Some people report less GI distress with creatine HCL but it’s much more expensive.
replyThe GI issues are caused by the creatine absorbing water. This causes your gut to have more water than usual as it follows the creatine through the works… which causes… urgency.
The effect diminishes after you’ve been taking a regular dose for a while, even with just monogydrate (not HCL).
Some people say HCL causes less distress because it doesn’t draw water as much. Others argue that defeats the purpose of taking it.
Monohydrate is studied to death and proven effective, HCL not so much.
The studies I've seen from HCl claim it's more bioavailable too, so you only need 1/3 the dosage compared to honohydrate. That makes the cost pretty comparable.
replyBut otherwise, I'd agree that monohydrate has significantly more research behind it and I'd default to that if it's tolerable.
Anything over 5g is hard on my stomach. I take it in my protein shake in the morning and dont notice any issues.
replyI took double the dose once and I regretted it. I was in the bathroom pretty often that day.
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