Although many people find it hard to sleep occasionally, insomnia means you have persistent trouble falling and staying asleep at night for at least one month, reports PubMed Health. Insomnia can severely affect your ability to function and decrease feelings of well being. When taken as a dietary supplement, ribose provides some benefits for improving sleep quality, especially in patients with certain medical conditions. Consult your doctor before using ribose.
About Ribose
Ribose is a carbohydrate used by your body to manufacture ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, your main source of energy. It is also used to make RNA, or ribonucleic acid, which is a polymeric nucleotide present in all living cells and is important to protein synthesis and the transmission of genetic information. While some foods provide a small amount of ribose, the amounts are not high enough to meet your daily needs. Cooking food also destroys any quantity of naturally-present ribose in food sources, says the Cory Holly Institute. Your body can generally synthesize enough ribose from glucose to satisfy your daily requirements. However, supplementation can be beneficial for certain medical conditions.
Causes of Insomnia
Sometimes you might have trouble sleeping because of excessive levels of stress and worry. Insomnia occurs in two forms. Primary insomnia results from factors like caffeine and alcohol use and anxiety and stress. Secondary insomnia stems from a medical condition, which includes depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and a neurological disorder known as restless legs syndrome, a persistent, uncontrollable need to move your legs throughout the night. Some research has shown that ribose supplementation can improve the quality of sleep in people with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and restless legs syndrome. No studies have evaluated the effects of ribose on insomnia in the general population.
Clinical Evidence
A study published in "The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine" evaluated the effects of a D-ribose supplement on 41 patients with either chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, two conditions characterized by intense fatigue, sleep difficulty and pain. The results showed that 66 percent of patients improved their energy level, sleep quality, mental clarity, pain tolerance and overall well-being when treated with ribose. Another later study published in the same journal showed that ribose helped reduce the daily and nightly symptoms of restless legs syndrome in two male study participants. However, no additional studies have confirmed these results. More clinical trials are needed to fully evaluate the benefits of ribose supplementation on insomnia.
Considerations
While ribose may provide some benefits for insomnia, there's not enough evidence to fully support its use. If you suffer from insomnia consult your doctor as this can be a sign of an underlying medical disorder. Ribose may cause certain side effects and interact with some medications. You should not use ribose if you are pregnant or nursing, have diabetes or low blood sugar or scheduled for surgery within the next two weeks.
References
- Cory Holly Institute; "Ribose: Heart, Muscle and Energy Food"
- PubMed Health; "Insomnia"
- "The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine"; "The Use of D-Ribose in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia: A Pilot Study"; J. Teitelbaum et al.; November 16, 2006
- "The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine"; "D-Ribose Benefits Restless Legs Syndrome"; L. Shecterle et al.; December 4, 2008
