Tag: Krebs cycle

Vitamin B12 as the Ultimate Wingman – Book Excerpt of the Week

Vitamin B12 as the Ultimate Wingman – Book Excerpt of the Week

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Vitamin B12 is the Ultimate Wingman! In this week’s book excerpt, we’ll discuss how B12 helps both folate and boring-basic-biotin, and why this makes B12 a good energy drink ingredient.

B12 as Folate’s Wingman

Remember when we talked about what folate does? Cells that rely on folate for growth and maturation also depend on B12 because it recycles folate, restoring it for the next round of DNA synthesis. Without B12, folate gets used up and stuck with a single carbon group. That’s like trying to take a cup of coffee from someone when you’re already holding a cup of water in each hand. To make sure sells get enough DNA to mature and divide, B12 and folate have to work as a team.

But that’s not the only vitamin B12 assists:

B12 as a side-kick to Boring Basic Biotin

One molecule of fat has three fatty acids, like a three-pronged fork. Each fatty acid is a chain of carbons. Each chain gets oxidized (broken down) two carbons at a time. This becomes a problem when there’s only thee left, so a special reaction takes place for the last three in the chain.

For the science nerds: That reaction is the transformation of a 3-carbon molecule (methylmalonyl CoA) to a 4-carbon molecule (succinyl CoA). CoA is short for coenzyme A.

Vitamin B12 helps Boring Basic Biotin handle these odd numbered units so they can get metabolized into energy through the Krebs cycle.

Why B12 makes a good energy drink ingredient

The Krebs cycle is a giant wheel of reactions that leads to massive amount of energy per turn. Since B12 helps fats get “into shape” (as in, from odd-to-even numbered) to enter the Krebs cycle, B12 is facilitating the production of energy. It may not be as boring as biotin or as amazing as niacin (my favorite B-vitamin), but B12 gets the award for the best team player.

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To learn more about B12 and the other B-vitamins, stay tuned for next week’s book excerpt as we continue our page-by-page exploration through the Energy Drink Guide (now on Audible!!!).

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How Vitamin B5 Works: The Puppy Metaphor- Book Excerpt of the Week

How Vitamin B5 Works: The Puppy Metaphor- Book Excerpt of the Week

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Last week we said that supplementing with pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) is pointless because it’s abundant in so many different foods. Supplementing is pointless, but the vitamin is not. Pantothnic acid has an important job when it comes to metabolizing food for energy. This puppy metaphor will help you remember WHAT B5/PANTOTHENIC ACID DOES:

  • Pantothenic acid helps form Coenzyme A.
  • Coenzyme A is essential for metabolism of carbs, protein, fat, and alcohol.
  • When these food molecules break down, they end up as ACETATE.
  • Acetate may come from the metabolism of carbohydrates, fat, alcohol, or protein, just like a dog may come from the pet store, the pound, the street, or a neighbor.
  • Coenzyme A is like the person  who brings a dog, in this case acetate, to the park.
  • Regardless of where it came from,  a healthy dog wants to go to the PARK. If you bring it to the PARK and let it run, you’ll see a 💥burst of energy 💥.
  • Coenzyme A has to bring acetate to the KREBS CYCLE, which results in a 💥huge release of energy 💥

 

STAY TUNED every Monday for more book excerpts and the science behind energy drink ingredients as we continue our page-by-page exploration through the Energy Drink Guide.

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Riboflavin Steals Sheep – Book Excerpt of the Week

Riboflavin Steals Sheep – Book Excerpt of the Week

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If you haven’t seen “How To Train Your Dragon”, I’m about to spoil it with riboflavin (vitamin B2). In that movie, wild dragons are stealing the villager’s sheep. One boy discovers the dragons aren’t actually eating the sheep, they’re just dumping them into this giant hole. Turns out, there’s a colossal dragon in the hole, and if we pretend the sheep are hydrogen atoms it’s a great metaphor for the Electron Transport Chain.

The following book excerpt comes from the “What Does It Do” section of the Riboflavin chapter of the Energy Drink Guide:

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In the body, there are all these (“redox”) reactions going on where Hydrogen atoms are passed around like the gravy dish at Thanksgiving dinner. This hydrogen passing occurs in fat metabolism (beta-oxidation) and carbohydrate metabolism (the Krebs cycle). In each case, riboflavin’s job is to collect the hydrogen atoms, carry them to a certain spot, and drop them into the Electronic Transport Chain (or “ETC”). When ETC is fed Hydrogen atoms, the result is heaps of metabolic energy.

In a previous book excerpt, we talked about how thiamin would be a leader if the B-vitamins were all Marvel Avengers. If B-vitamins were all superheroes and you were assembling your dream squad for an energy drink, you’d want riboflavin in the mix too. To learn more about riboflavin and the other B-vitamins, stay tuned for next week’s book excerpt as we continue our page-by-page exploration through the Energy Drink Guide.

Let’s connect!