Creatine powder vs pills: which is better for muscle gains?
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Aside from protein powder, creatine is one of the most popular and researched sport supplements that you're bound to find in any gym bros kitchen cabinet. It helps the body recover more quickly so that you can continue pushing hard with your training, leading to better gains.
However, these days, creatine comes in many different forms, with powder and pills being the two most popular. But is one better than the other for optimal gains? Daniel Margis, MSc in Nutritional Medicine and Product Developer at leading sports nutrition brand, ESN, answers.
'Creatine is a natural substance produced in the body, primarily stored in the muscles and is used to regenerate ATP, the body's primary energy source during high-intensity exercise,' explains Daniel. 'It's one of the most studied health supplements in the world and The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) has stated that creatine supplementation is safe, beneficial throughout the lifespan, and should not be restricted.'
Just to note, taking a scoop of creatine won't make you super strong or directly lead to muscle growth. But, because it helps to enhance your recovery speed, this allows to train harder, and the harder you work, overtime, you'll have better results. We've got a whole creatine guide that delves into its benefits, side effects and the best time to take it.
Creatine powder is absorbed faster into the bloodstream than pills, which is arguably more beneficial for those seeking faster performance improvements. 'It's also a cost-effective way to supplement, as it is typically cheaper per serving,' Daniel says. 'Opt for a high-quality option such as ESN's Ultrapure Creatine, which can be quickly absorbed by the body when dissolved in liquid.'
On the other hand, creatine powder (even if flavoured) can have quite a bitter taste and, if you store it in your gym bag, can get quite messy. 'It's also less convenient to consume on-the-go as it requires measuring and mixing, which can be more cumbersome than creatine pills.'
Creatine pills, on the other hand, are less messy, more portable and don't require measuring or mixing. If you're someone who leads a busy lifestyle, then Daniel says they may be best. 'It's also easier to control the dosage as there is a consistent serving per capsule,' he adds. 'Just make sure you check the ingredients when choosing your creatine pills to ensure each capsule delivers an optimum amount of creatine in its purest form. ESN's Ultrapure Creatine Capsules contain 3.4g per daily serving.
'Creatine pills are also more expensive, and they can be larger than the average supplement capsule, making it difficult for some people to swallow.' You may also be required to take multiple tablets (for some brands it's up to five a day) which, ultimately may not be as quick as chugging back a glass of water. Not to mention, if you aren't the best at swallowing tablets then this will be your worst nightmare.
The short answer here is no. 'There's no significant difference that exists between creatine powder and pills regarding effectiveness for muscle-building,' says Daniel. 'Both deliver Creatine Monohydrate as the same active ingredient.'
Your choice between the two is depends on your own individual preferences and budget. 'The key factor is consistency in taking the supplement regularly, rather than the form chosen.'
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People can remain in this stage of the disease for 10 to 15 years, though some pass through it more quickly. As the virus multiplies, levels of an important type of immune cell — CD4 T lymphocytes — decline. Without treatment, the disease will eventually enter its most advanced stage: AIDS. This can come with a wide range of symptoms, including rapid weight loss; recurring fever; night sweats; extreme tiredness; prolonged swelling of the lymph nodes; diarrhea; sores of the mouth, anus or genitals; and blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose or eyelids. It can also trigger neurological problems, like memory loss. AIDS raises the risk of severe bacterial infections and cancers, including lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma. It can also worsen viral infections, such as hepatitis B and mpox. Without any treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about three years. HIV and AIDS are related, in that AIDS is the most advanced stage of an HIV infection, and therefore, the HIV virus causes both conditions. AIDS can also be called a "stage 3 HIV infection." AIDS is defined in part by a very low CD4 count of fewer than 200 CD4 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3) of blood. Generally speaking, the CD4 counts of healthy teens and adults are around 500 to 1,200 cells/mm3. Anything below 500 cells/mm3 is considered low, and 200 cells/mm3 marks the threshold for an AIDS diagnosis. Doctors also diagnose AIDS by considering a patient's history of "AIDS-defining illnesses." These are medical conditions often seen in people with AIDS because their immune systems can't fight the illnesses off. They include "opportunistic" infections — those caused by germs that wouldn't necessarily harm a person with a well-functioning immune system. Such infections include a fungal infection called extrapulmonary cryptococcosis, recurrent blood infections with Salmonella bacteria, the parasitic infection toxoplasmosis, and lower respiratory infections caused by the herpes simplex virus. The bacterial disease tuberculosis poses a major risk to people with AIDS, and it is currently the leading cause of death for people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. AIDS-defining illnesses also include cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and invasive cervical cancer. Others include HIV encephalopathy, which affects brain function, and HIV wasting syndrome, which causes extreme weight loss and weakness. Complications of AIDS-defining illnesses raise the risk of death, but the degree of risk varies among diseases. At all three stages of the infection, HIV is treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) — combinations of medications that drive down the amount of HIV in the blood. Different ART drugs work in different ways to keep the amount of virus, or viral load, in check. They are available as daily pills or as shots given periodically throughout the year, depending on the person's treatment plan. It's key for patients to take their medication as prescribed, because missing pills or shots can open the door for the virus to multiply, as well as develop drug resistance, which causes the medication to work less well. ART medications can also interact with other drugs and carry some risk of serious side effects, so patients work with their medical providers to figure out which drug combination is best for them. The goal of ART is "viral suppression," which describes when a person's viral load falls low enough that there are 200 or fewer copies of the virus's genetic material per milliliter (mL) of blood. Historically, tests weren't sensitive enough to detect levels of HIV below that threshold, so doctors called this level "undetectable." Studies also found that people who reach viral suppression can't transmit the virus via sex; have a lower chance of spreading the virus through pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding; and likely have a lower chance of spreading it through needle sharing. This is why the slogan "undetectable equals untransmittable," or "U = U," was coined. Nowadays, some tests for HIV are extremely sensitive, so they can detect viral loads significantly below 200 copies/mL. However, experts emphasize that 200 copies/mL is still the critical threshold at which transmission risk becomes extremely low. If a person with HIV/AIDS develops another medical condition, such as an AIDS-defining illness, the individual would receive treatment for that condition in addition to their ART regimen. There is no widespread cure for HIV/AIDS. However, a handful of people have been cured of their HIV infections through stem cell transplants, and a few more are considered "potentially" cured via the same process. Stem cells can develop into different types of cells in the body. In certain cancers that affect blood cells, stem cell transplants can be used to replace the cells lost in the course of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Each individual who has been cured of HIV also had one of these cancers, so their doctors searched for stem cell donors who carry a rare gene that makes them resistant to HIV infection. By swapping in cells from an HIV-resistant individual, the procedure essentially locks the virus out of the patient's CD4 cells. There is one exception to this rule: A person known as the "Geneva patient" was potentially cured of HIV after a stem cell transplant, but the donor didn't have this special genetic resistance. It's unclear exactly why the man entered long-term remission from the infection after this procedure, but scientists are investigating. There have also been a couple of cases in which people's own immune systems somehow rallied against the virus and controlled it without treatment; these people are known as "elite controllers." Scientists hope to learn from both the stem cell recipients and from elite controllers to discover cures that could reach far more people with HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, some researchers are exploring the use of gene-editing tools like CRISPR to cure the infection, while others are investigating the use of drugs and modified immune cells. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) – Combinations of medications that lower the amount of HIV in a person's blood. These drugs, given as pills or shots, prevent the viral infection from progressing to AIDS and dramatically lower a person's risk of complications and of transmitting the virus to others. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – Medicines that people at risk of being exposed to HIV take to prevent the infection. Viral load – The amount of HIV in a person's blood. This is measured in terms of the number of HIV RNA molecules — the virus's genetic material — found in a milliliter of blood. It's an important way to measure how well ART is working. Viral suppression – When a person's viral load falls to 200 copies/mL or lower. Viral suppression is the goal of ART, as it both lowers a person's likelihood of spreading the virus and extends their lifespan by preventing the infection from progressing to AIDS. CD4 T lymphocyte – A type of white blood cell that helps coordinate the actions of other immune cells to fight infections. HIV infects CD4 cells and uses them to multiply while the virus depletes the number of CD4 cells in the body. Image 1 of 4 In the 1980s and 1990s, groups organized "die-ins" to protest the lack of U.S. government attention to the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis. Die-ins were also conducted to push for support for research to uncover effective treatments and, once treatments were discovered, to demand that those drugs be released to the public. The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power — known as ACT UP — was a major force behind such protests and remains an active organization today. Image 2 of 4 Kaposi's sarcoma, an example of an AIDS-defining illness, characteristically causes big, purple patches or nodules to appear on the skin and mucous membranes. Image 3 of 4 The public health slogan "U = U," depicted on this sign, refers to the fact that people living with HIV who have undetectable viral loads cannot transmit the virus to others via sex. It stands for "undetectable = untransmittable." Image 4 of 4 The "Berlin patient," pictured here, was the first person cured of HIV via a stem cell transplant. His name was later revealed to be Timothy Ray Brown. Brown went on to launch a foundation under his name that was dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS. 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