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It's been a while since we first took a look at creatine monohydrate and in that time there have been a number of new research articles looking at creatine monohydrate. The positive effects of creatine monohydrate on strength, power and muscular endurance have long been established. In fact creatine monohydrate is the most research proven sports supplement currently available. The level of research has led to the International Society of Sports Nutrition stating that “Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.” Interestingly most of the new research has focused on the health benefits of creatine monohydrate, which include: improved recognition memory, reduced mental fatigue, improved brain function, a possible neuro-protective effect, and potential antioxidant activity.

View the updated creatine monohydrate review

A number of new and more expensive versions of creatine have emerged over recent years. Of these creatine ethyl ester is perhaps the most popular alternative to creatine monohydrate. A number of claims have been made with regard to the effectiveness of creatine ethyl ester. But just how effective is it? And, more importantly how does it compare with the research proven creatine monohydrate? In view of some of the claims made by a number of manufacturers (“improved bioavailability”, “vastly superior absorption” and “longer half-life”.) it seemed like a good time to take a closer look at creatine ethyl ester.

Currently creatine ethyl ester has only had limited research compared with creatine monohydrate but of the research that has been completed the research has been negative towards the benefits of creatine ethyl ester. Laboratory studies have shown that it has a very short half life in the blood (around one minute) and appears to be more of a pronutrient for creatinine than creatine. One study that compared creatine ethyl ester (CEE) with creatine monohydrate and a maltodextrose placebo found that a significant amount of CEE was degraded to inactive creatinine. The researcher concluded that compared with creatine monohydrate, CEE was less effective at increasing muscle creatine levels or improving body mass or performance measures.

View the full creatine ethyl ester review

In Summary:

All current research supports the use of creatine monohydrate over creatine ethyl ester. Creatine monohydrate has a vast amount of research supporting its effectiveness as an effective supplement for increasing muscle strength, power, size and muscular endurance. It also has growing evidence of a number of potential health benefits.

In our latest review we've taken a look at the benefits of the health supplement Resveratrol. Resveratrol, a naturally occurring polyphenol with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, has recieved much press coverage in recent years. It has been heavily promoted by a number of health companies and has become one of the most popular antioxidants currently available on the market. Most of the health claims regarding resveratrol appear to be backed up by available research.

Resveratrol appears to have a number of positive health benefits:

Resveratrol appears to be beneficial to cardiovascular health by protecting against artherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), protecting against thrombosis (blood clots), lowering blood pressure and may reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks. In addition Resveratrol helps to lower blood glucose levels, improve insulin sensitivity, improve liver function and enhance mitochondrial metabolism.

A number of studies demonstrated that resveratrol has potent anti-inflammatory properties and may be of benefit for diseases that are known to be affected by/triggered by inflammation. In addition resveratrol possesses anti-neuroinflammatory activity that may be of benefit for people suffering with some neurological disorders. Resveratrol also possesses anticancer properties and may help to protect against a number of different types of cancers. Resveratrol shows promise in a number of other areas and may be of benefit for diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, colitis and weight loss/management.

View the full review of resveratrol

Anyone looking to gain muscle or to enhance muscle recovery should consider taking a good quality protein supplement. Protein powders are available as either a pure protein powder (typically around 70% protein), or, if you are looking to bulk up then you may choose a meal replacement or weight gainer protein powder which contains additional calories from both fats and carbohydrate. Whether you choose a pure protein powder or a weight gainer protein powder it should provide you with 20+ grams of protein per serving to get the best gains from the protein.

The Best Type of Protein Powder

There are four main types of protein powder available: whey protein, casein protein, soya protein and egg protein. Of these whey protein is by far the most popular type of protein currently available on the market and has been shown to have the highest Biological Value of any natural protein. A number of studies have demonstrated that whey protein has a greater ability to increase lean muscle gains and improve recovery than any other type of protein. With this in mind it is clear that whey protein should be the first choice of protein for anyone looking to enhance muscle gains and recovery.

Best Type of Protein after exercise

Whey protein works particularly well when taken immediately after exercise - ideally as soon after completion of exercise as possible – because it is rapidly absorbed by the body whereas some of the other proteins are much slower absorbing proteins. In fact whey protein ingestion causes the concentration of amino acids in blood plasma to peak at a significantly higher level than casein protein, and more significantly has been shown to be a much greater stimulus to protein synthesis than other protein.

Different types of whey protein

There are two main types of whey protein – whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate. Whey protein concentrate is the basic form of whey protein, it provides high levels of both essential amino acids (EAAs) and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). It typically contains more biologically active components and proteins than whey isolate, partly due to the manufacturing process of whey isolate which can cause some of the whey isolate proteins to become denatured (damaged), this can reduce the effectiveness of the protein. Despite this there are also a number of positives to whey isolate protein: Firstly, it contains higher protein concentrations and lower levels of both fat and carbohydrate; Secondly, it contains higher levels of EAAs and BCAAs ; Thirdly, it has a more rapid absorbency than whey concentrate enabling the amino acids to reach the muscles more quickly than whey concentrate, and; Fourthly; they contain much lower levels of lactose meaning they can often be taken by those who are lactose intolerant.

The Best type of whey protein

In reality, when you way up the pros and cons of whey concentrate and isolate there isnt a huge difference between the two types. It is generally considered that the best approach would be to have a combination of both whey concentrate and isolate, and as such a number of manufacturers now make products that provide a combination of both whey concentrate and isolate proteins.

What to look for in the best protein powders

The quality of protein and the amino acid concentration of proteins can vary greatly between manufacturers, partly due to different manufacturing and processing techniques. One way to get an idea of the quality of protein in a protein powder is to look at the amino acid profile, which should be displayed on the product packaging. If you look at the amino acid profile of different protein powders there are a number of key amino acids that you can check the levels of to give you an idea of the quality of the protein. The main ones are the Branched Chain Amino Acids L-Isoleucine, L-Leucine, and L-Valine as well as the amino acid L-Glutamine/Glutamic Acid. A good whey protein powder should provide you with around 1.25-1.5g of L-Isoleucine, 2-2.5g of L-Leucine, 1.25-1.5g of L-Valine and 4g of L-Glutamine/Glutamic Acid.

Best Protein Powder to take at night

Many athletes and bodybuilders take a protein powder before sleeping in order to maintain a positive state of protein synthesis and muscle growth whilst sleeping. Because Whey protein is rapidly absorbed by the body it not considered to be the best protein powder to take before sleeping. Research has shown that whey protein can significantly increase protein synthesis for around 2hours, but if you sleep for 8hours that leaves six hours in which protein synthesis has not been elevated. Unlike whey protein, Casein protein can elevate protein synthesis for much longer durations (but at a lower level). Researchers have shown that Casein protein can elevate the levels of amino acids for up to 7 hours.

Best Protein Powder for Vegetarians

The most popular protein powder for vegetarians is Soy protein which like whey protein is available as either soy concentrate or soy isolate protein. Both Soy concentrate and soy isolate are significantly less effective at increasing protein synthesis than whey protein. One factor with Soy protein is that it has lower amounts of L-Leucine which has been shown to be an important stimulus to protein synthesis. Therefore vegetarians may find a benefit in taking an additional gram of L-leucine along with the soy protein powder.