What To Mix Creatine With? (Liquids & Supplements)

Creatine is by far one of the best supplements to increase strength, power, and muscle mass. And in the quest of maximizing its benefits, you may be wondering: what to mix creatine with?

You can mix creatine with water, fruit juice, and even milk. Avoid mixing with alcohol, caffeine, and citrusy drinks. As for supplements, you can mix creatine with BCAAs, beta-alanine, protein powder, and pre-workout.

This is it in a nutshell.

As you might have noticed, there are some compounds you should avoid mixing with creatine. Keep reading, for a more detailed explanation of:

If you are ready to get the most of your creatine, let's get started.

If you are like me, you are always trying to find ways to optimize your nutrition, training, sleep and, in this case, your supplement intake. In this section of the article, we will have a look over what you can mix with creatine, and their benefits.

We will tackle two areas that will make a difference in your creatine intake:

Liquids to mix creatine in

In my experience, there are several liquids you can use as a base when you are taking creatine. Each one has its own benefits and drawbacks which we will cover in their particular section.

Creatine and water

Taking supplements with water is perhaps the most common way. When it comes to creatine, things are no different. However, this is my least favorite way of taking it.

Mixing your creatine with water can be beneficial if you don't want to add extra calories.

For instance, if you are trying to lose weight or are taking creatine on a cut you may want to use all your calories for actual food, not liquids like milk or juice. And this is the main benefit when using water as your base.

However, this means you can't mask the chalky taste of creatine.

The only workaround for this issue is taking flavored creatine.

In other words, if you can't deal with the chalky taste then you will have to ingest artificial ingredients.

Or, consider our next option.

Creatine and milk

This is a mix you don't hear about all too often.

To some, the thought of mixing creatine with milk is gross to say the least.

However, if you are not lactose intolerant, using milk as a base is a viable option that has its benefits. 

Lactose is a natural sugar found in milk; a simple carbohydrate. When you ingest simple sugars, your blood sugar level increases, which prompts the pancreas to release insulin. And with the release of insulin, your body can more efficiently absorb both the sugar and the creatine into your cells.

However, if you want to lower your calorie intake, this may not be the best option for you.

Obviously, if you are lactose intolerant this is not a viable option for you either. Which takes us to the next liquid you can mix with creatine.

Mixing your creatine with fruit juice is another option, however with a little caveat.

First of all, the benefits. Just like in the case of milk, fruit juice contains simple sugars, so taking creatine with it will improve your body's ability to absorb it into your cells.

However, the drawback is that fruit juice is usually packed with calories.

While this is not the best way to take creatine, it is certainly a viable option. Especially for those with lactose intolerance who still want to benefit from higher absorption of creatine thanks to insulin production.

That being said, not all fruit juice is created equal.

I recommend you to steer away from citrus juice - like orange or grapefruit - because the citric acid in the juice will prevent creatine from being absorbed properly.

So if you go with fruit juice, choose the apple flavor.

You can mix creatine with pretty much any supplement (aside from caffeine - more on that in the next section). However, there is no inherent benefit from mixing creatine and other supplements.

The only benefit you will get is that of convenience - since you can take all your supplements at once.

Here are some of the most commonly used supplements which can be taken with creatine:

BCAAs

Branched-chain amino acids are a type of supplement that can stimulate the building of protein in the muscle, and prevent muscle break down.

Studies concluded that BCAAs may reduce fatigue during exercise, may reduce muscle soreness, increase muscle mass, and lower blood sugar level. Therefore, they can be a good addition to your creatine intake, which helps with your strength, power, and muscle mass.

That said, BCAAs are not a necessity.

BCAA is a supplement comprising three of the nine essential amino acids that our body needs and can't produce on its own. Therefore, we need to take all nine from food or whole protein supplements.

In other words, instead of spending money on BCAAs, you are just as well off purchasing a whole protein supplement (like whey protein), or eating protein-rich foods, especially meat.

Beta-alanine

Beta-alanine is another amino acid.

Unlike BCAAs, it is not one of the nine essential amino acids, meaning that our body produces beta-alanine on its own.

Studies have shown that supplementing with beta-alanine can improve your performance in exercises lasting longer than one minute. Mixing creatine with beta-alanine is a good way of improving performance in both short and long duration exercises.

Is it necessary to take it though?

If you are someone who does a mix of intense exercise lasting a few seconds and intense exercise lasting more than a minute, then taking both creatine and beta-alanine can help you.

If you are just lifting weights, however, you may not need it.

I don't think I know anyone whose sets come even close to one full minute of effort.

Protein powder

Mixing protein powder with creatine is not only safe but also recommended for one single reason.

Numerous people who purchase creatine simply forget to take it on a daily basis. When you mix it in your protein shake, the likelihood of forgetting to take it decreases significantly.

And this is where the benefits of mixing them end.

A few studies have been conducted where researchers tried to find any additional benefits of mixing protein powder with creatine monohydrate. Unfortunately, for the time being, the literature shows that there is no added benefit to mixing the two together.

Pre-workout

Numerous athletes rely on pre-workout supplements for added energy.

And even though mixing pre-workout with creatine is safe, we only recommend it if your pre-workout doesn't have a high quantity of caffeine.

As we will see in the following section, creatine and caffeine don't go well together.

In the end, just as with your protein powder, beta-alanine, and BCAAs, the only benefit you get from mixing any (or all of them) together is convenience.

On this list we will talk about the compounds you should not mix with creatine. It's not to say that mixing them together is dangerous. However, it can lower the absorbability of creatine in your body.

As you can see, you can mix creatine with a lot of things. However, there are a few caveats you should have in mind if you want to take full advantage of what this supplement has to offer.

Before we wrap this up, let's have a look at some of the most common questions in regards to what to mix creatine with.

What is best to mix creatine in?

Before we wrap this up, let's have a look at some of the most common questions in regards to what to mix creatine with.

What is the proper way to take creatine?

In my opinion, the best way to take creatine is shortly before or shortly after your workout (as the research suggests), and at a maintenance dose of 5g per day, every day. It doesn't seem to make a difference if you take creatine before or after a workout, as soon as it's timed in the vicinity of your workout - before or after.

I hope this answered your question of what to mix creatine with.

When it comes to liquids, you can choose water, milk, or juice. Each comes with its benefits and drawbacks. Regardless of your liquid of choice, as long as it doesn't contain alcohol, caffeine, or citric acid, you will experience the full benefits of creatine.

In terms of supplements, you can mix creatine with BCAAs, beta-alanine, protein powder, and pre-workout. However, mixing creatine with any of these is only convenient but doesn't offer any benefits.

As long as you take your 5g of creatine daily, you are good to go.

Over to you.