Flavoured Creatine+ Lemon | 550 g | German Elite Nutrition

Flavoured Creatine+ Lemon by German Elite Nutrition

You know that feeling of pure powder sticking to the bottom of a half-finished glass of water. This tub from German Elite Nutrition takes a different approach. Each 5 g serving provides 3410 mg of creatine monohydrate, of which 3000 mg is pure creatine, plus 500 mg of L-taurine. And it tastes like lemon. For athletes who would rather drink their daily dose than swallow it.

A fresh tang that drinks down like cold lemonade

Lemon is the flavor you reach for when you're thirsty. Sharp and fresh, with a tang that lingers for a moment. Shake 5 g into 250 ml of cold water. What you're left with drinks down like lemonade from the fridge. Not syrupy. Not cloyingly sweet. The citric acid in the formula is there as an acid regulator, but it fits the flavor profile perfectly. Add a few ice cubes and that tang becomes even sharper. You really notice the difference right after a sweaty session in a warm gym compared to a scoop of flavorless stuff in lukewarm water. Then it feels more like a reward than a chore. Fruit juice works too. It becomes sweeter and the lemon loses some of its edge. Water keeps the flavor closest to real lemonade. The range has eight flavors, but this lemon creatine is the freshest of the bunch.

Creatine and short, explosive exercise

Many athletes wonder where creatine fits in. Creatine improves physical performance during repeated short bursts of very intense physical exercise, such as a sprint or five heavy squats. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 3 g of creatine; the claim is aimed at adults who exercise very intensively. That's exactly what you get with one serving. And that immediately explains the strange difference between those two numbers on the tub. In creatine monohydrate, one water molecule is bonded to each creatine molecule. If you weigh out 3410 mg of that powder, you are left with 3000 mg of pure creatine. Furthermore, 500 mg of L-taurine is included in every scoop, an amino acid that the brand itself has added to the formula.

The time of day you take it doesn't matter much

Before your workout, after, or sometime around lunch. The difference is small. This is because the stores in your muscles build up over days, not minutes. Consistency therefore matters more than the clock. One 5 g serving per day, two scoops in at least 250 ml of water or fruit juice, also on rest days. That last part is what people most often overlook. The micronized monohydrate is ground so finely that it quickly disappears in liquid. Two shakes and you're left with no sand at the bottom of your shaker. That makes a difference especially if you don't drink it at the gym but at work, with a glass from the tap. Or at home next to the kettle, as a fixed ritual before you head out the door. With 550 g you get 110 servings, so you'll be going for a few months.

Flavored creatine contains as much creatine as pure powder

In the gym you still occasionally hear that you compromise something with a flavor. In practice, this means that flavoring and a little sucralose are added. The monohydrate form underneath is the same as in a neutral bag of creatine powder. Therefore, look at the number per scoop: 3410 mg of creatine monohydrate, of which 3000 mg is pure creatine. That figure does not change because of a lemon flavor. Furthermore, there are zero grams of sugar on the label, zero grams of fat and zero calories. Aspartame is not included and the whole tub is vegan. This makes flavored creatine more a matter of perseverance than content. Because a tub you enjoy will spend less time at the back of the kitchen cupboard.

Bottom line, this is a tub you'll reach for because you enjoy it, not because you have to. Fresh, sharp, 110 glasses that look more like lemonade than a supplement. The numbers per scoop are the same as with neutral powder, only this one drinks down a lot more cheerfully.