Interventions and similarity of treatment groups
SETTLE
Participants took the supplements daily for 6 weeks, including the day of the testing. The creatine supplement consisted of creatine monohydrate powder “CreaPure PG” produced by the company Alzchem (Trostberg, Germany). The placebo supplement consisted of maltodextrin powder “Maltodextrin 6” produced by the company Nutricia (Frankfurt am Main, Germany).The cans looked exactly the same except for clear markings of which one was the first and which one the second supplement. The two powders looked exactly the same and were flavourless. The solubility was somewhat different: While the placebo powder was completely soluble in water and did not settle, the creatine powder slowly settled. We were initially not aware of this difference in solubility. After we noticed it (after the first 40 participants), we asked participants to stir the powder into yoghurt or food with a similar consistency, as we had found no perceptible difference then. To check to what extent blinding was achieved, directly after the last testing, participants were asked to guess what their first supplement had been.