Trehalose is Elixir Of Life, and Vitamin C Reduces Alcohol's Impact on Performance

MUSHROOM SUGAR TREHALOSE IS "ELIXIR OF LIFE" 

At a basic level, trehalose is a sugar - more precisely a disaccharide made of two alpha-glucose molecules.

Here's what you need to know, "trehalose is synthesized as a stress-responsive factor when cells are exposed to environmental stresses like heat, cold, oxidation, desiccation, and so forth.

When unicellular organisms are exposed to stress, they adapt by synthesizing huge amounts of trehalose, which helps them in retaining cellular integrity. This is thought to occur by prevention of denaturation of proteins by trehalose, which would otherwise degrade under stress." [2]

In a 2009 study at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research in India, scientists discovered that trehalose essentially forms a "glassy" or gel-like cocoon that engulfs, supports, and stabilizes cells and cellular structures - helping them withstand stressful situations.

The scientists believe this bioprotective action is made possible by a rare combination of properties unique to trehalose.

Although none of these properties is powerful or impressive on their own, the combination provides a neurological and protein-protecting benefit that cannot be ignored.

In the researcher's own words, trehalose may be the elixir of life for organisms when it comes to countering stressful conditions. 

This is why we chose trehalose as the sweetener for our Prebiotic+ formulation. You're getting all the benefits of resistant starch PLUS the stress-adaptive bioprotection of trehalose!

VITAMIN C PREVENTS ALCOHOL-RELATED PERFORMANCE DIP

Add another benefit to the seemingly endless resume of Vitamin C.

In this study, mice were given alcohol and then placed in an aquarium where they had to stay afloat. Time to exhaustion was tested with and without alcohol. The same time to exhaustion was then measured when Vitamin C was taken after alcohol ingestion.

Alcohol - as you would assume - had a negative impact on time to exhaustion. With alcohol in their system, the mice were not able to perform as well as they did without alcohol. 

Vitamin C, taken AFTER alcohol ingestion reduced the alcohol-related performance drop. Interestingly, when taken BEFORE alcohol consumption, Vitamin C did NOT attenuate the performance drop.

Based on the dosages given to the mice, the effective dose for humans would be 1-4 grams of Vitamin C, according to bodyweight and taken after alcohol consumption.

The researchers concluded: "The negative effect of alcohol is probably the work of the alcohol metabolite acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde damages tissue, including muscle tissue, but it seems that vitamin C can to some extent limit this damage. Going by the results of this animal study, you could speculate that athletes who have drunk alcohol will train better if they take one gram of quickly absorbed Vitamin C an hour before their workout."

We're not advocating unchecked alcohol consumption.

But when you have (responsibly) enjoyed some, follow it up with 1-4 grams of Vitamin C to "hack" your way to optimal performance.

  Resources:

1. Nishant, K. Effect of Trehalose on protein structure. Protein Science. 2009 Jan; 18(1): 24–36 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2708026/
2. Busnel, RG. Behavioral Brain Research. 1980 Aug;1 (4):351-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7295384