Muscle Building Update For 2-1-99

Ever get sea-sick? Ever have food poisoning? Remember the first
time you got so drunk you passed out and threw up the whole next day?
Welcome to effervescent creatine.

No one can argue that creatine is one awesomely effective supplement. It's backed by tons of research and just plain produces results. It's simple, easy to use, and it just works.

There are ways to make creatine more effective. Spiking insulin for one. Using creatine-specific transporters. Supporting bio-energetic intermediates with Krebs Cycle substrates. And drinking plenty of water when you take creatine (this is probably the most overlooked way to make creatine more effective).

Enter Effervescent Creatine

One thing about the supplement industry that will never change is the constant quest for new products. People are always looking for something new to buy and most of the supplement companies are always looking for something new to sell. "Never mind if it works or not, can I make sound good?" Unfortunately, that's most companies' research motto.

Just about any way you take creatine it's going to work. Some are no doubt better than others and just about all ways are said by their sellers to be the best.

Enter effervescent creatine. This is an attempt to add a new sales element to an already existing product. Now, instead of shooting this supplement down I'm going to tell you what it is, and what it's not.

First off, it's creatine monohydrate mixed with sodium or potassium bicarbonate and citric acid. It's the bicarbonate that gives the fizz when you put the effervescent creatine in water. The two are not reacted - bonded. They are simply mixed together. When they are put in water, the bicarbonate fizzes and the creatine slowly settles to the bottom.

Understand, even though it looks like a chemistry experiment, that is all that is happening. Makers are claiming that the effervescent strips the monohydrate salt from the creatine leaving you with pure creatine that is 99% absorbed with no stomach distress. 99% absorbed? Fat chance. And let me tell you, if you haven't tried effervescent creatine then you don't know the meaning of stomach distress.

Here's the story. After getting my hands on some effervescent creatine I promptly gave it try. I filled a glass with water - about 2 inches from the top - and added the effervescent creatine. The concoction immediately started bubbling and fizzing. Pretty neat I thought - purely from a marketability standpoint. It had the look of something in my old chemistry sets when I was a kid.

As it continued to fizz it also began to rise to and the over the top of the glass. What a mess! As I sat and watched the show I began to think, "I'm about to drink this stuff?". You could clearly see the creatine settling on the bottom of the glass. So much for the "dissolves completely in water".

I attempted to keep an open mind and after about a minute or so, when the fizzing stopped, I took my first taste. Ieee! Another slug. Ummmm. Kinda like drinking Alka-Seltzer™. Not pleasant.

I drank about half the glass and just couldn't drink any more. It felt like someone had shaken up a hot coke and opened it in my stomach. I was bloated and burping for at least an hour afterwards and that was after drinking only half a serving. The last time I felt like that was when I was 15 years old and drank a half of a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. Puke city!

I could not imaging drinking this stuff twice a day much less 4 times a day during a loading phase as suggested. No way! I couldn't do it. And mind you, I have an iron stomach. I can literally eat or drink anything. Hell, 15 years ago I used to drink Weider protein powders if that tells you anything.

Anyway, there is no question in my mind effervescent creatine is definitely a one time purchase item.

Just to be sure I wasn't approaching this whole effervescent thing with a skewed perspective, I had our Sports Marketing Director, Geoff Giles, give it try. I didn't say anything about what I had experienced because I didn't want to slant his view before he had a chance to give it an honest go.

It was difficult.You know, when you tell your friend how good something tastes knowing good and well he's going to gag? I kept my poker face on though. I could see his reaction as soon as he added the effervescent creatine to the water. He actually looked a little scared. "You want me to drink that?!", he said.

He was a champ. With a contorted face he drank the whole thing. I immediately felt bad because I knew what he was about to go through. Anyway, it didn't take long. He said his stomach felt like he had just drank the salty sludge that accumulates at the corner of a sea wall. Well, needless to say, that ruined our workout we had coming up. He was in no shape to train. He said the entire way home he kept his window open because he just knew he was going to spill his guts. It was touch and go the rest of the afternoon.

He's been a little distant from me since then. He said I should have warned him. I reminded him that's just part of his job. We must stay up on all types of competitors' products no mater how nasty they are. And friends, effervescent creatine is one nasty product.

Does Effervescent Creatine Work Any Better?

First off, if you can't drink it, it certainly isn't going to work at all much less any better. And secondly, all the hype written up about this stuff talks about this study here, and this study there, and Dr. this, and researcher that. Hey, I haven't seen these studies and whether they exist or not remains to be seen.

No, I don't feel effervescent creatine works any better than regular creatine. It's just a visual gimmick designed to add a new spark to an already popular supplement.

 

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