In a world of athletic performance and health-boosting supplements, it’s hard to know what’s what. Inosine is one of the latest supplements catching buzz, but there’s still a lot to learn about its potential benefits.
At Ultimate Nutrition, inosine is one of the hundreds of premium supplements we give our community access to. We’re always looking for the latest ways to help increase muscle, stimulate weight loss, improve health and wellness, and boost performance.
Inosine has caught our eye and we’re ready to bring our community’s attention to it.
What Is Inosine?
Inosine is a chemical that is found in Ribonucleic acid (RNA). RNA is a nucleic acid present in all living cells and has structural similarities to DNA. RNA carries out a broad range of functions, from translating genetic information to regulating the activity of genes during development, cellular differentiation, and changing environments.
Although naturally occurring in our bodies, inosine is often made in a laboratory and taken as a supplement in hopes of improving athletic performance.
Why Do We Use Inosine Supplements?
Inosine first peaked intrigue by Eastern sports scientists in the 1970s. Potential benefits of inosine stem from its acting as a building block for DNA and RNA, helping healthy nerve branches grow from nerves damaged in the brain and spinal cord. Athletes have since turned to inosine to improve their strength capabilities.
Inosine’s properties have also led many to believe that it may aid in the preservation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). We’ll touch on why ATP is so important just a little later. Although many have faith in inosine's benefits, its actual clinical benefits are still being studied.
Potential Benefits of Inosine
Energy
Inosine may aid in the preservation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is an organic compound and acts as the leading energy carrier used for all cellular activities. In other words, ATP is the main form of usable energy in your body.
With inosine being a possible solution to preserving ATP, it makes sense that athletes have thought it to be a helpful supplement in improving their endurance. However, Inosine and ATP’s clinical benefits are still being studied.
Treating Multiple Sclerosis
Data from a study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine suggests that inosine can raise serum urate levels, which could benefit multiple sclerosis patients.
Your serum urate levels measure how much uric acid is in your body. Uric acid is a chemical produced when your body breaks down foods that contain organic compounds called purines. Several findings suggest that lower serum uric acid levels occur more often in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. These results indicate that uric acid might be beneficial in treating MS.
In a double-blind trial, researchers administered inosine orally over the course of a year to 16 patients with remitting multiple sclerosis. Inosine improved serum urate levels and disability assessed by the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale. Although a promising solution, 4 of the first 11 patients treated with inosine developed kidney stones.
Consult with your doctor about any medical advice they have pertaining to inosine if you’ve been diagnosed with MS.
Treating Neurologic Injuries
In a review published in Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry, the authors concluded that inosine has potential as a safe and multifunctional treatment for those suffering from the complications a spinal cord injury can cause. Although clinical studies are ongoing, they hint at success in inosine being used to treat injuries to the nervous system.
Trauma to the peripheral nervous system often results in loss of motor and sensory functions of the affected area of the body, leading to a series of functional impairments.
After a compressive spinal cord injury, oral administration of inosine showed a major sparing of significant motor neuron loss. If you or anyone you know has gone through exhaustive medical treatments and is still searching for a better solution, consider mentioning inosine supplementation to your doctor.
There’s Still More To Learn About Inosine
Although no controlled studies have shown that inosine has any specific health benefits, it’s still a supplement that we should all keep an eye on.
In the future of sports medicine, inosine might be more commonly used. Ultimate Nutrition wants to get in on the action as one of the few who stayed ahead of the trends and saw the supplement’s potential benefits first.
Ultimate Nutrition offers premium inosine capsules that guarantee the highest potency and are of the highest quality. Consider how Inosine might play a role in your future, and head over to Ultimatenutrition.com to learn more about our capsules.