Ribose Supplements

[IanB]

Just wondered if anyone here uses or has used ribose to aid recovery?

The following info is taken (and slightly edited) from the Torq Website:
"Ribose is a simple sugar that is the starting point for the production of ATP. Ribose is found naturally in every living cell of the body and is synthesised from glucose, but this is slow, complicated and requires energy. Supplemental ribose is able to bypass this process, quickly re-building cellular ATP and returning muscle energy levels to normal.

Without ribose supplementation, research suggests that most people's muscles will take between 26 and 93 hours (1-4 days) to return cellular ATP levels to normal after strenuous exercise. It goes without saying that this could be longer or shorter depending on how strenuous and prolonged the exercise was (this is based on a 28 percent loss of nucleotides from the muscle). With ribose supplementation, full cellular energy charge would take 6 to 22 hours (within a day).

Again, research has shown that ribose supplementation increases the manufacture of ATP in skeletal muscle by 340 to 430 percent. It has also demonstrated that ribose improves the cell's ability to salvage and re-use ADP and AMP by as much as 700 percent (these are the nucleotides that are usually lost from the cell for good)"

I've been using it now (in a doses of 3-5g after hard training sessions, or multiday races) for a couple months and have found it has a very noticeable effect in speeding up recovery, reducing muscle tiredness and just generally being more motivated about getting out on my bike to train more effectively

[John979]

I subscribe to ConsumerLabs.com, an excellent source of unbiased information. Below is the report on ribose. Nothing proven, but it does appear to be harmless.

Requirements/Sources
Ribose is not an essential nutrient. Although it is a common sugar present in the bodies of animals and plants, food sources don't supply recommended dosages.

Therapeutic Dosages
Typical doses recommended by sports supplement manufacturers are 1 to 10 g per day. Participants in a study of heart disease took 60 g of ribose in water (15 mg, 4 times a day) by mouth for 3 days. 2

Typically provided as a powder to be dissolved in water or in liquid form, ribose is also available commercially in capsules. The dissolved powder has a sweetish taste that some people find unpleasant. 5

Therapeutic Uses
Ribose may be of benefit in improving exercise tolerance in people with angina by helping the heart regenerate its ATP, but the evidence that it works remains highly preliminary. 6

Sports enthusiasts are more interested in ATP's effects on regular muscles than on the heart muscle. At least one animal study seems to show that skeletal muscle, like heart muscle, replenishes ATP more quickly when ribose is added to the blood. 7 In theory, this could lead to enhanced performance in high intensity anaerobic exercise, such as sprinting. However, three small double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in humans failed to find any benefit. 14,16

In a few case reports, ribose apparently has increased exercise ability in people with a rare condition involving deficiency of the enzyme myoadenylate deaminase (AMPD). 8,9 However, no double-blind studies of ribose in AMPD deficiency have been conducted. Small double-blind studies have failed to find ribose effective for another rare enzyme deficiency called McArdle's disease, 10 or for Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. 11

What Is the Scientific Evidence for Ribose?
Individuals with sufficiently severe coronary artery disease suffer reduced blood flow to the heart (ischemia) with exercise, and experience angina pain. One small study examined whether giving ribose can improve exercise tolerance for people with angina. 12 In the study, 20 men with severe coronary artery disease walked on a treadmill while researchers noted how long it took for signs of ischemia to develop. For the next 3 days, the men took either oral ribose (60 mg per day) or placebo, after which they repeated the treadmill test. Results of the final test showed that those taking ribose increased the time they were able to walk before developing EKG signs of ischemia, while those taking placebo had no such improvement. This preliminary study was too small to prove anything definitively, but it certainly suggests that further investigation would be worthwhile.

Safety Issues
There are no reports of lasting or damaging side effects from ribose, but formal safety studies have not yet been conducted. Reported minor side effects include diarrhea, gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, and

References

1. Pliml W, von Arnim T, Stablein A,et al. Effects of ribose on exercise-induced ischaemia in stable coronary artery disease. Lancet. 1992;340:507,510.

2. Pliml W, von Arnim T, Stablein A,et al. Effects of ribose on exercise-induced ischaemia in stable coronary artery disease. Lancet. 1992;340:507,510.

3. Zollner N, Reiter S, Gross M, et al. Myoadenylate deaminase deficiency: successful symptomatic therapy by high dose oral administration of ribose. Klin Wochenschr. 1986;64:1281,1290.

4. Wagner DR, Gresser U, Zollner N. Effects of oral ribose on muscle metabolism during bicycle ergometer in AMPD-deficient patients. Ann Nutr Metab. 1991;35:297,302.

5. Steele IC, Patterson VH, Nicholls DP. A double blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial of D-ribose in McArdle's disease. J Neurol Sci. 1996;136:174,177.

6. Pliml W, von Arnim T, Stablein A,et al. Effects of ribose on exercise-induced ischaemia in stable coronary artery disease. Lancet. 1992;340:507,510.

7. Tullson PC, Terjung RL. Adenine nucleotide synthesis in exercising and endurance-trained skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol. 1991;261(2 pt 1):C342,C347.

8. Zollner N, Reiter S, Gross M, et al. Myoadenylate deaminase deficiency: successful symptomatic therapy by high dose oral administration of ribose. Klin Wochenschr. 1986;64:1281,1290.

9. Wagner DR, Gresser U, Zollner N. Effects of oral ribose on muscle metabolism during bicycle ergometer in AMPD-deficient patients. Ann Nutr Metab. 1991;35:297,302.

10. Steele IC, Patterson VH, Nicholls DP. A double blind, placebo controlled, crossover trial of D-ribose in McArdle's disease. J Neurol Sci. 1996;136:174,177.

11. Griffiths RD, Cady EB, Edwards RH,et al. Muscle energy- metabolism in Duchenne dystrophy studied by 31P-NMR: controlled trials show no effect of allopurinol or ribose. Muscle Nerve. 1985;8:760,767.

12. Pliml W, von Arnim T, Stablein A,et al. Effects of ribose on exercise-induced ischaemia in stable coronary artery disease. Lancet. 1992;340:507,510.

13. Pliml W, von Arnim T, Stablein A,et al. Effects of ribose on exercise-induced ischaemia in stable coronary artery disease. Lancet. 1992;340:507,510.

14. Op 't Eijnde B, Van Leemputte M, Brouns F, et al. No effects of oral ribose supplementation on repeated maximal exercise and de novo ATP resynthesis. J Appl Physiol. 2001;91:2275-2281.

15. Berardi JM, Ziegenfuss TN. Effects of ribose supplementation on repeated sprint performance in men. J Strength Cond Res. 2003;17:47,52.

16. Kreider RB, Melton C, Greenwood M, et al. Effects of oral d-ribose supplementation on anaerobic capacity and selected metabolic markers in healthy males. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2003;13:87,96.