Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine monohydrate is creatine bound to one water molecule. The 2017 International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand calls it the most commonly studied form in the literature and the most extensively studied form for muscle uptake and high-intensity exercise capacity. NIH ODS has no dedicated creatine fact sheet.

What is creatine monohydrate?

ISSN describes creatine as a naturally occurring non-protein amino acid compound found mainly in red meat and seafood. About 95 percent of the body’s creatine sits in skeletal muscle, with smaller amounts in the brain and testes.

Creatine monohydrate is that compound crystallized with water. It is a dry solid. ISSN notes that creatine is stable in solid form and is sold that way because it degrades to creatinine in aqueous solution.

How is creatine monohydrate different from creatine?

“Creatine” names the molecule. “Creatine monohydrate” names the salt used in most of the studies ISSN reviewed. ISSN reports that clinical evidence has not shown citrate, serum, ethyl ester, buffered, or nitrate forms to promote greater creatine retention than monohydrate.

How much creatine is used in the ISSN protocols?

ISSN states that the most effective way to raise muscle creatine stores is to ingest 5 g of creatine monohydrate, or about 0.3 g/kg body weight, four times daily for 5 to 7 days. After stores are full, 3 to 5 g a day generally maintains them. Starting at 3 to 5 g a day without a loading week raises stores over 3 to 4 weeks.

For an 80 kg person, 0.3 g/kg is 24 g a day during the loading week, split across four servings. That arithmetic follows the ISSN per-kilogram figure.

These are amounts used in the reviewed protocols. They are not a recommendation to take creatine.

Does creatine make you gain weight?

ISSN says the only consistently reported side effect in the literature it reviewed is weight gain. It also says creatine monohydrate has osmotic properties that help retain a small amount of water.

Is creatine monohydrate well studied compared with other forms?

Yes, on ISSN’s account. The position stand says the vast majority of studies on muscle phosphagen levels, whole-body retention, and performance used monohydrate, and that claims of superior uptake for other forms are unfounded on the evidence it cites.

A separate page covers creatine gummies as a delivery format. ISSN does not report a gummy trial.