KRE-CEE and Mono Study

[Hennie]

This will also shed additional light on the other mono and CEE discussion.

http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/ ... &zoneid=28

The 4th International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) annual meeting in Las Vegas showcased 2 novel creatinestudies by UK researchers. Category leaders Creatine Ethyl Ester and Kre-Alkalyn have been making waves within the sports market as 3rd generation products have been claimed to be more effective and safer than the original brand leader creatine monohydrate according to manufactures.

Many of the claims made by these products have not been substantial by a peer reviewed clinical trails but of greater concern to the authors of the studies where issues of consumer safety. Creatine monohydrate has been studied in over 2000 published trials and provides the sports nutrition sector a product of real efficacy and safety. Marketing by manufacturers have questioned the safety of creatine following its ingestion. One company goes, as far as to say, “Creatinine is a very dangerous bio-waste material produced by spent creatine.”.

Dr Mark J Tallon a nutritional biochemist and author of one of the studies said “With the current climate of AER’s and non-trade media looking out for any negative slant on natural products any claims of danger in relation the use of sport nutrition’s gold standard product could threaten the whole market”. Dr Robert Child co-author commented further “By allowing products which should be clearly classified as a Novel dietary ingredient for sale without approval should be a major concern. The use of non-natural products such as CEE pose a potential threat to consumer heath and without adequate safety data may lead to unwanted attention from regulatory agencies such as the FDA (US markets) or MHRA (UK markets)”….

The studies presented at the ISSN annual conference showed that both CEE and Kre-alkalyn do not confer any advantages beyond that of creatine monohydrate and where infact less stable when exposed to conditions similar to those found during during digestion. These studies should help increase consumer awareness of creatine products without safety data, which carry unsubstantiated marketing claims. More importantly these investigations further enhance the reputation of creatine monohydrtae as a safe and efficacious ingredient.

ISSN abstracts are listed below. For further information on these studies the ISSN can be contacted via their website:

http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.org/site/index.php

Kre-alkalyn® supplementation has no beneficial effect on creatine-to-creatinine conversion rates.

Tallon MJ1 and Child R2

1University of Northumbria, Sport Sciences, Northumbria University, Northumberland Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, 2Department of Life Sciences, Kingston University, Penrhyn Rd, Kingston-upon-Thames, United Kingdom. DrTallon@CR-Technologies.net

All American Pharmaceutical and Natural Foods Corp. (Billings, MT, USA) claim that Kre-alkalyn® (KA) a “Buffered” creatine, is 100% stable in stomach acid and does not convert to creatinine. In contrast, they also claim that creatine monohydrate (CM) is highly pH labile with more than 90% of the creatine converting to the degradation product creatinine in stomach acids. To date, no independent or university laboratory has evaluated the stability of KA in stomach acids, assessed its possible conversion to creatinine, or made direct comparisons of acid stability with CM.

This study examined whether KA supplementation reduced the rate of creatine conversion to creatinine, relative to commercially available CM (CreapureÒ). Creatine products were analyzed by an independent commercial laboratory using testing guidelines recommended by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). Each product was incubated in 900ml of pH 1 HCL at 37± 1oC and samples where drawn at 5, 30 and 120 minutes and immediately analyzed by HPLC (UV) for creatine and creatinine.

In contrast to the claims of All American Pharmaceutical and Natural Foods Corp., the rate of creatinine formation from CM was found to be less than 1% of the initial dose, demonstrating that CM is extremely stable under acidic conditions that replicate those of the stomach. This study also showed that KA supplementation actually resulted in 35% greater conversion of creatine to creatinine than CM. In conclusion the conversion of creatine to creatinine is not a limitation in the delivery of creatine from CM and KA is less stable than CM in the acid conditions of the stomach.

Creatine ethyl ester rapidly degrades to creatinine in stomach acid

Child R1 and Tallon MJ2

1Department of Life Sciences, Kingston University, Penrhyn Rd, Kingston-upon-Thames, United Kingdom. 2University of Northumbria, Sport Sciences, Northumbria University, Northumberland Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, DrChild@CR-Technologies.net

Creatine ethyl ester (CEE) is a commercially available synthetic creatine that is now widely used in dietary supplements. It comprises of creatine with an ethyl group attached and this molecular configuration is reported to provide several advantages over creatine monohydrate (CM). The Medical Research Institute (CA, USA) claim that the CEE in their product (CE2) provides greater solubility in lipids, leading to improved absorption. Similarly San (San Corporation, CA, USA) claim that the CEE in their product (San CM2 Alpha) avoids the breakdown of creatine to creatinine in stomach acids. Ultimately it is claimed that CEE products provide greater absorption and efficacy than CM. To date, none of these claims have been evaluated by an independent, or university laboratory and no comparative data are available on CEE and CM.

This study assessed the availability of creatine from three commercial creatine products during degradation in acidic conditions similar to those that occur in the stomach. They comprised of two products containing CEE (San CM2 Alpha and CE2) and commercially available CM (CreapureÒ). An independent laboratory, using testing guidelines recommended by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), performed the analysis. Each product was incubated in 900ml of pH 1 HCL at 37± 1oC and samples where drawn at 5, 30 and 120 minutes. Creatine availability was assessed by immediately assaying for free creatine, CEE and the creatine breakdown product creatinine, using HPLC (UV)

After 30 minutes incubation only 73% of the initial CEE present was available from CE2, while the amount of CEE available from San CM2 Alpha was even lower at only 62%. In contrast, more than 99% of the creatine remained available from the CM product. These reductions in CEE availability were accompanied by substantial creatinine formation, without the appearance of free creatine. After 120minutes incubation 72% of the CEE was available from CE2 with only 11% available from San CM2 Alpha, while more than 99% of the creatine remained available from CM.

CEE is claimed to provide several advantages over CM because of increased solubility and stability. In practice, the addition of the ethyl group to creatine actually reduces acid stability and accelerates its breakdown to creatinine. This substantially reduces creatine availability in its esterified form and as a consequence creatines such as San CM2 and CE2 are inferior to CM as a source of free creatine.

[Flex]

These studies are good but not wholly independent which is the bane of most research. I'd have to agree that krealkalyn is way overrated, and CEE probably isn't as flash as it's made out to be. Mono is still the preferred way to go for me.

[orange]

Well spotted Flex. Another clever marketing machine ...

The International Society of Sports Nutrition is the only non-profit academic society dedicated to promoting the science and application of evidence-based sports nutrition and supplementation.

But who pays the bills?

"The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), Woodland Park, CO, has formed a partnership with PowerBar, Berkeley, CA. The agreement names PowerBar as the official Endurance Nutrition Sponsor of the ISSN organization."

"Elite FX, Inc., a leader in the emerging $20 billion functional food and beverage category, is focused on the development and marketing of healthy, performance-based beverages. Elite FX is dedicated to bringing positive and consumer-relevant health and performance effects to great tasting beverages that can be enjoyed every day."

"Specialty Nutrition Group, Inc. (SNG) is a nutrition brand-building firm focused on commercializing innovative, IP-protected nutritional technologies. SNG acts as co-development partner with large consumer products and nutrition companies to rapidly commercialize nutrition innovations, represents academic institutions and individual inventors to find new commercial applications for their inventions, and develops its own brands for commercial launch in the nutraceutical market. The professionals of SNG have been responsible for launching new nutraceuticals products with current annual retail sales over $1 billion."

A couple of US companies that own a bunch of supplement brands selling 'new' generation products.

But my favourite research based marketing is still ... More doctors recommend Camels than any other cigarette. :pfft: