{"id":145501,"date":"2025-11-18T00:57:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T00:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/145501\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T00:57:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T00:57:21","slug":"research-clearly-shows-which-form-delivers-the-best-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/145501\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Clearly Shows Which Form Delivers the Best Results"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creatine is having a moment\u2014and for good reason. The benefits of creatine supplementation are well-researched: taking daily doses of the supplement has been shown to improve strength, build muscle<\/a>, and boost athletic performance.
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Your body naturally produces<\/a> some of the creatine<\/a> it needs to power your muscles, and you can consume more from foods like red meat, dairy, and seafood. But those two sources aren\u2019t enough to help you reach the 5 grams of creatine minimum that researchers have found to be the daily threshold necessary for the benefits. <\/p>\n

Which is where taking creatine supplements<\/a> comes in. Creatine<\/a> monohydrate\u2014the form of the supplement that has the bulk of the scientific research behind it\u2014comes in different forms. It\u2019s traditionally been available as a pill or a powder, but there are also creatine monohydrate gummies.<\/p>\n

Is any one creatine form better than the other? Here\u2019s what you should know about creatine gummies.<\/p>\n

Related StoryResearch Focuses on Powder<\/p>\n

There’s a lack of research on creatine gummies, says Richard Bloomer<\/a>, Ph.D., dean of the College of Health Sciences and director of the Center for Nutraceutical and Dietary Supplement Research at the University of Memphis. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are hundreds of studies on creatine powder, so I\u2019m probably more prone to go with a powder version than I would be a gummy,\u201d adds Bloomer, who says he\u2019s been taking creatine for decades. <\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean gummies are necessarily ineffective or unsafe, he says. There\u2019s just no solid data showing whether they\u2019re as effective as powder or that the dosing on the product label is accurate (more on this soon).<\/p>\n

Even so, Bloomer says you\u2019ll likely absorb creatine similarly from gummies and powder: \u201cI don\u2019t have any reason to believe that if you embedded creatine powder inside a gummy that it\u2019s not going to be absorbed.\u201d <\/p>\n

There May be Dosing Discrepancies in Gummies<\/p>\n

A typical loading dose of creatine<\/a> is 20 to 25 grams a day for about five to seven days, followed by a maintenance dose 5 grams a day. As long as you reach your desired dose of creatine, the form you take it in likely won\u2019t matter, Bloomer says. <\/p>\n

However, a few recent reports suggest creatine gummies don’t actually contain the amounts listed on the label. <\/p>\n

A 2025 analysis<\/a> by SuppCo, a supplement-tracking app, tested creatine gummies and found that most contained creatine amounts well below what the product labels claimed. <\/p>\n

The report also noted that gummies \u201crequire additional sugar, binders, flavor systems, stabilisers, and other components that powders don\u2019t, which typically take up more space in the formula than the active ingredient creatine itself.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gummies Might be More Expensive<\/p>\n

Creatine gummies are often pricier than powders, Bloomer says. <\/p>\n

A pack of gummies also usually won\u2019t last you as long. With a powder, you usually only need a teaspoon or two to reach your desired dose. But you\u2019ll likely need to take as many as five gummies to get there. <\/p>\n

This \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean gummies are terrible,\u201d Bloomer says. \u201cIt just means it\u2019s a different delivery system that\u2019s definitely more costly.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gummies May be More Convenient for Some<\/p>\n

Ease of use may entice creatine users to choose gummies. You can stick a pack of gummies in your bag and go. In some instances, it may be less convenient to mix up creatine powder, such as when you\u2019re traveling. <\/p>\n

Gummies Often Contain Added Sugar<\/p>\n

While there are some sugar-free options, many creatine gummies contain a few grams of added sugar per serving. Bloomer says this could potentially give you around 30 calories and about 7 grams of sugar when you take your supplements\u2014so that\u2019s something to note if you\u2019re trying to minimise added sugar. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, creatine having a little bit of sugar as an aid to enhance absorption probably isn\u2019t a bad thing,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

Research<\/a> suggests that combining creatine supplements with carbohydrates can increase total creatine levels in muscle tissue compared with taking creatine alone. <\/p>\n

Which Should You Choose? <\/p>\n

Choosing a creatine gummy over a powder is a matter of personal preference. Still, Bloomer says he\u2019s more likely to recommend powder versions since they\u2019ve been studied more robustly and are less expensive.
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\u201cIf they\u2019re just looking for the benefit of creatine, it would be a very difficult argument to say that the gummies are better than the powder,\u201d he says.
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Related Stories\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Erica Sweeney is a writer who mostly covers health, wellness and careers. She has written for The New York Times, HuffPost, Teen Vogue, Parade, Money, Business Insider and many more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Creatine is having a moment\u2014and for good reason. The benefits of creatine supplementation are well-researched: taking daily doses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1134,83169,1107,103,61,60,1135,446,83168],"class_list":{"0":"post-145501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-content-type-default","9":"tag-contentid-19ed02e9-7d0e-4e8f-8231-43604738c279","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-locale-gb","15":"tag-nutrition","16":"tag-shorttitle-whats-the-best-form-of-creatine-to-take"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}