D-Ribose

D-Ribose

D-Ribose is an old-school ingredient that gets forgotten about from time to time. D-Ribose is a naturally occurring compound and a sugar representation of ATP and may contribute to the metabolic condition of the heart(1). In athletes, it’s likely the D-Ribose will increase power output and decrease rate of perceived output (RPE). D-Ribose even outperformed dextrose supplementation head-to-head(2). This means that short term bursts and long term endurance can be increased by the supplementation of D-Ribose. Another strong benefit of D-Ribose for athletes is the recovery aspect. D-Ribose has shown to decrease delayed onset muscular soreness and improve the recovery of muscle damage (3).

Other D-Ribose Uses

D-Ribose is also being studied for pairing with caffeine. It’s believed that this sugar may help relieve the body of the unpleasant caffeine side effects many people get daily by lowering extracellular adenosine concentrations. (4)

(1) Pauly DF, Pepine CJ. D-Ribose as a supplement for cardiac energy metabolism. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 2000 Oct;5(4):249-58. doi: 10.1054/JCPT.2000.18011. PMID: 11150394.

(2) Seifert JG, Brumet A, St Cyr JA. The influence of D-ribose ingestion and fitness level on performance and recovery. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017 Dec 20;14:47. doi: 10.1186/s12970-017-0205-8. PMID: 29296106; PMCID: PMC5738882.

(3) Cao W, Qiu J, Cai T, Yi L, Benardot D, Zou M. Effect of D-ribose supplementation on delayed onset muscle soreness induced by plyometric exercise in college students. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2020 Aug 10;17(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s12970-020-00371-8. PMID: 32778175; PMCID: PMC7418385.

(4) Herrick J, Shecterle LM, St Cyr JA. D-ribose--an additive with caffeine. Med Hypotheses. 2009 May;72(5):499-500. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.12.038. Epub 2009 Feb 14. PMID: 19223125.