the amount of phosphocreatine in your brain, which may help with your memory. Should I take creatine every day? Creatine monohydrate powder has been the most extensively studied and commonly used form of creatine in dietary supplements since the early 1990s [ 2, 125]. Creatine monohydrate was used in early studies to assess bioavailability, determine proper dosages, and assess the impact of oral ingestion of creatine on blood creatine and intramuscular creatine stores [ 35, 60, 182]. These studies indicated that orally ingested creatine monohydrate (e.g., 3–5 g/day) increases blood concentrations of creatine for 3-4 hours after ingestion thereby facilitating the uptake of creatine into tissue through diffusion and creatine transporters [ 1, 183, 184]. Additionally, it is well established that ~99% of orally ingested creatine monohydrate is either taken up by tissue or excreted in the urine as creatine through normal digestion [ 60, 185, 186]. Short-term loading with creatine monohydrate (e.g., consuming 5 g, 4 times daily for 5-7 days) has been reported to increase intramuscular creatine stores by 20–40% and exercise performance capacity by 5–10% [ 2, 125]. Creatine monohydrate supplementation during training (e.g., 5–25 g/day for 4–12 weeks) has been reported to promoted gains in muscle mass, strength, and exercise capacity [ 2, 125]. Despite the known efficacy, safety, and low cost of creatine monohydrate; a number of different forms of creatine have been marketed as more effective with fewer anecdotally reported adverse effects [ 187]. These marketing efforts have fueled speculation that creatine monohydrate is not the most effective or safest form of creatine to consume. This notion is clearly refuted by understanding the well-known physio-chemical properties of creatine monohydrate, as well as current creatine supplementation literature.

Creatine supplementation, when ingested at recommended dosages, does not result in kidney damage and/or renal dysfunction in healthy individuals. Ziegenfuss T, Lowery LM, Lemon P. Acute fluid volume changes in men during three days of creatine supplementation. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online. 1998;1:1.Greenwood M, Farris J, Kreider R, Greenwood L, Byars A. Creatine supplementation patterns and perceived effects in select division I collegiate athletes. Clin. J. Sport Med. 2000;10:191–4. Concerns regarding the safety of creatine supplementation in children and adolescents (< 19 yrs) continues to be highly prevalent. The overwhelming majority of evidence in adult populations indicates that creatine supplementation, both short- and longer-term, is safe and generally well tolerated [ 2]. However, the question of whether or not this holds true for children and adolescents is relatively unclear. The physiological rationale supporting the potential ergogenic benefits of creatine supplementation in children and adolescents was first postulated by Unnithan and colleagues in 2001 [ 80]; which established a strong basis for future applications of creatine for younger athletes. More recently, in a comprehensive review examining the safety of creatine supplementation in adolescents, Jagim et al. [ 16] summarized several studies that examined the efficacy of creatine supplementation among various adolescent athlete populations and found no evidence of adverse effects. However, it is important to note that none of the performance-focused studies included in the Jagim et al. [ 16] review provided data examining specific markers of clinical health and whether or not they were impacted by the supplementation protocols.