There are many different forms of liquid creatine and Creatine serum is just one. Essentially a mixture of liquid and powdered Creatine, Creatine serum has very few advantages over powdered forms of creatine although it's main benefit is the ease of taking after or before training. The main drawback to commercial liquids and serums is that they are not as strong, they don't absorb any better, you still need to take loading doses, they are very expensive, are possibly not as stable as they claim.
All the research around the world agrees that you need a certain dose level of creatine. It is usually quoted at around 20-30 grams per day for 5-7 days. Unless you take this amount it will not have a cell volumising, and muscle size increasing effect. Remember that a 70 kg person makes 2 grams a day anyway; this means if you want to make a difference you need a high dose. Bodybuilding involves making your muscles grow at a rate that would not occur naturally if your body was just left to everyday living. It requires putting unusual stresses on the muscles to force them to grow. It also requires larger than normal amounts of protein to be consumed.
So, if all you want is energy then that's fine - liquid creatine will help with that. But remember there is no properly controlled scientific evidence to support small doses helping size and strength gain, or no scientific studies reported in peer reviewed journals on liquid creatine at all! None what so ever! You do need a maintenance dose. Creatine will naturally drain out of the muscle after about 4 weeks, if you don't take a maintenance dose your creatine levels will drop. It's like topping up your water tank.
The 'fluid retention' effect occurs in the muscle cell itself were 95% of ingested creatine is absorbed into. If you feel that you are getting of feeling too 'fluidy' for whatever reason check that you are not over consuming the creatine. Remember that most problems occur when people consume too much creatine. Loading for more than a week is not necessary for the average gym goer. You have to take enough to make it work, but then like any substance you could be taking too much for your bodyweight. The suggested dose is 0.3grams of creatine per kg bodyweight.
Some people complain of abdominal bloating and cramping. Apart from the fact they may have general digestive problems it often means that they have taken more than the recommended dose of creatine at once ie 5 grams. If this continues to be a problem we recommend they use the micronised creatine rather than the straight creatine monohydrate. Micronised creatine is a finer particle size and seems to be easier on the stomach.
It is claimed that because the creatine is taken in a liquid form it will absorb better. This is just amazing. What do you think you mix powdered creatine in to swallow it with in the first place? A fluid of course! Whether you place it in the mouth or mix it with water or juice creatine is always consumed with a fluid anyway. Why should it make any difference to pre mix it? None, apart from convenience. Buying creatine in a small bottle is a very expensive way to take creatine. There are other liquid products available that also contain very little creatine and are also very expensive as well.
There is another point to remember about supposed 'reports of success' as opposed to true scientific studies. Scientific studies usually have a component in them called a blind, this means that subjects are split into a group that receives the actual substance and another that is called the control group receives a placebo that is an inert substance that has no therapeutic effect. The placebo group are unaware they are getting something that doesn't work, this controls for an expectation factor. The reason for using a control group is that this placebo factor has about a 30 % effect. In other words 30 % of the people taking the liquid creatine may actually believe it is helping them even though it has no possible physiological effect. This also means that 30 % of people reporting benefits from something may not actually be experiencing them.
Impressive marketing doesn't necessarily mean that something actually works; you need to look at objectively at the scientific facts. If you are looking to spend some extra money and want to get a better effect from your creatine get some glutamine and taurine to use with your creatine. Loading or using these two with creatine produces a more potent effect.
Article source: Musashi UK
