Answers For YOUR Health

Ahhh. Ski season. Blue skies, powdery white snow… sore muscles and injuries. When my husband and I booked our recent ski trip to Colorado, I knew I needed to find a way to reduce "Skier’s Plight." If you’re a vacation skier, I’m sure you can empathize with this scenario: You have an amazing first day on the slopes, only to awaken on day two and find you can barely move your legs, let alone suit up and actually ski. What a bummer.

This time, I refused to miss out on a single bluebird day on Purgatory’s magnificent slopes. And I didn’t. In fact, I never even got sore, despite eight-hour ski days and 27 inches of powder! And I attribute it to one sweet supplement: ribose.

Ribose is actually a sugar. It’s the base sugar for both DNA and RNA, and the building block for adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell’s energy currency. Because ribose is a 5 carbon sugar (not a 6 carbon sugar) it doesn’t add to your glycemic load or raise blood sugar levels. What it does do is help put tissue in better physiological condition during and following stress. Ribose improves recovery time after intense exercise. It also helps keep your muscles "fed" with energy, giving you stamina during a workout. The result is a better workout, with fewer sore muscles.

Dr. Jacob Teitlebaum, MD, author of From Fatigued to Fantastic, recommends taking D-ribose (a powdered form) and starting out with a higher dose to increase the concentration on the cellular level. For the first three weeks I used ribose, I took five grams three times daily, then reduced to twice daily. (I use Jarrow Formulas.)

The ribose benefits don’t stop on the slopes (or in the gym). This amazing cell fuel has been shown to help increase energy levels in patients with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and heart problems as well.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR's free natural health e-letter.]