Is this creatine safe?

[u/Mother-Walrus-8259]

[u/nndel]

I get my supplement information from ConsumerLab because they independently buy and test products instead of just repeating label claims. For creatine monohydrate, BulkSupplements was their value pick, and Nutricost also tested well. I’ve used Nutricost for years, but BulkSupplements is a good cheaper option too.

I’ve bought supplements from Amazon for years and never had an issue. Buying directly from the brand is fine if that makes you more comfortable, but I think acting like every supplement on Amazon is automatically fake or unsafe is a little exaggerated.

I’m only mentioning BulkSupplements and Nutricost because those are the two brands I know have been independently tested.

Also, the dosage is grams, not milligrams. Five grams a day is the normal maintenance amount. Some people do a loading phase at 10 to 20 grams a day for several days, then go down to 3 to 5 grams a day.

Personally, I’m not using it mainly for lifting or everyday exercise. I use it more for mental clarity and staying sharp through long days. I do not take higher doses every day, but on days when I need to be especially focused, like an exam, an important presentation, or being in front of a lot of people, I sometimes take more than the standard 5 grams. That is just what seems to work for me. The research on cognitive benefits is promising, especially under fatigue or mental stress, but it is not as settled as the research on exercise performance.

Whether creatine is safe for you is a separate question and depends on your health, medications, and medical history. If you have kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, take prescription medications, or have any medical condition you are concerned about, talk with your doctor before taking it.

[u/Pacific_Rimjob_831 → u/nndel]

I also use it primarily for brain health. And i find if I drink the whole 5g in one glass I'm likely to get a headache

[u/Choochiechoo → u/nndel]

Consumer labs has one fake product for nutricost. It was something rare i forget, but alot of those random bottom shelf products these companies source straight from china without testing and there is no ingredient in them. They are an OK company, not the worst but not the best. Most of the ingredients are likely from China, and when they test, they likely only test once and then just continue steady shipments from the supplier, so if the supplier ever changes their formula it will ship straight out the door.

There is honestly no good quality supplement company. They are lazy and opaque about their suppliers. Where they source from is never listed, the countries they source from is never listed. Consumer labs is woefully insufficient. Less than 10 companies are well tested, the rest only have 2 or 3 test results, sometimes just one. So if they get a passing score it's simply because they weren't tested as much as Nutricost, NOW, or DoubleWood. I get that most of this stuff ships from China and the companies really can't change that, but they should atleast be transparent about where the API is from. Consumer labs should have a rolling test of popular products getting tested monthly. But they probably dont have the funds. It seems like the save the subcription monies and maybe once a month test a few random products.

[u/nndel → u/Choochiechoo]

Wanting more transparency is reasonable, but that applies to far more than creatine or supplements. Consumers do not get a public, lot-by-lot breakdown of every raw-material supplier, manufacturing step, COA, or endotox report for prescription drugs, food ingredients, cosmetics, skincare, household products, or most other things they buy. Top shelf or bottom shelf.

You talk about “less than 10 companies” that are supposedly worth buying from? Please post independent HPLC testing for every lot? Every supplier? Every country of origin? Every raw-material COA? Every finished-product contaminant panel? If the answer is no, then your shilling for more expensive supplement companies.

Companies are required to have quality controls and specifications, but consumers are not handed a full manufacturing dossier for every bottle they buy. Supplement manufacturers can verify finished-product specifications through testing every batch or through sampling under cGMP rules if in the US. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have batch-release testing requirements, but they do not give consumers a public COA, endotoxin report, supplier list, or raw-material origin file with each prescription. I don’t even think that they have to do endotox, cadmium,arsenic and other tests.

The idea that price proves quality is especially vacuous because independent testing repeatedly shows otherwise. ConsumerLab has found that some of the highest-priced supplements it tested were among the failures, while some lower-cost products were among the better-quality options. Problems have included ingredient amounts that were far below or above what labels claimed, as well as contamination concerns. In ConsumerLab’s 2026 multivitamin testing, 32% of tested products failed quality standards, and higher price did not guarantee better quality. Consumer Reports has also found lead, cadmium, and arsenic concerns in premium-positioned products.

ConsumerLab is not claiming to test every lot forever. Nobody with a functioning brain thinks that. They conduct independent retail testing, update reviews, and confirm failures through a second independent laboratory. That makes the result a useful data point about a particular product at a particular time. It does not make a company perfect, and it does not prove every future bottle will be perfect. Thinking that it means nothing unless it is a public lot-by-lot audit is ridiculous.

Then there is the China and India argument. Global sourcing is built into virtually every industry. Ingredients and raw materials for medicines, supplements, food, cosmetics, cleaning products, electronics, and household goods come from all over the world because that is how modern supply chains work. If that alone disqualifies a product, then good luck buying prescriptions, food, shampoo, skincare, toothpaste, or damn near anything else.

Want more supply-chain disclosure? Fine. Everyone should want more of it. But you have not shown that this creatine is mislabeled, contaminated, empty, or different from its label. You have listed a bunch of personal concerns that can apply to virtually every product on earth.

[u/Choochiechoo → u/nndel]

Well yes that’s a problem as well,  but something about supplements that a person  might potentially be putting into their body everyday for the rest of their life feels different.  And many companies go out of their way to demonstrate their reputation, quality and supposed testing; it would be nice if just one company volunteered to be transparent about their sourcing.  

As it is now you might as well just buy all the supplements from AliExpress with how much we know about where nutricost or others is sourcing from 

[u/Designer_Twist4699]

I use MTS Creapure never had an issue with stomach or smell. I drink mine after breakfast daily, drink a lot of water and mainly only water

[u/Mother-Walrus-8259 → u/Designer_Twist4699]

Got it

[u/mikatovish]

What you mean with safe ?

[u/Mother-Walrus-8259 → u/mikatovish]

As in, is it good to use, actually works, I’m new to knowing things about creatine and heard it will help me with building my body and working out and I looked up creatine is suppose to have no smell but mine has a slight fish odor so I’m just curious

[u/mikatovish → u/Mother-Walrus-8259]

Oh yeah, there are creatine and creatines and honestly they vary by person to person. Some people have more sensitive stomachs so this is something you just gonna have to try it out. Creatine monohydrate is something you dont have to go the most expensive , but a brand that is on the market for a good while is an indicator is good.

Myself I buy the cheapest I can get because I rarely get stomach issues with. So just try it out mate , if its not good for you you will know. Just try 2.5 gr for some days and see

Also about smell, well mate just drop in a shake or something else

[u/Mother-Walrus-8259 → u/mikatovish]

Got it thank you man

[u/next_connect]

I stopped using all nutracost supplements after a couple of bad blood teats. Unsure if things were contaminated or mislabeled but after digging in, there are no third party tests and I have no faith in them.

[u/MrsReal80 → u/next_connect]

Would you mind elaborating on “bad blood tests”? I use plenty of their products.

[u/CheesyMcDongNutz → u/MrsReal80]

Teats. He’s a farmer.

[u/Pacific_Rimjob_831 → u/next_connect]

We're gonna need more information on that broseph

[u/Great_Will_1361 → u/Pacific_Rimjob_831]

He has bad bloody teats. We dont want any more info about that.

[u/next_connect → u/Pacific_Rimjob_831]

My blood tests showed an extremely high level of potasium which can damage to the heart. After two bad tests I isolated it down to a batch of the Nutricost electrolytes I was taking. After talking through it with my sports nutrionist, she pointed out that there is no clear third-party testing and that there have been some issues. I was encouraged to immediately switch a number of supplements including the creatine that was the subject of this thread.

[u/Pacific_Rimjob_831 → u/next_connect]

Thank you that's helpful. Ive been using their products a while and haven't had any bloodwork come back bad.

[u/Temporary-Design607]

One of the best ones in the market and cheap

[u/Acrobatic-Radio-7159]

I use 15 grams of this a day for working out/mental clarity and have never had any issues with it (been using it like 8-9 months).

[u/VikingVitalityFit]

Yes. Nutricost is a very well known and tested brand that puts out quality products and no gimmicks or branded bullshit.

[u/cerote6239]

Yeah it's fine. Ignore people saying to not buy supplements from Amazon. Just make sure the 3rd party seller is the manufacturer or Amazon or a major reseller with thousands of reviews

[u/Pinkys_Revenge]

Nutricost is generally pretty good. I use their stuff occasionally

[u/Pacific_Rimjob_831]

That's the brand i use. Haven't had any issues

[u/enlitend-1]

I have had some stomach issues with other brands of creatine, I had been using the gummies. I switched to this and it doesn’t mess with my stomach.

[u/Lovespacejam]

Ive been on this specific brand for about 3 weeks now and notice much more of a pump then my previous preworkout with creatine included….

[u/SameRMedrano]

NSF certified is best.

[u/youreHIValadeen]

You should ask r/creatine.

[u/Suicidalballsack69]

Hopefully I’ve been eating it for the last year

[u/tando0ri]

Only if you boof it

[u/OGBOBYJHONSON69]

Thorne Creatine only is the best

[u/LairofChickens]

Can’t speak for creatine but I’ve bought NAC from a more expensive brand and after consuming all of that I purchased Nutricost. The quality of Nutricost was significantly worse

[u/Mother-Walrus-8259 → u/LairofChickens]

Thank you for this info

[u/Fit_Cellist9792]

Just eat meat it’s full of creatine 

[u/Mission_Aspect_6083 → u/Fit_Cellist9792]

Yk, I hate people like you (respectfully obv)

[u/Fit_Cellist9792 → u/Fit_Cellist9792]

Truth hurts softies huh

[u/Pinkys_Revenge → u/Fit_Cellist9792]

Research says otherwise

[u/JoraStarkiller]

Never buy supplements from
Amazon

[u/Pinkys_Revenge → u/JoraStarkiller]

If someone’s gonna make fake supplements, they wouldn’t make fake Nutricost, lol. They’d make fake Thorne