This is the first I have heard of ribose, especially in regard to increasing energy levels. For those with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, it is something to try to see if it will actually elevate your energy level.
Easy Ways To Get Energy -- Fast
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Some ill-advised folks might say that the greatest nutritional discovery of the past decade has been the Baconator (a whopping 830 calories -- we don't think so). The real nutritional hero: ribose. This special sugar is made in your body. It doesn't come from food, but you can get it in a supplement. What it does is help build the energy factories of your body. Of all the things you can do to combat the effects of knee-dragging fatigue, taking a daily ribose supplement is the one that seems to really turbocharge some people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, diseases associated with low energy. The only side effect is that some people feel too much energy.
The data aren't good enough yet to recommend ribose for everyone. But if you want to give it a try, start with 500 milligrams three times a day for a week or so, until you get used to the taste (or find a smoothie, coffee or tea to put it in). Then, go to 5 grams three times a day for three weeks to get a sense of the effect. After that, you can scale back to 5 grams twice a day.
Prefer to go with an energizer that's more proven? Go green -- tea, that is. Although green tea has one-third the caffeine of black tea, it's been shown to yield the same level of energy and attentiveness. And your heart and arteries get something out of it as well: four times more health-protecting polyphenols than black tea.
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The YOU Docs -- Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz -- are authors of "YOU: Being Beautiful -- The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty." To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home. (c) 2009 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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