You might remember pyruvate from high school physiology class, the by-product of metabolism in which glucose (a six-carbon molecule) yields two molecules of pyruvate (a three-carbon molecule) or more specifically, pyruvic acid. Now there's more exciting news about pyruvate: After nearly 30 years of extensive research, it's available as a dietary supplement offering some remarkable results.

Research on pyruvate shows two key benefits to athletes and dieters: increased performance in exercise and enhanced fat loss. Pyruvic acid is chemically unstable, so we stabilize it in the formulation process by creating a "salt," called pyruvate. Pyruvate salts are formed when we combined pyruvic acid with calcium. Although this sounds relatively easy, the manufacturing of pyruvate isn't a simple process, which is the primary reason this nutrient is just now becoming available. Pyruvate is also found in the diet, with naturally ingested amounts ranging from 100 mg to 1-2 grams daily. Although pyruvate is found in a variety of foods, most of them contain less than 25 mg per serving. Foods high in pyruvate include certain fruits and vegetables - most notably, red apples contain 450 mg - certain cheeses , dark beer (80 mg per 12 ounces) and red wine (75 mg per 6 ounces).

Sounds Great! But take it from us, your liver will thank you for getting your pyruvate supplementation from our X'er-Size® In A Pill™ rather than overdoing the beer and wine sources!

Two human research studies conducted by premier pyruvate researcher Ronald T. Stanko, MD, of the Gastroenterology and Clinical Nutrition Division of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, found that supplementation with pyruvate for seven days significantly increased muscular endurance in both the arms and legs by 20%. The pyruvate also increased the time it took to exhaust arm muscles by 23 minutes and leg muscles by 13 minutes.

In the world of athletics, a 20% increase in endurance - whether in your workouts or in some type of aerobic activity is highly significant. This result is supported by a third study that found when subjects ingested pyruvate, they noticed a more than 20% decrease in their perceived level of exertion, meaning they felt that the task was easier to do. "The reason such large doses were used was because we wanted to see a response," says Stanko, "No one knew at the time that lower dosages were just as effective." Since then, published data as well as more than 1,000 pages of unpublished data produced by a leading United States pharmaceutical company have revealed that the optimal dose isn't 100 grams but rather 5 grams a day. Says Stanko, "We see a linear response between 2 and 5 grams a day and then the response plateaus. In other works, the response with 10 or 15 grams or more is the same as with 5 grams."

According to the human studies, pyruvate improves exercise performance primarily by enhancing the transport of glucose into the muscle cell. This process is known as glucose extraction and refers to the amount of glucose extracted by the muscles from circulating blood. In fact the pyruvate mixture increased glucose extraction after one hour of exercise almost 300% in the study that measured arm endurance, 150% in the study that measured perceived exertion and more than 60% in the study measuring leg endurance. Glucose extraction was also increased at rest with the pyruvate mixture, which may not sound very important but led to a 50% increase in muscle glycogen.

Since glucose is the body's high-octane fuel, increases in glucose extraction (a source of immediate energy) as well as muscle glycogen (a source of stored energy) translates into a greater capacity for not only endurance but for high-intensity activity like bodybuilding as well. Although future research will be required before definitive statements can be made on the effects of pyruvate on anaerobic activity, Stanko's experience is that "no matter what the exercise, people are able to do more longer, yet without the unwanted side-effects that one would get from caffeine or some other stimulant."

Following his studies on exercise endurance, Stanko focused on pyruvate's effects on fat loss. His interest stemmed from the fact that pyruvate had already been shown to reduce fat accumulation in the liver of alcohol-treated animals. In a word, Stanko's results were phenomenal. Two well-controlled human studies conducted at the Clinical Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that pyruvate had a significant impact not only on weight loss but, more importantly, on fat loss. The most recent study found that when obese female subjects were given pyruvate for three weeks, they lost 37% more weight (13 pounds vs. 9.5 pounds) and 48% more fat (8.8 pounds vs. 5.9 pounds). In practical terms, this 48% increase in fat loss translated into a loss of nearly an extra pound of body fat a week. These women were quite obese (average weight 244 pounds), were on a liquid diet consisting of only 1,000 calories a day and were ingesting 30 grams of pyruvate daily (the control group consumed an equal amount of carbohydrates). As noted above, subsequent research has determined the maximum effective dose to be 5 grams of pyruvate daily.

The earlier study, which used a 500-calorie daily diet, found 16% greater weight loss and 23% greater fat loss resulted when 16 grams of pyruvate were given along with 12 grams of DHA. This study is one of several that found pyruvate to be significantly more effective than DHA. Interestingly, the obese women in the later study who ingested 30 grams of pyruvate lost nearly as much weight (13 pounds vs. 14.3 pounds) and fat (8.8 pounds vs. 9.5 pounds) as the women in the earlier study (who ingested 16 grams of pyruvate), despite ingesting twice the number of calories (1,000 vs. 500). "Larger caloric deficits may influence the effects of pyruvate," says Stanko.

Probably the most difficult problem with losing weight is keeping it off. This is especially true for those who follow very low-calorie diets (fewer than 1,200 calories per day) and lose a lot of weight in a short period. Two animal studies found that pyruvate supplementation significantly reduced fat accumulation by 32% in rats and 15% in pigs. Of note, preliminary data indicate that pyruvate can significantly reduce both the weight and fat replacement that occurs when severe caloric restriction is followed by excess caloric intake.

Two potential mechanisms by which pyruvate enhances both fat and weight loss are through increasing metabolism and fat utilization. Although animal studies have shown that pyruvate increases resting metabolic rate and fat utilization (as determined by a decrease in respiratory quotient), increased metabolic rate hasn't been found in humans. Still, preliminary data indicate that pyruvate may increase fat utilization in humans.

Additional research on this front is going on right now. One researcher, Dr. Frank Greenway, an endocrinologist at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, focuses on the effects of nutrition in obesity. Greenway says that pyruvate is "a normal constituent of human metabolism, so its safety should be high." He agrees with the research on improved exercise performance and weight/fat loss, but also adds that "pyruvate decreases cholesterol in a high-fat diet, has important antioxidant activity and seems to improve cardiac function."

DIRECTIONS: Take one to two tablets of Head Start® X'er-Size® In A Pill with an eight ounce glass of water about thirty minutes prior to any exercise or workout regimen; or before each of your three daily meals for increased efficiency of glucose extraction and weight loss without undesired drug side-effects.

CONTAINS: 500mg Calcium Pyruvate in each tablet.

X'er-Size® In A Pill may be used in conjunction with other Head Start® natural weight loss products (such as Fat Zapper® CHITOSAN The Fat Magnet) to help your metabolism convert stored body fat to lean muscle tissue for greater athletic strength and endurance.

Recommended exercises for weight and cholesterol control are ones which are of the aerobic variety. The best exercises are really the simplest. Walking, jogging, swimming, bicycle riding, and light weight-resistance are all very effective. X'er-Size® In A Pill can also enhance the effect of any sustained workout by helping your body react more efficiently to exercise. X'er-Size® In A Pill works best with a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and lean meats. Avoid dairy and excess grains and don't skip meals.

X'er-Size® In A Pill is free of sugar, salt, starch, wax, coloring, flavoring, preservatives and animal derivatives.

References

1. Stanko, R T, Robertson, R J, Spina, R J, Reilly, J J, Greenawalt, K D, Goss, F L; Enhancement of arm-exercise endurance capacity with dihydroxyacetone and pyruvate, Journal of Applied Physiology 68:119-124, 1990.

2. Stanko, R T, Robertson, R J, Galbreath, R W, Reilly, J J, Greenawalt, K D, Goss, F L; Enhanced leg-exercise endurance with a high-carbohydrate diet and dihydroxyacetone and pyruvate. Journal of Applied Physiology 69:1651-1656, 1990.

3. Robertson, R J, Stanko, R T, Goss, F L, Spina, R J, Reilly, J J, Greenawalt, K D; Blood glucose extraction as a mediator of perceived exertion during prolonged exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology 61:100-105, 1990.

4. Stanko R T, Tietze, D L, Arch, J E; Body composition, energy utilization, and nitrogen metabolism with a 4.25 moderated low-energy diet supplemented with pyruvate. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56:630-635, 1992.

5. Stanko R T, Tietze, D L, Arch, J E; Body composition, energy utilization, and nitrogen metabolism with a severely restricted diet supplemented with dihydroxyacetone and pyruvate. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 55:771-775, 1992.

6. Stanko R T, Adibi, S A; Inhibition of lipid accumulation and enhancement of energy expenditure by the addition of pyruvate and dihydroxyacetone to a rat diet. Metabolism 35:182-186, 1986.

7. Stanko R T, Ferguson, T L, Newman, C W, Newman, R K; Reduction of carcass fat in swine with dietary addition of pyruvate and dihydroxyacetone. Journal of Animal Science 67:1272-1278, 1989.

8. Cortez, M Y, Torgan, C E, Brozinick, J T, Miller, R H, Ivy, J L; Effects of pyruvate and dihydroxyacetone consumption on the growth and metabolic state of obese Zucker rats. Journal of Clinical Nutrition 53:847-853, 1991.