Creatine has been studied extensively as a dietary supplement for many years.

In fact, more than 1,000 studies have been conducted, which have shown that creatine is a top supplement for exercise performance (1Trusted Source).

Almost all of them used the same form of the supplement — creatine monohydrate.

Function

What’s more, most scientists who study supplements believe that monohydrate is the best form. Here are five science-backed reasons why this form is the best.

The vast majority of the more than 1,000 studies on creatine have used the monohydrate form.

Besides this form, the other main forms of creatine on the market are:

Creatine ethyl ester

Creatine hydrochloride

Buffered creatine

Liquid creatine

Creatine magnesium chelate

While each of these forms has a handful of studies examining it, the information on the effects of these forms in humans is limited.

Almost all the health and exercise benefits of taking creatine supplements have been demonstrated in studies using monohydrate.

These benefits include muscle gain, improved exercise performance and possible brain benefits.

Studies have shown that this supplement can increase strength gains from a weight-training program by about 5–10%, on average.

Additionally, a large review of dietary supplements found that creatine monohydrate was the most effective for muscle gain.

Although forms of creatine other than monohydrate may also be safe to consume, there’s very little scientific evidence that confirms this.