(Excerpts from, and thanks to, Dr. Rowen, MD., Dr. Whitaker, MD, and Life Extension. We don’t sell it and ribose is expensive and not essential, so this is a consideration only if it fits your budget!)
This little-known “healthy sugar” can help you get rid of fatigue at the root cause – by building an energy pool in every single cell of your body – and it is proven in clinical studies.
As you know, we believe the two priorities for chronic fatigue are:
1. Our Ultimate Monolaurin to combat several of the bacterial and viral attacks that often cause chronic fatigue, and
2. The Ultimate Detox to remove the toxic heavy metals and pesticides that can also be causing fatigue.
Once your body is no longer under attack, it is able to move back to a healthy metabolism. However, there are some people whose metabolism may be ‘stuck’ in low gear. If so, this may be worth considering.
Scientists have discovered that there is a special type of sugar that can help you get rid of nagging fatigue at the metabolic level. What’s more, this special sugar can help you, even if you’ve been suffering from debilitating fatigue for years.
So what is this special sugar? It’s called ribose. Ribose is special because it has only 5 carbons in its chemical structure (as opposed to 6 carbons in common sugars, like glucose, sucrose, and fructose). These 6-carbon sugars raise blood sugar levels, and cause your body to produce insulin.
Unlike 6-carbon sugars, the 5-carbon sugar ribose does not raise blood sugar levels or cause your body to produce insulin. Instead, it helps you burn off more sugar, and get rid of fatigue at the root cause.
Why does ribose have such amazing effects? Well, it has to do with how the body produces energy, and how the lack of energy production is the root cause of fatigue.
The Root Cause of Fatigue
As you may know, your cells contain tiny “power plants” called mitochondria. These power plants produce an energy molecule called ATP. The more ATP your cells produce, the more energy you have. Conversely, when your ATP levels are low, you feel fatigued and sluggish, as you don’t have enough energy. To restore your energy and recover from fatigue, your cells have to produce more ATP.
The problem is that your cells need ATP to make ATP. The less ATP you have, the less ATP your cells can make. It’s a vicious cycle. As a result, your ATP levels never recover to optimal levels, even with plenty of rest. And that’s why you’re tired all the time!
Build an Energy Pool in Every Cell of Your Body
Fortunately, ribose makes it much easier for your cells to produce ATP. Ribose is an actual building block of ATP. Your cells convert ribose to ATP only when your body needs energy. And the unused ribose is stored in your cells as reserve.
To understand how this works, think of the money in your savings account. The bigger your savings, the more money you can draw out to use. In a similar way, the more ribose stored in your cells, the more ATP and energy your cells can produce.
And that’s how you can get rid of fatigue at the root cause. All you have to do is build a large pool of ribose in your cells, so that they get a continuous supply of ribose to make ATP. This ensures you’ll never be low in energy, and be fatigued again.
Proven to Work in Clinical Studies
Is ribose really that effective at overcoming fatigue? Well, according to research studies, the answer is YES! For example, in one animal study, scientists took lab rats and clamped their blood vessels, in order to slow down blood flow and deprive the rats’ hearts of oxygen. This in turn caused their ATP levels to plunge. The scientists then split the rats into two groups: one received ribose, and one didn’t. The result: The rats in the control group continued to have a serious decline in ATP levels. In contrast, the rats taking ribose saw their ATP levels go back to normal within 24 hours!
In another animal study, scientists found that ribose sped up the recovery of fatigued muscles by up to 430%. They also found that even tiny amounts of ribose helped the cells preserve energy.
In a Lancet study of 20 men, researchers found that those taking ribose could exercise much harder before being fatigued.
In a clinical study, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, medical director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers, took a group of 36 patients who suffered from fatigue, and gave each one a small bottle of ribose. He then told them to take the ribose daily until the bottle was empty. The result? The patients saw a dramatic improvement in their energy levels – and they also reported to sleep better… think clearer… and enjoy improved well-being.
In a case study published in the journal Pharmacotherapy, a veterinarian was forced to give up the practice she loved due to her debilitating fatigue. She felt depressed and helpless. So when she heard about ribose, she decided to give it a try immediately. What happened next? She was back to her operating room in 3 weeks, practicing normally without any fatigue.
However… being a very skeptical person, she didn’t believe that a “sugar” could have such a dramatic effect on her condition. So she stopped taking ribose. Within two weeks, her debilitating fatigue returned. But when she resumed her ribose supplementation, her fatigue was gone in days.
That’s how effective ribose is at treating fatigue, and boosting energy. But ribose does more than that. It also…
Strengthens Heart Muscles
You see, your heart pumps a large volume of blood every second. This uses up a lot of energy. This energy comes from the ATP your heart cells produce. The problem is, when your heart is weakened, the heart cells are no longer able to produce enough ATP and energy. Without enough energy, the heart muscles become fatigued and starved for even more energy.
That’s why people with weakened hearts are so tired all the time. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for heart patients to complain that they can’t even walk to their mailbox without being so out of breath that they have to sit down. The good news is that it’s possible to strengthen your heart muscles and improve your stamina with ribose. Have a look at these studies:
In a German study, researchers took a group of heart patients and hooked them up to an echocardiograph to test their heart functions. After that, they gave the patients ribose or a placebo for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, they re-tested the heart functions of the patients.
What did they find? The patients taking ribose showed increased energy in their hearts. Their hearts filled and pumped more normally compared to the hearts of the control group. Not only that, the ribose group also reported to enjoy a better quality of life.
But the researchers didn’t stop there. They had the patients run on treadmills to see how well they performed. Compared to the control group, the ribose group could run for a much longer time before showing signs of fatigue. Amazing!
In another study, researchers took a group of heart patients and tested them on stationary bicycles. Result: The patients taking
ribose performed much better than the control group. What’s more, the ribose group also showed to have stronger hearts, as measured by the amount of blood they pumped!
In still another study, researchers gave ribose to patients who had heart injury. What they found was amazing. The patients showed improved blood flow, improved oxygen-uptake, and greater exercise capacity.
And in yet another study, researchers gave ribose to a group of 143 patients who had previous bypass surgery. The patients showed much greater hearts’ pumping ability compared to the patients who had bypass surgery, but without taking ribose.
(By the way, there are no adverse side effects from taking ribose.)
Put Ribose to Work for You
But here’s the kicker: you cannot find ribose in any food by itself. So the only practical way to boost your ribose levels is by taking a ribose supplement. We don’t produce ribose since there are several good sources. Vitacost, Swanson’s, Puritan Pride and Amazon all have good products and prices. We usually get the NSI Brand at Vitacost, listed in our Additional Supplementspage (NSI Link Here).
We feel it is worth the cost if you think your body might need a boost after Monolaurin and Detox has gotten rid of the body attacks. Take 1 heaping tsp. (about 5 g.) 1 – 3 times a day.
Best to all.
References:
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5. Buchwald D, Sullivan JL, Komaroff AL Frequency of ‘chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection’ in a general medical practice. JAMA. 1987;257:2303–7.
6. Straus SE, Tosato G, Armstrong G, et al Persisting illness and fatigue in adults with evidence of Epstein-Barr virus infection. Ann Intern Med. 1985;102:7–16.
7. Conn HF, Clohecy RJ, Conn RB Current Diagnosis. Philadelphia (PA): W.B. Saunders. 1997.