Frequently Asked Questions About Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine monohydrate is a popular sports nutrition supplement.  Out of all the “supplements” available to help build muscle, I would rate creatine being #1.  Keep in mind I am not including protein powders as I believe they fall into the food category and not the dietary supplement category.  Being that creatine is very popular, a lot of questions are asked about it.   Therefore here are the most popular and most frequently asked questions about creatine monohydrate.

Is creatine monohydrate banned by the NCAA?

No, creatine monohydrate is not banned by the NCAA.  However, the NCAA issues a strong warning against using dietary supplements.  I agree with this warning because the benefits of supplement do not outweigh the risks of being popped for using a substance listed on the NCAA banned list.  In addition, the risk of cross-contamination is there as well.  Cross-contamination is when a contract packager (a company whom actually manufacturers the supplement for a supplement company) accidentally contaminates ingredients or substances from one supplement to another while manufacturing them.  For example, Supplement Company A pays the contract manufacturer to make a prohormone supplement.  The contract packager makes the supplements, but the employee does not clean the machine and the machine still has traces of the prohormone on it.  The contract packager then makes a protein powder on the same equipment and the protein powder wound up having traces of prohormones in it.  Joe Student then buys this protein powder, uses it, gets tested, and gets popped for the prohormones in his system.

What does creatine do to a woman’s body?

Creatine monohydrate does not react differently in a woman’s body than a man’s.  Creatine will have the same effect whether youre a gal or a dude.  That being said, creatine monohydrate, in conjunction with weight training will help increase lean muscle mass and strength.  Both men and woman can estimate a muscle gain of 1 to 5 lbs.  If you have never lifted weights before the muscle weight gain can be higher.  On a footnote, creatine monohydrate does work better for older people.  Suppversity wrote a great article on that subject here.

is creatine banned by the NCAA

How much weight will I gain from creatine in the first week?

The first week of creatine supplementation does not cause a noticeable gain in weight.  After about 10 days you should start to notice your weight increases and your strength going up.  If you load creatine, which means you take 4, 5 grams servings per might, may increase the weight gain faster.  You do not have to load creatine in order for it to work.

Can you mix creatine with pre workout? 

Yes, you can mix creatine with anything you want, however some things you do not to because they can make the creatine less effective.  One of these is caffeine.  Caffeine makes creatine less effective.  Many pre workout supplements contain caffeine, therefore you do NOT want to mix creatine with a pre workout that contains caffeine.  Additionally, studies have shown that taking creatine POST workout is better.

Can you mix creatine with protein powder?

Yes, you can and typically this is what I recommend.  In addition, if you make yourself a nice big healthy protein shake post workout, you’ll be making yourself a very effective creatine drink.  First off, as I mentioned above, creatine will be more effective post workout.  And most of the I recommend consuming high-quality protein post workout to help muscle recovery.  Therefore by combining the two your killing two birds with one stone.  On top of that, you want to blend in fresh vegetables like kale, spinach, carrots, ginger, and beets.  You can add fruit as well.  This will creatine the ultimate post workout shake with creatine.  Look to use hydrolyzed proteins, like Peptopro, as this will also make the creatine more effective.

What happens when you stop taking creatine?

Nothing.  Creatine is not a steroid or a drug.  Most of the time when you stop taking anabolic steroids or SARMS you’ll lose all your gains as the body seeks to normalize itself.  Since creatine is not a drug or a steroid, it does not have any “unnatural” effects on the body.  Therefore you’ll keep the gains you made off creatine.  Keep in mind of course if you stop working out or lifting you’ll lose your muscle gains.

What is the best creatine for building muscle or muscle growth?

The best creatine for building muscle is Creapure.  This is the only creatine NOT made in China.  Personally, I would not put anything into my body made in China.  China is notorious for making low-quality supplements, such as creatine.  It will be loaded with creatinine and other by-products from the creatine manufacturing process.  Quality control documents are commonly forged and doctored.  You just cannot trust creatine made in China.  Always buy Creapure brand creatine.

Does creatine make your dick bigger?

Absolutely not.  Taking creatine will not make your penis grow.

Does creatine make your dick smaller?

Absolutely not.  Taking creatine will not make your penis smaller.

How much creatine should you take a day?

You want to take a dose of 3 to 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day.  Usually, I recommend taking it post workout with a protein powder and some carbs.  Do not mix with caffeine.  You can load the creatine 4, 5 gram servings per day for 5 days and then kick it back to 1 serving per day.

How many grams of creatine in a teaspoon?

There are 5 grams of creatine monohydrate in a teaspoon.

Does creatine make you poop?

Not usually, if you buy high-quality Creapure.   However, if you buy low-quality creatine monohydrate that is not Creapure, creatine could make you poop.  The by-products, chemicals, additives, and other non-creatine substances in the low-quality creatine you might be consuming could make you poop.

Should I cycle creatine?

Yes, I believe you should cycle creatine.  A cycle could look like this:

6 weeks on 4 weeks off

8 weeks on 4 weeks off

You want to take creatine every day.  You even take creatine when you do not work out.  Creatine needs to be built up in the body in order to have an effect.

Does creatine expire?

Yes, creatine expires.  However, the problem is that most expiration dates you see on creatine supplements are bogus.  In order to put a legitimate expiration date on any food or dietary supplement, lab tests must be conducted.  Most supplement companies do not do this.  They simply put the expiration date 2 years or so from the day it was manufactured.  Therefore, instead of looking for an expiration date, look for date of manufacturer and try to buy a creatine supplement that is within 1 year of that date.

Do you need to load creatine?

Technically no, you do not need to load creatine.  However, if you want the effects to happen FASTER, you can load creatine.  Loading me taking 4, 5 gram servings for 5 straight days.  You should mix the creatine with protein and carbs post workout as well to make it work “better”.

Does creatine make you lose weight?

Indirectly creatine can make you lose weight.  Creatine help build lean muscle.  The more lean muscle you have on your frame, the more calories you’ll burn.  The more calories you burn the more fat you’ll lose.  However, simply taking creatine monohydrate will not make you lose weight.

Does creatine cause hair loss?

Creatine does not cause hair loss.  However creatine does increase DHT levels in the body, and high DHT levels have been associated with hair loss.

How much water should I drink with creatine?

I recommend at least 12 oz of water.  Keep in mind that I recommend mixing creatine monohydrate with a protein powder, preferably a whey protein hydrolysatecarbohydrates, which I recommend vegetables such as kale, spinach, and beets.  And then using this post workout.  

What is the difference between creatine pills vs creatine powder?

Nothing.  Creatine pills will work the same as powder.  However, I do not recommend using pills because creatine pills are very expensive and you have to swallow a tremendous amount of pills. Only so much creatine monohydrate can fit into a pill.  The maximum creatine you can fit into one pill is 1,000 mg or 1 gram.  But most of the time it is less than this, usually around 800mg.  You need at least 5 grams of creatine per serving.  Therefore if one creatine pill only contains 500mg you would need to swallow 10 pills.

This creatine pills supplement you swallow 3 huge horse pills and you only get a 20 day supplement.  Going with creatine powder is always cheaper.

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Does creatine increase testosterone?

No, creatine does not increase testosterone.  Creatine monohydrate does not effect any hormones in the body.