Creatine HCL

These are the questions our naturopaths ask in store every day about creatine. With HCl, it's mostly about the dose, and the few situations where any creatine is the wrong choice.

A good fit if

• You want creatine in a small scoop or a capsule
• Grit in the glass is what stopped you taking monohydrate
• You lift weights or do sprint work, rather than long, steady cardio
• You're happy to check the grams per serve before you buy

Check with us first if

• You take any prescription medicine. We found no medicine interaction studies for creatine, which means there's no evidence either way, not proof that it's safe.
• You have a kidney blood test coming up, or a condition where your kidney function is checked regularly. Creatine slightly raises the creatinine reading, and your doctor needs to know before reading the result.
• You're under 18. The evidence in teenagers is limited, so it's a decision for a health professional, not the shelf.
• You compete in a weight-category sport. Creatine adds a little body weight early on, mostly water in your muscles.
• You're buying a capsule or blend and aren't sure how many grams of creatine a serve gives you. Bring the label in.

• Creatine HCl powder. Best known for: Dissolves easily, with small scoop sizes. Absorption: Dissolves far more readily in water, but no study has shown more creatine reaching muscle than with monohydrate. Typical use: Labels commonly give 750 mg to 3 g a serve. Compare grams of creatine, not scoops.
• Creatine HCl capsules. Best known for: No mixing, no shaker and no taste. Absorption: The same HCl inside. The limit is how many grams fit in a capsule, not the chemistry. Typical use: Work out your grams a day from the label before you compare it with a powder.
• Creatine monohydrate. Best known for: The form used in nearly every creatine trial. Absorption: A 2022 critical review found it's the only form with substantial evidence for absorption, effectiveness and safety. Typical use: 3 to 5 g a day, usually one level scoop stirred into water.
• Micronised creatine monohydrate. Best known for: Monohydrate milled finer, so it mixes with less grit. Absorption: The same molecule as monohydrate. One branded study reported faster uptake, which isn't enough to say it works better. Typical use: The one to try if grit, rather than the molecule, is what put you off.

Reference values. None. Your body makes creatine, so it isn't an essential nutrient, and the NHMRC sets no recommended intake for creatine in any form.

Typical supplemental range. Creatine HCl products are commonly labelled at 750 mg to 3 g a serve. The strength evidence was built mostly on 3 to 5 g of creatine monohydrate a day, or about 0.1 g per kilo of body weight, and plenty of HCl labels sit well under that. The one head-to-head HCl strength trial used 0.03 g per kilo, about 2.4 g for an 80 kg adult, and HCl did no better than monohydrate at that dose. A serve well under a gram doesn't match the doses used in the strength trials.

Upper level. There's no NHMRC upper limit. Creatine HCl isn't on Australia's permitted ingredients list (Schedule 1), so no dose cap from those rules applies to it. For creatine itself, the International Society of Sports Nutrition reports that up to 30 g a day for five years was safe and well tolerated in healthy people.

Worth knowing. The number to compare between products is grams of creatine a day, not scoops or capsules. 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 HCl: it's a manufactured salt. Food supplies plain creatine instead.
• Meat, fish and other animal products: where almost all dietary creatine comes from. Gram figures per serve aren't established in our evidence register.
• Plant foods: effectively none, which is why vegetarians carry lower muscle creatine stores

If any of these sound like you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before you start.

• Kidney disease or reduced kidney function. Don't take it; the safety reviews covered healthy adults.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Don't take it; there are no randomised trials in pregnancy and no breastfeeding evidence.
• Any prescription medicine. We found no interaction studies, so check with your doctor or pharmacist.
• Upcoming kidney blood tests. Creatine raises blood creatinine slightly without changing kidney function (GFR), which can be misread.
• Under 18. Only with professional supervision; the evidence in teenagers is limited.
• Weight-category athletes. Expect some early weight gain.
• Capsules and blends. Check the grams of creatine in each serve, which is often well below a monohydrate scoop.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before you start.