Myth # 2
Creatine Is 100% Converted Into Creatinine At Low pH In Minutes If Not Seconds!
Well in the last myth we have looked at the short-term or typical time a 5g dose of creatine would take to pass into the blood stream (<6 hours Persky et al. 2003 [2]. see figure 2). But what about at other pH levels not found in the gut but maybe in drinks of other fluid suspension for your creatine?
Well it's suggested by so called pH creatine stable specialists that in many of these delivery forms creatine is degraded 100% to creatinine across a whole selection of pH values in seconds?
Well again guys lets take a look at some real data and not just looking at minutes or hours or even day but what about months? Again, here is some further data from the Milan conference [3] also available from Patent data [4].
As you can see in figure 3 we have a description of creatine in a selection of pH fluids ranging from 3 - 7 (2g Cr.H20 in 100ml of 0.1M citrate phosphate buffer heated to 90oC for 30 minutes).
In figure 1 creatine was shown to be so stable its breakdown was accelerated in this next experiment by heating on day 0 then monitoring the subsequent breakdown of creatine in different pH's over time (see the effect of heating in figure 4).
Even with this extreme method you can clearly see after 120 days of suspension in a range of pH's levels creatine degradation is never 100% to creatinine.
In fact we see equilibrium develops (creatine /creatinine) with at worst a 70% loss of initial values at 35 days (yep not seconds or minutes).
Only a slight change in the citrate buffer content (to 0.2M) can actually cause creatine to increase at pH 5, 6, 7 further more at lower pH's as found in the gut (pH <3) maximum loss by day 100 is only in the order of only 40%.
Figure. 2 - Adapted from Persky et al. 2003 [2].
So what does that mean for you? Well practical application wise you could place 17g of creatine monohydrate in any pH fluid of between 3-7 and worse case scenario (gut pH 3.0) after 4 months of your creatine just sitting there you still would have enough creatine to maintain your muscle creatine stores following a loading phase (i.e. 5 grams worth).
Best-case scenario at a pH 7.0 solution (such as tap water) you will have 85% of the original creatine dose you placed in your drink at day 120. So anyone claiming a 100% breakdown of creatine in fluids, juices or similar liquids in minutes or seconds are pulling your chain, or more importantly your purse strings don't be fooled!
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/tallon8.htm
