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5 Effective Creatine Powders for Building Muscle
Discover 2024’s elite creatine powders for serious gains, rapid recovery, and next-level workout performance
For decades, creatine has been a fitness staple for professional athletes who want to reach peak physical performance quickly and effectively.
But you don’t need to play professional football to reap creatine’s benefits. In fact, creatine can help virtually anyone looking to support muscle growth, strength, and power.
Brilliant Wellness has created this guide so you can learn the science behind creatine, how to find the most effective formula, and 5 Brilliantly rated creatine powders that check all the boxes.
Benefits of a High-Quality Creatine Powder
Promotes Muscle Synthesis
Creatine stimulates the growth of new muscle proteins, helping muscles to rebuild after strength training exercises.
Supports Cellular Energy
Creatine encourages the creation of ATP, your cells' main energy source. This serves as a universal energy source for a variety of important functions in your body.
Reinforces Athletic Performance
The availability of ATP primes your body to release these bursts of energy when you need it most — namely during short, intense bursts of activity.
Aids Post-Workout Recovery
Creatine has been shown to increase the rate at which muscles use glycogen. This is essential for replenishing ATP stores and providing the energy needed for muscle recovery after exercise.
Enhances Cognition
Studies show that creatine has positive effects on memory and intelligence metrics.
Why is Creatine So Important?
Creatine is a naturally derived compound found in small amounts in certain foods such as meat and fish.
Your muscles store creatine, which encourages the rapid regeneration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a vital energy source, and then releases it during high-intensity exercises like weight lifting, sprinting, and HIIT sessions.
Supplementing with a creatine powder encourages these powerful energy bursts so you can perform more reps and longer sprints for maximized strength and endurance.
For best results, we recommend finding a good micronized creatine monohydrate, aka, the gold standard of creatine.
Why You Should Choose Micronized Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is composed of one creatine molecule and one water molecule. This simple composition makes it ideal for easy absorption. Plus, it’s one of the most well-researched forms of creatine available.
Micronization is a mechanical process that helps prevent creatine compounds from bunching together, resulting in a fine powder that is easily dissolved and doesn’t leave behind a gritty texture.
Many sources agree micronized creatine monohydrate best supports strength training, endurance, and muscle recovery.
Creatine Must-Haves
Micronized Creatine Monohydrate
Micronized creatine monohydrate dissolves quickly and efficiently without clumping or leaving behind a gritty residue.
Powder Formula
There are different ways to take creatine, from pressed pills to liquid formulas. Pills can be harder to break down in the body and liquid formulas are less stable. Creatine powder is the most consistent for absorption and effectiveness.
5 Gram Serving Size
The ideal daily dosage of creatine is 5 grams. This amount is scientifically recognized to help effectively saturate your muscles with creatine over time, which can help improve exercise performance, increase strength, and support muscle recovery.
What to Avoid
Creatine Ethyl Ester
Creatine ethyl ester is less stable than creatine monohydrate, and it may convert to creatinine (a waste product) more rapidly in the body, potentially reducing its effectiveness.
Despite claims of better absorption, research has suggested that creatine ethyl ester may not be absorbed as efficiently as creatine monohydrate.
Creatine monohydrate, on the other hand, has consistently demonstrated safety and efficacy in research.
Buffered Creatine
Buffered creatine is marketed as having a higher pH, which some sources claim reduces the conversion of creatine to creatinine.
However, there is limited scientific evidence to support the superiority of buffered creatine vs. creatine monohydrate. Additionally, buffered creatine supplements are often more expensive than creatine monohydrate.
Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners are commonly added to creatine supplements to improve their taste without adding extra calories.
However, some artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose have been linked to gut health issues like bloating and gas in some people, which can be especially uncomfortable during exercise.
Brilliant encourages simple, effective formulas. A high-quality creatine should stand alone on the ingredient list.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much creatine should I take?
For most people, a 5-gram daily dose of creatine is considered the safe and effective amount needed to saturate muscle creatine stores over time in order to maximize muscle-building support and athletic performance.
Do I need a loading phase with creatine?
There’s a buzz around loading your body with more creatine in the early stages. This phase aims to saturate the muscles with creatine quickly, but there’s really no need for a loading phase. Consistent daily intake has been shown to provide optimal results over time.
Should I cycle creatine?
Creatine cycling refers to the practice of alternating between periods of taking creatine and periods of abstaining from it.
Cycling prevents the body from relying on external creatine sources, so it continues to work at its best over time. However, there isn't a strong scientific consensus on the necessity of cycling.
In fact, research suggests that long-term, continuous supplementation is perfectly effective. Some people may have success with cycling, but ultimately, the choice is up to you.
Now that you know what to look for and avoid in your creatine powder, it’s time to shop. Check out our Brilliant recommendations below, including Micronized Creatine Monohydrate from our award-winning sports nutrition brand, Essential elements®.
2024’s Must-Have Creatine Powders
The Brilliant Choice:
Essential elements® Micronized Creatine Monohydrate†
The Brilliant Choice:
Essential elements® Micronized Creatine Monohydrate†
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
How We Choose Products
Like you, we’re picky about products — and serious about quality.
Whether we’re featuring an award-winning product from one of our five beauty and wellness brands — or somebody else’s — a Brilliant recommendation doesn’t see the light of day until it has been medically reviewed for accuracy and has fulfilled our Brilliant Criteria.
At Brilliant, although we often feature products that we sell, we’re not afraid to highlight and celebrate other brands who are doing things right.
Brilliant Criteria
We take great care in handpicking high-quality products to feature on Brilliant. Here’s how we choose them:
- High-Quality Ingredients: We dig deep into the latest research and look for products that contain science-based ingredients for optimal impact.
- Pure, Holistic Formulas: We prioritize products that contain clean, wholesome ingredients shown to be effective. A product should only contain what it needs and nothing else — period.
- Brand Credibility: Each product on our list is produced by a company with trusted credibility. We've also verified that each brand adheres to labeling requirements set forth under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).
- Value: We evaluate products based on industry averages and price per serving or application. We also consider quantity and return policy.
Why Trust Us?
As veteran leaders in the wellness space with an award-winning brand portfolio of 100+ health and beauty products, we are committed to honesty and transparency, providing unbiased insights into the benefits and limitations of the information and products we evaluate — including our own. Every Brilliant Buying Guide is thoroughly vetted for medical accuracy prior to publication.
With our discerning selection process, you can feel confident that the products we recommend meet the highest benchmarks of quality, transparency, and efficacy. If we wouldn’t use a product ourselves, it’s not Brilliant.
Citations
1. Wax, Benjamin, et al. Nutrients, vol. 13, no. 6, 2 June 2021, p. 1915, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13061915.
2.
Cooper, Robert, et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 9, no. 1, 20 July 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407788/, https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-9-33.
3. Kreider, Richard B., et al. Nutrients, vol. 14, no. 5, 28 Feb. 2022, p. 1035, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14051035.
4. Antonio, Jose, et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 18, no. 1, 8 Feb. 2021, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w.
5. Spillane, Mike, et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 6, no. 1, 2009, p. 6, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649889/, https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-6-6. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.
6. Shil, Aparna, and Havovi Chichger. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 22, no. 10, 1 Jan. 2021, p. 5228, www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/10/5228/htm, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22105228.
7. Rae, C., Digney, A. L., McEwan, S. R., & Bates, T. C. (2003). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 270(1529), 2147–2150. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2492.
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