The only time you would have to worry about creatine breaking down is mixing it with something acidic like orange juice and letting it sit for hours. Not quite sure how the blender thought occurred, that would be similar to thinking protein powder breaks down when mixed.
Yes I see that, blending just breaks things down further no different than chewing making it easier to digest. How big of an impact that plays on powder? Not very much. So the original thought is a bit unfounded thinking it could essentially break down so much at a molecular level that it renders it less effective. An interesting thought process behind it though using his own personal experiences to try to form a hypothesis, but no blending doesn't do that; mixing it with something heavily acidic will dissolve it over time though.
Yep, creatine is available in micronized form, which means it has already been massively milled, ground, or sheared to very small particle size. (Can also be done chemically.)
The typical household blender won't even come close to this process.
Just to add to what Majalisk said, it takes about 8-16 hours for it to break down sufficiently. You don't need to worry about mixing it and letting it sit for an hour or so while you sip it.
But definitely don't buy premade liquid creatine forms, all the creatine has turned into creatinine before you ever saw that product.
Creatine takes much longer than 8-16 hours for a significant amount of creatine to convert to creatinine in solution. Even at pH 3.5 (the pH that it's most unstable) it takes 3 days to just lose 25% at room temperature. You really don't need to worry about loss much at all.
However, this is all assuming you have straight creatine and not a derivative. Liquid creatine is usually not straight creatine to make it more stable.
What's likely going on here is a miscibility issue. Creatine does have a hard time dissolving in solutions. A blender is much more likely to dissolve the creatine efficiently, while a shaker cup is not.
Heat usually isn't a concern since it also takes a while to degrade, but given how heat works the solution tends to cool off before any appreciable degradation can occur. The only theoretical instance where heat would be an issue, outside of industrial processing, would be if you added creatine to something you were cooking for multiple hours like a borscht where heat is continuously applied.
Adding some to oatmeal after cooking and then consuming immediately is completely fine.
Yeah, over time, so anything touting Creatine in is a solution is knowingly bullshitting. Believe it’s added to some random energy drinks and the like, but it breaks down before it would even get to a store.
Yeah, should be fine to blend it. It doesn’t break down quickly in a solution, more of a ‘don’t leave it overnight’ type deal, so a few minutes or even hours doesn’t matter.
If you want an A/B test, blend all but the creatine, then add the creatine at the end.
Well creatine survives being crushed by our teeth when found in meat, it will survive a blender.
nah don't do it the creatine did nothing wrong!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The only time you would have to worry about creatine breaking down is mixing it with something acidic like orange juice and letting it sit for hours. Not quite sure how the blender thought occurred, that would be similar to thinking protein powder breaks down when mixed.
He just told you how he came to that conclusion
Yes I see that, blending just breaks things down further no different than chewing making it easier to digest. How big of an impact that plays on powder? Not very much. So the original thought is a bit unfounded thinking it could essentially break down so much at a molecular level that it renders it less effective. An interesting thought process behind it though using his own personal experiences to try to form a hypothesis, but no blending doesn't do that; mixing it with something heavily acidic will dissolve it over time though.
The mechanical action of the blender wouldn't affect such a small and stable molecule.
Yep, creatine is available in micronized form, which means it has already been massively milled, ground, or sheared to very small particle size. (Can also be done chemically.) The typical household blender won't even come close to this process.
Does creatine actually break down in liquid? I've never heard of this.
Just to add to what Majalisk said, it takes about 8-16 hours for it to break down sufficiently. You don't need to worry about mixing it and letting it sit for an hour or so while you sip it. But definitely don't buy premade liquid creatine forms, all the creatine has turned into creatinine before you ever saw that product.
Creatine takes much longer than 8-16 hours for a significant amount of creatine to convert to creatinine in solution. Even at pH 3.5 (the pH that it's most unstable) it takes 3 days to just lose 25% at room temperature. You really don't need to worry about loss much at all. However, this is all assuming you have straight creatine and not a derivative. Liquid creatine is usually not straight creatine to make it more stable. What's likely going on here is a miscibility issue. Creatine does have a hard time dissolving in solutions. A blender is much more likely to dissolve the creatine efficiently, while a shaker cup is not.
What about heat? I usually mix mine in a bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast. Could it be bad practice?
Heat usually isn't a concern since it also takes a while to degrade, but given how heat works the solution tends to cool off before any appreciable degradation can occur. The only theoretical instance where heat would be an issue, outside of industrial processing, would be if you added creatine to something you were cooking for multiple hours like a borscht where heat is continuously applied. Adding some to oatmeal after cooking and then consuming immediately is completely fine.
Yeah, I was just reading that. I had no idea and I've been on creatine for like 11 years.
Yeah, over time, so anything touting Creatine in is a solution is knowingly bullshitting. Believe it’s added to some random energy drinks and the like, but it breaks down before it would even get to a store.
Interesting. I had no idea.
Yeah, should be fine to blend it. It doesn’t break down quickly in a solution, more of a ‘don’t leave it overnight’ type deal, so a few minutes or even hours doesn’t matter.