When To Take Creatine

Creatine is one of those supplements that everyone who is involved with anything fitness related knows about.  Creatine is also the most studied supplements in the industry.  With all of this knowledge, do you know the best time to take creatine?  Or, more importantly, do you know when to take it so it’s not a waste of money?  Believe it or not, you are probably flushing money down the drain.  That’s to say, if you’re making this mistake.   

Don’t Take Creatine With Caffeine

If you’re taking creatine with caffeine, you’re essentially flushing your money down the drain.

Creatine is a water soluble molecule. This is why creatine manufacturers will suspend the creatine in a “water cloud” essentially a hydrophobic medium that allows the creatine to be metabolized instead of passed right through your body before it can be utilized.

Now, caffeine by nature is a diuretic. This means it flushes water out of your system. So, by taking caffeine you’re increasing the rate at which stuff passes through your system. If you take creatine with caffeine you’re pushing it through your system way before it can be utilized.

So, to the best piece of advice for this topic would be to take creatine ANY TIME except with caffeine (Usually about 2 hours after taking any form of caffeine).

Here are times to avoid it:

• Avoid taking it first thing in the morning if you drink coffee.
• Avoid taking it before the gym if you take a PRE-WORKOUT (containing caffeine)

The best time to take creatine is when you’ve spiked your insulin. The reasoning here is insulin is the pathway into the cells, so if you take it after a meal you’re bringing in the creatine (which helps hydrate the cell and assists in the production of ATP - the energy required for the cell to function).

To recap:

• Don’t take creatine with caffeine - Pre workouts contain Caffeine
• Don’t take creatine in the morning - If you are a coffee drinker
• Take creatine when you’ve spiked your insulin - Usually after your first meal…or with a post-workout.

Now, with that, there are many different forms of creatine on the market. Which is best? Creatine HCl.

With all of this information a valuable lesson is learned, don’t put anything in your body with understanding what it is, what is doing, what it reacts with, and when it needs to be consumed.  A lot of people have put too much faith in both the supplements/drugs themselves, as well as the companies that manufacture them.  Do your research, and consider it is what you’re doing; you could be causing harm to yourself or worse, pouring your money down the drain.

Don’t Take Creatine With Caffeine