Gen-Tec Creatine

Almost everyone who should take creatine should take monohydrate, so these questions our naturopaths ask in store are mostly about which monohydrate, and the few situations where any creatine is the wrong choice.

A good fit if

• You want the form used in the research rather than the newest one on the shelf
• You're comparing a standard powder with a micronised one and want the difference explained plainly
• Texture is what put you off before, and a finer grind would solve it
• You want a named raw material source and batch documentation on the pack
• You're happy to take a few grams daily and judge it over weeks rather than days

Check with us first if

• You take any prescription medicine, especially diuretics, regular anti-inflammatories, or anything your doctor checks your kidney function for.
• You have a blood test coming up, or diabetes, high blood pressure or another condition where your kidney function is checked regularly. Creatine raises serum creatinine, and the doctor who ordered the test needs to know before reading the result.
• You're under 18. The evidence in teenagers is limited, so this is a decision for a health professional, not the shelf.
• You compete in a weight-category sport, where the water weight creatine adds matters at weigh-in.
• You're drug-tested in sport. Batch contamination is the real risk with any sports supplement, so follow Sport Integrity Australia's current guidance.
• Creatine has upset your stomach before. That's usually from a large single dose with too little water, and splitting the serve settles it.
• You're buying a flavoured blend or capsules and aren't sure how many grams of creatine a serve gives you. Bring the label in.

• Standard creatine monohydrate powder. Best known for: The plain article, and normally the lowest cost per gram on an Australian shelf. Absorption: The reference against which every other form has been measured. Nothing has been shown to beat it on muscle creatine retention. Typical use: One level scoop in water or juice. Stir, drink, and rinse the glass. Anything left in the bottom is powder you did not take.
• Micronised creatine monohydrate. Best known for: Texture. The same crystal milled down so it disperses instead of sitting on top of the water. Absorption: Faster dissolution because the surface area is larger. No quantified oral bioavailability or muscle-uptake advantage exists. Typical use: The sensible default for anyone who has previously given up on creatine because of grit. Costs a little more than standard.
• Creapure (branded monohydrate raw material). Best known for: A single German-made raw material with a published purity guarantee, licensed to many finished brands. Absorption: Chemically identical to any other monohydrate. The manufacturer's claim is manufacturing control and a stated minimum purity of 99.9 per cent, not better absorption. Typical use: Chosen where documented raw-material provenance matters. Often by tested athletes and by people who want a named source rather than an unnamed one.
• Unbranded bulk monohydrate. Best known for: The cheapest option, usually with no raw-material origin stated on the pack. Absorption: Same molecule if the material meets specification. The variable is purity, which you cannot see and the label may not address. Typical use: Look for a stated origin, a certificate of analysis or batch testing. Absence of information is not evidence of a problem, but it is absence of information.
• Capsules, tablets and flavoured blends. Best known for: Convenience. No scoop, no shaker, and something that tastes of more than nothing. Absorption: Same monohydrate inside. The constraint is arithmetic, not chemistry. Typical use: Read grams per serve, not capsules or scoops per serve. Reaching 3–5 g often takes four to six capsules, and blends can deliver well under that once other ingredients take up room.

Reference values. None. Creatine isn't an essential nutrient, so the NHMRC sets no recommended intake for creatine monohydrate or any other form of creatine.

Typical supplemental range. There are two published approaches. The loading approach from the International Society of Sports Nutrition is 5 g of creatine monohydrate, or about 0.3 g per kilogram of body weight, taken four times a day for five to seven days, then 3–5 g daily. The slower approach skips the loading week entirely. In the original loading study, 20 g a day for six days and 3 g a day for 28 days both raised total muscle creatine by roughly 20 per cent. The difference was how long it took, not where it ended up.

Upper level. There's no NHMRC upper limit, and Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1) sets no maximum daily dose for item 1607 CREATINE MONOHYDRATE.

Worth knowing. Two simple tips come from the chemistry rather than the dose. Use enough water, because powder left in the glass is powder you didn't take. And split a loading dose across the day, because large single serves are the usual cause of an upset stomach. Stopping is easy: in the same study, raised muscle creatine drifted back to normal over about 30 days. What you need depends on your age, diet and health, so talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• No food contains creatine monohydrate: monohydrate is a manufactured crystal. Dietary creatine arrives as free creatine and phosphocreatine in animal muscle tissue instead.
• Red meat and fish: the dietary sources. Cooking degrades some creatine to creatinine, so a well-done steak supplies less than a rare one.
• Eggs and dairy: trace amounts only: creatine sits in muscle tissue, and these are not muscle foods
• All plant foods: essentially nil, which is why vegetarians and vegans start from a lower muscle creatine baseline

This list is the part of the page we will not shorten. If any of it applies to you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before starting.

• Diagnosed kidney disease or reduced kidney function. Avoid; the safety meta-analyses did not analyse pre-existing kidney disease.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Avoid; safety has not been established.
• Any prescription medicine, especially diuretics or regular anti-inflammatories. Check with your doctor or pharmacist first.
• Upcoming blood tests, diabetes, high blood pressure or any condition where kidney function is monitored. Creatine raises serum creatinine and can be misread as impaired kidney function.
• Under 18. Professional supervision only; the evidence base in adolescents is limited.
• Weight-category athletes. Water-weight gain is the most consistently reported effect of supplementing.
• Tested athletes. Batch contamination is a genuine anti-doping risk; follow Sport Integrity Australia guidance.
• Gastrointestinal upset. Nausea, cramping and diarrhoea, usually with large single doses in too little water.
• Unexplained or persistent fatigue. Get it investigated rather than self-treating with a performance ingredient.
• Capsules, tablets and flavoured blends. Check grams of creatine per serve, often well below a powder serve.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.