Creatine Serum or Liquid Creatine

One question I am getting over and over again is about Liquid Creatine, also known as Creatine Serum. Manufacturers of liquid creatine products make many claims saying that creatine in their special serum form is superior to other forms such as creatine ethyl ester HCL or creatine monohydrate. I have been getting numerous emails asking questions about these liquid forms of creatine, whether they truly are superior to other creatine supplements, and whether liquid creatine serum is effective at all.

The main issue surrounding creatine serum is that, like so many other muscle building supplements, there have been little or no independent studies performed. Because of this, the only "evidence" we have to rely on are biased studies performed by the manufacterers themselves, anecdotal evidence, and scientific theory.

Due to the extremely biased nature of the studies performed by the maufacturers, I will completely discount those. No company is going to produce and market a body building supplement and publish a study stating that it is ineffective and/or unsafe. It just won't happen.

Anecdotal evidence is tough. If enough people tell you that something works, you may start to believe it. However, you rely much more on evidence from people you know, trust, and respect. Still, it can be tough for the person telling you that liquid creatine works to seperate the effect of the creatine serum vs. the effects of other factors, such as working out and the placebo effect.

Finally, let's take a look at what the science says is "likely" to be true. Creatine, in any form, is known to be unstable when placed in a liquid. We all know that very little of the creatine we ingest, in any form, is absorbed and used by the body. This is also why, if you take a creatine powder, it is important to drink the creatine mixture immediately after stirring in the creatine.

With that in mind, it is very difficult to see how a "liquid creatine" or a "creatine serum" could possibly remain stable. It is very likely that much of the original creatine has been broken down into the waste product creatinin. For my money, I would stick to monohydrate or, better yet, ester creatine.

Still, many users do report seeing results from taking creatine serum. If you think liquid creatine will for work for you, then go ahead and try it, it won't hurt. At worst, you will be out a little bit of money. However, you should be wary of claims that liquid creatine is instantly absorbed, etc, as those specific claims are just not true.