JJ Virgin explains why creatine monohydrate causes bloating: only 15% absorption means you need 5g daily, while creatine HCl absorbs at 99% and requires just a seventh of that dose. A study shows 76% of users report short-term bloating, which often makes women quit.
Here's the deal with creatine. If you've tried creatine in the past and you notice that you got a little bit of bloated or digestive issues, you actually weren't crazy. There's a study that's going to come out soon showing that 76% of people who take creatine actually have those effects. Now, they're transient, they're short-term. If you stuck through it, they would go away. But what I find with most women is they don't want to stick through it. The minute they start to see their weight going up, they're like I'm out. That was based on creatine monohydrate. This is why I switched over to using creatine HCL. Creatine monohydrate is only about 15% absorbed. If it was all absorbed, we wouldn't need to take the doses that we do of 5 grams because we only need about a gram supplemental of creatine a day. Creatine HCL is 99% absorbed and it doesn't cause those issues that you see with other creatine unless you were to take sky-high amounts of it, which you don't need to do. That's the other cool thing. You'll hear about creatine monohydrate versus creatine HCL, that monohydrate's cheaper. It's like, well, gram per gram, yes. However, you only need a seventh of the dose. So when you do that, it all comes out in the wash, right? It's all the same. So if you've been afraid of creatine, do not fear the creatine HCL. That's why I made a chiotine for you, and you will not see that bloaty thing that you might have experienced in the past.
