Sometimes even I get surprised at how sloppy some supp makers can be, when it comes to designing and marketing their products.<\/p>\n
A case in point arrived in my inbox this morning from a bud – pointing me to a product called “2 Methyl 13-C” from Iron Tek.\u00a0 It’s a pre-workout\/NO-booster-type product containing creatine.<\/p>\n
It was the creatine component that caught my eye: Creatine Methyl Ester.<\/p>\n
Ok, it’s an obvious spinoff on creatine ethyl ester…So what?<\/p>\n
Beyond the fact that I think creatine ethyl ester is junk<\/a>, it was\u00a0the methyl\u00a0substitution that blew my mind. WTF were they thinking???<\/p>\n Here’s the deal: ideally, creatine ethyl ester is supposed to breakdown into creatine and ethanol.\u00a0 Ethanol, of course, is the alcohol you drink in wine and beer.\u00a0 It’s not exactly safe, per se, but your body handles it pretty well.<\/p>\n Ok, if creatine ETHYL ester breaks down to creatine and ethanol, what do you think creatine METHYL ester will release?<\/p>\n Although I’ve never seen any data (there’s none that I know of), logically, I expect the answer is methanol.\u00a0 Methanol is otherwise known as “wood alcohol”.\u00a0 Needless to state, it’s rather nasty stuff<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, while I imagine the body can handle the\u00a0methanol in a serving of this product, given the myriad other creatine forms on the market, there’s just\u00a0NO good reason to use this one… at least from a functional perspective.<\/p>\n Then why use it?\u00a0 My guess is that it was\u00a0done for marketing reasons.\u00a0\u00a0A clue is provided by the accompanying spiel:<\/p>\n More Creatine Benefits Steroid beta 2 adrenergic receptors???<\/p>\n I’ve never heard of such a thing…it’s completely fakey, made up stuff.\u00a0 But it looks like the point of using creatine methyl ester – beyond\u00a0capitalizing on the resemblance to creatine ethyl ester –\u00a0is to\u00a0push the “methyl” theme.\u00a0 Oral AAS and “designer steroids” are typically methylated, so\u00a0it implies some sort of kinship.\u00a0 Why else insert the word “steroid” in front of “beta 2 adrenergic receptors”?<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/strong>2 Methyl 13-C\u2122 utilizes steroid beta 2 adrengenic receptors for better creatine uptake, promotes creatine utilization and insulin release, increases creatine stores, reduces creatine inhibitors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n