Q. The Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays are a big deal in my family. There are many get-togethers, decorating, church activities, food and kids. It’s fun, but by New Year’s Day, I’m whipped. This year, my daughter is having a Christmas wedding, too! I’m already flat out of energy, but I want to enjoy every moment. Will energy drinks help? – Marcia, Amherst, Mass. A. Some college students think the most important discovery of the past decade was Red Bull. Uh, maybe not. Most of the boost in energy drinks comes from two things – sugar and caffeine – and the effect is short-term. Then it lets you down. That’s why people get addicted to them. Overloading on caffeine also could backfire big-time for you by throwing your nightly sleep to the wind.
We’d suggest something entirely different: Ribose. It’s actually a sugar, but a completely different kind. Ribose is made in your body, where it’s used to build key energy molecules, but you also can get it as a supplement. The most convincing evidence for ribose’s ability to infuse energy is that taking a daily dose gives a real boost to people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome – diseases characterized by exhaustion. The only side effect is that some people feel too much energy.
