When to Take Creatine for Optimal Results

There are optimal times when to take creatine to maximize its benefits. The best times of the day are: first thing in the morning, before training and right after training. Basically, you want to take it on an empty stomach because creatine is known to bind with food, hindering its absorption.

In addition to taking creatine on an empty stomach, you want to take it with enough carbohydrates, specifically high-glycemic carbs like dextrose. There are several creatine products on the market today with high-glycemic carbohydrates mixed with creatine already. You pay a little more for these products, but they are more convenient because you get the creatine and the carbs in each serving.

You can save a few bucks and make your own powerful creatine mix by simply buying pure creatine and mixing it with a high-glycemic carbohydrate such as fruit juice or a sport drink like Gatorade. You can also mix it with pure dextrose, which costs very little ( a little over $4 for 2lbs of Dextrose). Regardless of what source of carbohydrates you use, the important point is that taking creatine with carbohydrates is as important as when to take creatine.

Here is why it is important to take creatine with high-glycemic carbohydrates. High-glycemic carbohydrates, such as dextrose, break down very quickly and are absorbed into the blood stream very fast. This sudden "rush" of blood sugar triggers an insulin spike. The insulin force-feeds your muscles with the excess sugar and in the process, shoves creatine into the muscle as well. Studies have shown that creatine uptake into the muscle is in fact enhanced in the presence of insulin. Another study saw a 20% increase over the anaerobic work performance of those not consuming high-glycemic carbs with creatine. Here is a great article on the creatine-insulin connection 

Finally, make sure that you are getting enough chromium, vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid in your diet when supplementing with creatine because they assist in making sure the insulin your body produces works properly. You also want to be sure you're getting enough vitamin E because it has shown to play a role in muscle uptake of creatine.

Important note on creatine in solution:
Creatine is unstable in solution so it's recommended that when you mix your creatine in water or juice that you consume it within 6-8 hours. Otherwise, it will eventually degrade to become creatinine, a useless substance to your muscles.

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