Creatine Comparison
We have divided up our creatine products into some groups to make things easier - these are creatine monohydrate, other creatines and creatine-based products. This should allow us to give a good and fair comparison of all the creatine based products on sale at Echo Supplements!

Please be aware that with the exception of the 'plain' creatine monohydrate products there is no sense in adding a price / gram option for these creatine products as it would not be a fair comparison. You should also be aware that more ingredients and a higher price tag does not neccesarily mean a better or more effective creatine product. This is because some of the products cross the boundary from creatine to other categories - for example Boditronics CE-XT has Di-Arginine Malate in which is a form of arginine to give a great pump in your workout - as you can probably tell this is a good ingredient if you are looking for a combined creatine and pump product but not if you already have a pump type supplement!

How To Take Creatine
I am writing here about creatine monohydrate - other types of creatine may differ! You may read about cycling creatine and loading creatine - if you feel that this is something you'd like to try then give it a go. The idea is that you have to 'load' up your muscles with creatine - I feel that it is easier to do this by taking 5g/day continuously and just forgetting about it and that is how I'd recommend anyone new to creatine takes it. You should see performance benefits in around 3 weeks, so don't worry if you don't notice anything after a few days!

Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is the 'original' creatine supplement and basically the more creatine you have in your muscles (up to a maximum level) the more efficiently ATP (muscle energy) can be replenished and therefore if there is more creatine in your muscles there will be more energy available to train at a higher intensity.

Creatine Ethyl Ester
Creatine ethyl ester (CEE) is a 'newer' form of creatine which it is claimed you have to take less of, and there isn't any 'bloating' effect that some people report with creatine monohydrate. Whether or not CEE is better, worse or the same as creatine monohydrate is still generally perceived as unproven but many people report good results from using CEE over creatine monohydrate, so we recommend just seeing how you get on with them and choosing which works best for you!

Creatine Gluconate
Creatine Gluconate (as found in Gaspari SizeOn) is creatine bonded to glocose. The idea is that it will improve the intestinal absorption of the creatine by being absorbed in a similar manner to glucose.

Di-Creatine Malate
This is creatine bound to a malic acid - once again this is to improve the bioavailability of the creatine - this should increase ATP production.