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Ribose
by John St. Cyr, M.D.
If you want better—and faster—performance
gains, or just have your muscles feel
better the day after that infrequent tennis
or golf game, then maybe ribose is for you.
Ribose has been quietly making a mark on
the supplement scene for several years,
helping to stimulate natural energy production
in the body. Ribose is an integral part of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the main
source of energy for all living cells, giving a
nutritional boost to tissues needing consistent
supplies of ATP when oxygen is limited
due to strenuous exercise, disease, circulatory
disorders or taxing muscles that are
seldom used. Healthy levels of ATP must be
maintained in hearts, muscles and other tissues
to fuel basic tissue function and preserve
peak physiological performance.
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One clinical study showed
that ribose increased
muscle strength by
almost 30 percent.
Another showed that ribose
given to heart patients
improved exercise tolerance,
and a third proved
that the heart functions
better in patients
taking ribose.
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Ribose can be made naturally in the body
but it is a slow process limited by several
enzymes that are lacking in heart and muscle
cells. And there are no foods containing
ribose in any substantial amounts. Under
normal circumstances the availability of
ribose to tissue is not problematic, but when
hearts or muscles are challenged from the
stress of exercise or lack of oxygen due to cardiovascular
disease or circulatory disorders,
they need an extra ribose boost to replace
ATP pools that are depleted by this strenuous
activity or disease.
ATP is extraordinary. It is the source of
energy for flowers and vegetables, horses and
humans. Even tiny microscopic organisms
are dependent upon ATP for energy. The
body only contains a small amount of this
miraculous molecule, yet each day sizable
quantities of ATP must be formed and consumed.
Every day our tissues will metabolize
an amount of ATP roughly equivalent to our
own body weight – and much, much more if
we are doing hard physical work. To reach its
energy goal, our bodies rely on ATP
“turnover,” or regeneration of ATP from a
pool of ATP in our tissues. When the body’s
basic pool of ATP becomes depleted, ribose is
the only compound used by the body to
drive the metabolic pathways needed for
recovery.
Several days of hard physical exercise can
reduce ATP pools by as much as 30 percent,
and even after three full days of rest,
there is little recovery. After a cardiac event,
such as surgery or a heart attack, it can take
10 days for meaningful recovery of ATP
pools. During these recovery periods the
muscles and heart will not function at full
potential. Fatigue, swelling, soreness and
general malaise would be typical.
Supplemental ribose before or after such
activity or events makes a profound difference
equating to more bounce in your step,
improved athletic performance, significantly
reduced soreness and muscle swelling and
increased cardiac energy coupled with
improved exercise tolerance for those with
cardiovascular disease. One clinical study
showed that ribose increased muscle
strength by almost 30 percent. Another
showed that ribose given to heart patients
improved exercise tolerance and a third
proved that the heart functions better in
patients taking ribose. Ribose has also been
successfully used to treat fibromyalgia and
early laboratory studies suggest that it has
potential as an immune system enhancer.
Recent research suggests that those
aspects of ribose that give it such wide appeal
in cardiac health may also boost its demand
with athletes, exercise buffs or anyone really
working their muscles on a Saturday afternoon.
By helping to keep energy levels elevated
in hearts that are stressed by disease,
ribose improves the relaxation phase of the
heartbeat, called the diastolic phase by the medically oriented. When the heart muscle
is allowed to relax more completely, it
remains compliant and fills with more blood
that it can then pump to the rest of the body.
Basically, the heart becomes more efficient.
Medical researchers have known this fact for
some time.
The same basic effect in exercise was not
appreciated, however, until it was dramatically
demonstrated at St. Cloud State
University (Minnesota) where volunteers
were tested during exercise in a double blind
crossover study. In this study, subjects exercised
while breathing less oxygen than
normal to simulate the effect of a hard
workout. At a constant level of exercise, subjects
had an average heart rate of 181 beats
per minute (bpm) when tested without
ribose supplementation. In a separate test
after supplementation with ribose, the heart
rate in these same subjects averaged only 175 bpm under the exact same level of exercise
stress. And, in the same study, ribose supplementation
reduced indices of free radicals
formed during exercise.
To further illustrate these effects, Charlie
Wasley, a Minneapolis-based international
Ironman and triathlete recently
started using ribose. “Within two weeks [of
starting a ribose regimen], I was able to
bring my pace mile down from eight minutes
to seven-and-a-half minutes while
keeping my heart rate constant at 160 beats
per minute. An amazing improvement in
such a limited period of time” says Charlie.
Another professional endurance athlete was
able to reduce his heart rate from 180 bpm
to 175 bpm during high-energy cycle sprints
on a stationary bike. Recently a group of
world-class cyclists, including several on the
USPS team, evaluated ribose and reported
significant endurance improvements.
Professional athletes and sport enthusiasts
would normally take from 3–5 grams of
ribose before a workout and the same
amount after a workout. The weekend warrior
should take a similar amount before and
after the bout of yard work or tennis match.
The good thing about this supplement is
that you really do not need to take it except
when you are physically taxing your system.
Ribose is also sold directly to hospitals
and doctors as a medical food for use by
patients with congestive heart failure and
ischemic heart disease. Major hospitals, cardiologists
and cardiac rehabilitation centers
recommend ribose to give metabolic support
in these patients and positive new clinical
work in congestive heart failure was
presented as recently as August of this year.
So whether your concern is cardiac
health, exercise performance or just feeling
good, adding ribose to your routine can give
your heart and muscles the energy boost
they need. TH
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