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ATP, adenosine triphosphate, is the main source of fuel for the body’s cells.  During rigorous exercise, ATP levels may become depleted.  With a higher supply of ATP, the body may be able to provide cells in the muscles with more energy for increased physical endurance and performance.  This supplement provides ATP in readily usable form.

ATP supplements are beneficial for quick bursts of muscular activity, such as in weight lifting and sprinting. Ordinarily, the body is able to recycle its supply of ATP. Under strenuous conditions, however, the body is unable to maintain steady ATP levels and must replenish its supply. 

ATP production declines with age.  ATP supplements can dilate the blood vessels and increase oxygen delivery to important muscles and organs.  By increasing the efficient delivery of nutrients, ATP may provide some anti-aging benefits.

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ATP is produced by the mitochondria.  During this process, an excess amount of free radicals is produced.  Free radicals are highly reactive particles which can damage cells and important chemicals in the body.  ATP supplements avoid the excessive production of free radicals.

 

BodyandFitness.com:

What is ATP?
Your body must be continuously supplied with energy to perform its many complex functions. As the body's energy demands increase with exercise, work, or in various disease states, there must be a way to provide this additional energy or you will stop functioning at your optimum level.

The energy-rich chemical compound that provides virtually all the energy needed by your body is known as adenosine triphophate, or simply ATP. The energy released from the breakdown of ATP is used to power all body functions. We need ATP to make our hearts beat, to give our muscles power when we demand it, and to maintain our everyday lives. Without adequate ATP stores, we could not walk, run, breathe, or even have blood flow through our bodies. So, ATP is considered the "energy currency" of the cell. It is, in fact, the molecule that gives us life.

What Does ATP Do?
In normal conditions at rest, our bodies are able to produce all the ATP we need for a healthy existence. However, in stressful conditions, such as doing strenuous high-intensity exercise or when suffering from various diseases, ATP cannot be replaced fast enough. In fact, when ATP is broken down for energy under these conditions, some of the molecules used by the cell to recycle ATP are washed out of the cell and cannot be easily replaced. When that happens, there are not enough of these compounds available to continued life of the cell, can be compromised.

To stay healthy and active, to keep our hearts functioning properly and to maintain peak levels of muscle performance, we need to keep this pool of ATP at the highest level possible. This pool of ATP is absolutely vital for out heart and skeletal muscles to have all the energy they need to provide maximum strength and endurance.   

You like to give it your all at the gym and on the playing field. After all, you know that maximum intensity can lead to maximum gains. But sometimes you train so hard that the amount of energy stored in your muscle cells can't be restored before your next workout. If this happens, you wind up with a long-term reduction in a vital energy compound known as adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.

ATP stores virtually all of the energy needed by the body. During the normal process of metabolism, ATP is hydrolyzed—broken down with water and oxygen. The process of break down causes a burst of energy, giving ATP its "energy currency" status because it releases vital energy within cells innumerable times throughout the day. This energy keeps the heart beating and oxygen flowing and empowers muscle cells to meet daily demands.

A body at rest produces all the ATP it needs. In stressful conditions, however, such as strenuous, high-intensity exercise or various diseases, ATP cannot be replaced fast enough. In addition, some of the molecules used by the cell to recycle ATP are washed out of the cell. These events compromise both the life of the cell and how the cell functions.

Do I Need to Supplement With ATP? 
If your body is not subjected to physical stress, you don't need additional ATP—but most people meet with physical challenges everyday. In particular, activities that cause ischemia call for ribose supplementation. Ischemia is a blockage of blood circulation, and can occur due to a number of factors.

A stroke is a cerebral—meaning brain—ischemia. Strokes cause problems when the circulation blockage prevents oxygen from getting to cells, and cells die. Similarly, when there is a blockage in circulation anywhere in the body, there is insufficient oxygen in the area that's blocked. If the blockage is due to exertion—doing a sit-up for instance—as soon as the motion is completed, circulation flow continues with no dire consequence, unless the motion that causes the blockage is prolonged or repeated enough to retard ATP production. Without oxygen, ATP cannot be regenerated.

Blood clots or other blockages to coronary arteries also cause ischemia; atherosclerosis is another cause. These are medical conditions that may call for ATP supplements. More commonly, sudden or strenuous exercise can also cut off blood supply to some part of the body—the sit-ups mentioned above, for example. This kind of ischemia is usually referred to as exercise ischemia.

Marathon runners, distance swimmers, triathletes, and cyclists may experience exercise ischemia if they are training for long periods. Firefighters and police officers may also experience physical stress and ischemia if they are required to exert sudden and extreme amounts of energy while on duty.

How Much Is Enough? 
"Weekend warriors" have the entire week to restore their muscle-energy stores between exercise bouts and may not need ATP to maintain optimum cellular energy levels. In contrast, those who exercise to the point of exhaustion frequently during the week probably do have trouble keeping cellular energy levels up and could use a little help from ATP products. Even individuals training three or four times per week may not see cellular energy levels return to normal between sessions. One day of rest between heavy exercise bouts is often not sufficient to fully restore ATP levels in muscle. 

Daily supplements of 30 to 100 mg. daily have been known to restore health by re-establishing steady and efficient energy production to heart tissue. CoQ10 is also used for Health, Immunity, Aging, and Athletic Performance. CoQ10 can possess up to a five times greater antioxidant effect in certain tissues, specifically heart tissue.  
 
 Dibencozide, otherwise known as Co-Enzyme B-12, is the primary active form of Vitamin B-12 in the body and is directly involved in the body's building of lean muscle tissue. It is required for processing Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) through the Krebs' cycle, for sustained energy production. Supplementation with Dibencozide may reduce fatigue during prolonged exertion. It helps stimulate protein metabolism for increased conversion efficiency of proteins into amino acid components.

 ATP products should be particularly effective for athletes involved in intense activities requiring short bursts of effort. These sports include weight lifting, power lifting, sprinting, basketball, hockey, volleyball, soccer, and tennis.

In animal studies, heart tissue deprived of enough oxygen releases inosine. The effect of this increased inosine is more blood flow to the heart muscle, and up to double ATP production.

 

 

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Adenosine Triphosphate - ATP
Paul May - Bristol University

The 1997 Nobel prize for Chemistry has been awarded to 3 biochemists for the study of the important biological molecule, adenosine triphosphate. This makes it a fitting molecule with which to begin the 1998 collection of Molecule's of the Month. Other versions of this page are: a Chime version and a Chemsymphony version.

ATP - Nature's Energy Store
All living things, plants and animals, require a continual supply of energy in order to function. The energy is used for all the processes which keep the organism alive. Some of these processes occur continually, such as the metabolism of foods, the synthesis of large, biologically important molecules, e.g. proteins and DNA, and the transport of molecules and ions throughout the organism. Other processes occur only at certain times, such as muscle contraction and other cellular movements. Animals obtain their energy by oxidation of foods, plants do so by trapping the sunlight using chlorophyll. However, before the energy can be used, it is first transformed into a form which the organism can handle easily. This special carrier of energy is the molecule adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.

Its Structure
The ATP molecule is composed of three components. At the centre is a sugar molecule, ribose (the same sugar that forms the basis of DNA). Attached to one side of this is a base (a group consisting of linked rings of carbon and nitrogen atoms); in this case the base is adenine. The other side of the sugar is attached to a string of phosphate groups. These phosphates are the key to the activity of ATP.

ATP consists of a base, in this case adenine (red), a ribose (magenta) and a phosphate chain (blue).
 
How it works
ATP works by losing the endmost phosphate group when instructed to do so by an enzyme. This reaction releases a lot of energy, which the organism can then use to build proteins, contact muscles, etc. The reaction product is adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and the phosphate group either ends up as orthophosphate (HPO4) or attached to another molecule (e.g. an alcohol). Even more energy can be extracted by removing a second phosphate group to produce adenosine monophosphate (AMP).

When the organism is resting and energy is not immediately needed, the reverse reaction takes place and the phosphate group is reattached to the molecule using energy obtained from food or sunlight. Thus the ATP molecule acts as a chemical 'battery', storing energy when it is not needed, but able to release it instantly when the organism requires it.

The Phosphorus Cycle
The fact that ATP is Nature's 'universal energy store' explains why phosphates are a vital ingredient in the diets of all living things. Modern fertilizers often contain phosphorus compounds that have been extracted from animal bones. These compounds are used by plants to make ATP. We then eat the plants, metabolise their phosphorus, and produce our own ATP. When we die, our phosphorus goes back into the ecosystem to begin the cycle again.

The enzyme which makes ATP is called ATP synthase, or ATPase, and sits on the mitochondria in animal cells or chloroplasts in plant cells. Walker first determined the amino acid sequence of this enzyme, and then elaborated its 3 dimensional structure. Boyer showed that contrary to the previously accepted belief, the energy requiring step in making ATP is not the synthesis from ADP and phosphate, but the initial binding of the ADP and the phosphate to the enzyme. Skou was the first to show that this enzyme promoted ion transport through membranes, giving an explanation for nerve cell ion transport as well as fundamental properties of all living cells. He later showed that the phosphate group that is ripped from ATP binds to the enzyme directly. This enzyme is capable of transporting sodium ions when phosphorylated like this, but potassium ions when it is not. More details on the chemistry of ATPase can be found here, and you can download the 2 Mbyte pdb file for Bovine ATPase from here.

References: Chemistry in Britain, November 1997, and much more information on the history of ATP and ATPase can be found at the Swedish Academy of Sciences and at Oxford University.

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