How ATP Supplements Can Help with Aging

In this health video you will learn how ATP (adenosine triphosphate) supplements can help with aging.

Raena Morgan: Hi, I'm Raena Morgan with iHealthTube visiting with Dr. Eli Rapaport. We're talking about ATP and energy the universal source of energy, as you say and what will you like to tell the viewer's about is how does ATP affect aging. What are the consequences of ATP in aging? Dr. Eli Rapaport: Well, Raena, it is now known that the causal for aging is the reduction in mitochondrial ATP synthesis in skeletal muscle. And since the beginning of times, the holy grail of both the pharmaceutical and the nutritional supplement industry has been to produce agents that would be able to help aging. By helping aging, there are several factors. One factor is skeletal muscle function and the other factor is glycemic control. Ironically, as I have explained, the ATP fulfills these two functions. It does stimulate skeletal muscle function by enhancing the disposal of glucose into skeletal muscle and it does stimulate glycemic control by interacting with or enhancing the interaction with of insulin with the insulin receptor and enhancing the expression of GLUT4, which is the major glucose transporter. I ought to say here that glucose transport into skeletal muscle is not diffusional. In other words, there is an active transporter this is the GLUT4 that been talking about that is the major transporter. It grabs the sugar molecules and pushes them into the cell. Now, the -- Raena Morgan: Now, what happens as we aged? Don't we lose some of that energy? Dr. Eli Rapaport: Of course we do, but we are never -- we will never be able to substitute the loss that you mentioned, the loss - Raena Morgan: Really? Dr. Eli Rapaport: But what we can do is we can enhance the intracellular energy synthesis by affecting what's happening outside. In other words, the amount ATP inside is simply too high to be replaced. However, the amount of ATP extracellularly is very, very low. For instance, let me give you an example. In total blood, there is about 3 grams of ATP inside red blood cells which our total blood; the other cells comprise just a small amount. But extracellularly, that is one-thousands to one-ten thousands of the amount of ATP intracellularly mainly about 2 milligrams or less. Raena Morgan: Okay. Dr. Eli Rapaport: Now, Peak ATP, which is the branded ATP of TSI, contains 125 up to 250 milligrams of ATP. Raena Morgan: This is a viable oral form of? Dr. Eli Rapaport: This is a viable oral formulation that is expanding the blood plasma of ATP. Raena Morgan: Okay, and didn't you say that when we're 20 by the time we've turned 70 it has been reduced by 50%, ATP? Dr. Eli Rapaport: That is correct. That is correct. Not only from 20, from the age of 35, 38 to the age of 68 to 70 the amount of ATP in the blood and in skeletal muscle has been reduced by 50%. Raena Morgan: By 50%. Dr. Eli Rapaport: This is the intracellular level which is also the extracellular level. And I'll just give you two examples how this affect aging. One is what we have been talking about the ability of ATP to expand the blood vessel diameter. As we age, we lose disability because we lose our ATP Raena Morgan: All right. Dr. Eli Rapaport: In other words, we get instead of getting hypotension or reduction in blood pressure or reduction in systemic vascular resistance; we get hypertension we get a narrowing of the blood vessel. The other point that we have been discussing that also exist in aging is the lack of glycemic control. The lack of glycemic control is not only associate with type 2 diabetes or insulin insensitivity, but also simply with aging. Raena Morgan: Okay. Dr. Eli Rapaport: The more we age, the less we have the ability to clear up the glucose from the blood. Raena Morgan: Okay. Well, thank you Dr. Rapaport. We'll like to talk again about aging. Thank you so much.