SS Radio #283: Various

[Mark Rippetoe]

Q&A Episode - No Sponsors, Strong SSCs, and Rip's Blood Type | Starting Strength Radio #283

[Maybach]

Regarding the question about creatine:

This is worth noting for the edification of any coach who might have to field questions about creatine. A year or two ago there was a small creatine shortage, and sports nutrition stores/Amazon sellers experienced a hiccup in the supply of creatine monohydrate, the most classic form of creatine supplement. There was a resulting upswing in brands hawking the more expensive and less dense creatine HCl, as well as a bunch of horseshit about the "benefits" of this new form (or more exactly, inventing a bunch of downsides to creatine monohydrate, i.e. "bloating" or "nausea" that creatine HCl didn't actually address).

The price and availability aside, the major downside of creatine HCl is that unlike the monohydrate (which is basically flavorless, if slightly gritty because it is water insoluble), creatine HCl tastes truly FOUL. The HCl, which *is* soluble, tastes identical to vomit. It can't really be disguised very well by any other ingredient (any more than vomit can be disguised by anything.)

If you tell someone to take creatine and they come back with "ugh, but the TASTE" they are almost certainly taking creatine HCl. Tell them to get the monohydrate and this problem goes away.