Bodybuilders may occasionally require outside assistance to achieve their goals. After a long workout, you may find yourself gasping for air.
This is because your body runs out of energy. This is where energy pills step in!
Creatine is a supplement that can help improve the body’s athletic performance. It is a popular and effective supplement used for muscle building and increasing body strength.
How do creatine supplements work? Creatine serves to boost the phosphocreatine stores in the muscles.
This phosphocreatine contributes to the production of adenosine triphosphate, widely known as ATP. This ATP is subsequently broken down for energy production.
It is when your ATP resynthesis is limited that your body fails to perform at a continuous intensity. When you take creatine supplements, your phosphocreatine stores are enlarged, and your body can make more ATP.
This fills your body muscles with additional energy so that you can participate in high-intensity exercises.
In this post, we will explore two forms of creatine- Creatine Monohydrate and Micronized Creatine and draw a comparison to see how one is different from the other. Read on to discover.
Difference Between Creatine Monohydrate and Micronized Creatine
| meters | Creatine Monohydrate | Micronized Creatine |
| Ease of Solubility | Less | More |
| Ease of Absorption | Less | More |
| Particle Size | Big | Small |
| Effectiveness | High | Low |
| Price | Low | High |
To begin with, it is worth remembering that the chemical composition of creatine monohydrate and micronized creatine are the same.
What divides them from one another is the fact that the particles of micronized creatine are smaller than that of creatine monohydrate, which makes it easily soluble in water or any liquid.
Another aspect is that monohydrate creatine is available in the form of powder, capsule, or pill. On the other hand, micronized creatine powder is sold in powdered form.
Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is a common sort of creatine that is deemed excellent for athletes, sprinters, bodybuilders, or anyone who demands some additional after he is weary after a lengthy period of training.
The pill helps to increase the physical performance of an individual. It is well suited for anyone who is indulging in high-intensity exercises and is seeking to boost his physical performance.
Although products like fish and meat are good sources of creatine monohydrate, consuming such dietary items may also lead to an increase in the body’s fat composition.
Therefore, this supplement is best eaten as a powder, tablet, or capsule. To enjoy the best of its efficiency, it is advised to ingest a creatine monohydrate capsule right before you start working out.
Discussed here are some of the positives and disadvantages of ingesting creatine monohydrate.
Pros
The advantages of taking in creatine monohydrate are as follows:
Increases endurance and muscle strength: Due to the intake of creatine supplements, the availability of creatine in the muscles increases, which boosts the body strength and lean body mass of individuals.
This leads to improved athletic performance, which helps the athletes and bodybuilders to do all kinds of high-intensity activities and observe a hard and rich exercising experience.
Safe to consume:
Studies have claimed that creatine monohydrate is safe for intake. It has been scientifically shown that the use of creatine monohydrate for a couple of years, or up to five years at most, has no detrimental effect on the body.
Even if ingested at higher doses, this component does not pose any hazard to the body. Although a daily intake of 3-5 grams is generally recommended, people have ingested quantities as high as 30 grams a day and haven’t faced any difficulties concerning safety.
Easily available and cheap:
The ease of availability and being pocket friendly are two of the most prominent features of why creatine monohydrate is one of the most sought-after supplements.
Cons
Some of the downsides of creatine monohydrate ingestion are as follows:
The mild gain in weight: A common side effect of using creatine monohydrate supplements is that you may experience a minor gain in weight.
This is because the creatine monohydrate boosts the level of water in the muscle cells, causing the muscle mass to rise. Therefore, you should not mistake this for body fat and unhealthy.
Cramping: Although there is no clinical proof in support of this statement, it has been noticed that supplementation of creatine monohydrate can contribute to difficulties like cramping.
Micronized Creatine
This is the kind of creatine that is formed into small, minute particles that permit quicker absorption. What differentiates micronized creatine from creatine monohydrate is that micronized creatine is a decreased, around 20 times smaller, size of creatine.
Consumption of micronized creatine offers athletes stamina during the time of sports and workouts. This compression helps to expand the surface area and aid in better and quicker absorption.
Although there are benefits of taking in micronized creatine, there could also be some downsides linked with it such as bloating, gas, upset stomach, dehydration, muscle cramps, etc. Discussed below are the advantages and cons of micronized creatine.
Pros
It is one of the finest versions of the supplement:
As creatine has to undergo a suppression procedure to make sure that its size is reduced, micronized creatine is one of the finest versions of this supplement.
Some micronized varieties of this supplement can also sometimes give 100 percent of creatine monohydrate in each serving of this supplement.
Better solubility and higher metabolism:
As the particles of micronized creatine are incredibly small, they are absorbed in the body very easily. As a result, they are synthesized easily and energy is released considerably more efficiently.
Does not sediment at the bottom of the container:
When you combine a supplement with any drink of your choosing, odds are that the supplement particles will settle at the bottom of the glass. As a result, your body obtains fewer vitamins than is required.
This is not the case with micronized creatine. Due to its minute size and excellent solubility, it mixes effectively in the liquid and generates a homogenous solution.
The particles do not settle at the bottom of the glass. Therefore, you can eat a maximum amount of supplements at a time!
It contains all the benefits of creatine monohydrate:
Micronized creatine is nothing but a fine-milled form of creatine monohydrate. Therefore, you get all the benefits of creatine monohydrate, along with some additional perks.
Cons
Bloating: Creatine users, during their loading phase or in the initial days of their supplement usage, tend to feel some form of bloating.
At the time of the loading phase, one drinks 20-25 grams of micronized creatine per day, which is then shaved down to 3-5 grams during the maintenance phase. In the loading period, the muscle mass as well as the water absorption of the body increases, which contributes to bloating.
Diarrhea: Undigested creatine is stored in your intestines. The supplement then takes water from different places in your body.
This water is then soaked into the muscular tissue, resulting in a buildup of water in the intestines. If this continues for an extended period, then there can be a danger of diarrhea.
Lightheadedness and dizziness: One of the negative effects of micronized creatine ingestion is that you could feel lightheaded. Although this is not exceedingly prevalent, some people are likely to encounter this.
Irregular heartbeat: While utilizing micronized creatine, persons could develop an irregular heartbeat.
This could arise owing to an imbalance of electrolytes and dehydration. If you have such kinds of symptoms, you might have to stop eating these supplements.
Creatine Monohydrate versus Micronized Creatine: Head-to-Head Comparison
Chemical Formula
Creatine Monohydrate: The chemical formula of Creatine Monohydrate is C4H11N3O.
Micronized Creatine: The chemical formula for micronized creatine is the same as that of creatine monohydrate because micronized creatine is nothing but a compressed form of creatine
Effectiveness
Creatine Monohydrate: Creatine Monohydrate is highly useful as it helps to boost energy levels and increase stamina in the body so that one can improve athletic performance.
Micronized Creatine: Micronized Creatine, due to its easy solubility, forms a stable solution when mixed with any liquid. As a result, micronized creatine is better absorbed in the body and is significantly more effective as compared to creatine monohydrate.
Mixability
Creatine Monohydrate: Since it is greater in size, it may occasionally be left over as sediment at the bottom of the container in which it is blended. As a result, individuals wind up ingesting less quantity of supplements than is required.
Micronized Creatine: Micronized creatine is approximately 20 times smaller than creatine monohydrate. Therefore, it mixes better with any sort of beverage and offers the utmost advantages to the body.
Dosage
Creatine Monohydrate: When you try to drink Creatine Monohydrate for the first time, you might wish to begin with a loading phase.
This phase consists of 5-7 days of loading with an amount of 20-25 grams of creatine monohydrate each day. This has to be ingested almost 4-5 times a day at intervals of 3 hours, with a dosage of 5 grams each.
Micronized Creatine: For the consumption of micronized creatine, you will have to follow a plan.
When you first start using creatine monohydrate, during the first five days you will have to consume 1 teaspoon, weighing 5 grams, about 3-5 times each day. Dissolve the supplement in 250 ml of the liquid of your choosing. This is known as the loading phase.
In the second phase, which is the maintenance phase, you have to take 1 teaspoon, weighing 5 grams, and drink it once or twice every day for the next three weeks.
After you are done with the loading and maintenance period, you should entirely stop the consumption for the next 3 weeks.
Safety
Creatine Monohydrate: Although this is quite safe to consume, one could feel discomfort like dehydration, diarrhea, bloating, etc.
Micronized Creatine: Since this has the same makeup as creatine monohydrate, the effects and adverse effects that it has on the body are practically the same.
Price
Creatine Monohydrate: Since this is the unrefined form, this is a cheaper choice to resort to.
Micronized Creatine: Due to the procedure that it has to through to be formed into finer particles, micronized creatine monohydrate supplements are slightly more expensive.
When to Use Creatine Monohydrate?
There is quite a dispute concerning when to ingest creatine monohydrate pills.
On days when you expect to work out, you might wish to take creatine monohydrate pills shortly before your exercise, and not long after or long before exercising.
When on rest, it may be useful to drink it with any liquid of your choosing during meals.
When to Use Micronized Creatine?
If you are wondering when you should take your micronized creatine powder, it is best suggested to ingest it roughly 30 minutes before you start working out.
This will offer the greatest outcomes. You can also plan to include this supplement in your post-workout meal and recovery smoothie so that the supplement can act on your repairing muscles.
Which is cheaper, Creatine Monohydrate or Micronized Creatine?
As has been already discussed above, creatine monohydrate is cheaper compared to micronized creatine.
What Is Better Creatine Monohydrate or Micronized Creatine? The Verdict
This is a tricky issue to answer, considering both have their own set of pros and downsides. Also, there is no universal law that holds for everyone.
Since micronized creatine is isolated from creatine monohydrate, there isn’t any alteration in the chemical composition of the two.
Nevertheless, customers pick the two based on their convenience.
Reasons why people choose Creatine Monohydrate:
It is cheaper.
It is easily available.
Reasons why individuals opt for Micronized Creatine:
This is a finer variant of the supplement which is easily soluble in water.
This does not form lumps when dissolved in water.
The Bottom Line
Hope this provides you with a reasonable insight into the differences between creatine monohydrate and micronized creatine.
Based on your preferences, whether you wish to take your supplement in the form of a capsule, pill, or powder, how much you are ready to spend on your supplement, and other similar variables, make a choice that suits you the best. When are you getting yours?
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407788/
- https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z
- https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2013/07000/creatine supplementation.10.aspx
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1022465203458
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2018.00115/full
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10798699 Effects of creatine supplementation on performance training adaptations
- https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jappl.1997.83.6.2055