The bio-availability of creatine has always been
a concern. Even though it has a lot of health and
performance enhancing benefits, the raw
manufactured material is fairly large on a
pharmacokinetic scale and it is not very soluble
in liquid. Its solubility in room temperature
water is around 1.4% and the raw material
particle sizes vary from 100-500 microns in size.
Because of this, oral consumption of creatine
has caused adverse side effects. Scientific
studies have been done on the pharmacokinetics
(the study of the absorption, uptake, distribution,
metabolism and excretion of substances
introduced into the body) of micronised creatine
powder and it was found that only 0.2-3% of the
creatine ingested was absorbed over a
90 minute period. That is to say if you consume
5 grams of creatine, only a maximum of 150mg
of creatine is going to be absorbed over 90
minutes. That means there is still going to
be 4.85 grams of creatine sitting in your gut.
Because of this inefficiency of absorption,
fluid is then drawn into your digestive system,
giving you a bloated look. Because fluid has
been robbed from your body and into your
digestive system, certain effects may take place.
Loss of fluid from muscles causes dehydration
and cramps during exercise. Excess fluid in the
digestive system causes stress on the intestinal
tract leading to increased bowel movements and
diarrhea. Because water balance has been
interrupted within the body, overcompensation

Occurs within the rest of the body after the
non-absorbed creatine has been excreted to try
and re-balance fluid levels, causing excess
'puffiness' of the tissues, leading to a bloated look.
Because of the inefficiency of absorption of
creatine it was devised to take it in divided doses
during the day and to do this for 5 days, so at the
end of the five days your body will be ‘loaded up’
with the creatine. Then thereafter a ‘maintenance’
dose was suggested to maintain saturation within
your body. The unfortunate effect of this
however, is that because of poor bio-availability
of the creatine, most of it will end up going down
the toilet, along with your hard earned cash. That
is to say if you spend around $80 for 2kg of
creatine, only around 200g at most will be
absorbed and utilised by your body. This means
in regards to usable product you’re paying around
$80 for 200g of creatine.