PEP II is a product from Austrian based company Peerton. Peeroton claims that this supplement can increase motivation, responsiveness, promotes thinking and learning abilities and assists in stressful situations. This review will aim to assess the ingredients in this supplement to understand if they can back up these claims.

Calcium phosphate

Calcium phosphate is formed from calcium and phosphorus properties. It can help to aid the growth and maintenance of bones (1). Other important benefits of calcium include helping blood clotting (2), heart contractions (3), lungs (4) and muscles to function properly (5), this is due to calcium binding with phosphate to create calcium phosphate (6).

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose does not have any nutritional benefit as its main use is to protect nutrients from the bodies stomach acid.

Creatine monohydrate

Creatine monohydrate, (CM) is defined as a nitrogenous organic acid that occurs naturally in humans and aids in the supply of energy to cells in the body, (7). The majority of CM, 95%, can be located in the skeletal muscle with the rest distributed to the brain, heart and smooth muscles.
Creatine has been found to increase the replenishment of ATP stores in the skeletal muscles (8). It is attributed to a greater rate of phosphocreatine resynthesis during the rest periods. Higher sprint speeds reported (9). There have been numerous theories proposed as to why creatine is a benefit to short term high intensity exercise (10). One theory is that the increased amount of phosphocreatine, (PCr), can be used as an immediate buffer to ATP which reduces the dependence of glycolysis which delays the production of lactate and hydrogen ions during exercise thus prolonging the activity by delaying the onset of fatigue, (11).

Lactose

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is a result of the combination of galactose and glucose. it is commonly found in milk. Lactose will be able to provide short term energy to the skeletal muscle during exercise.

L-carnitine

L-Carnitine is a dipeptide made from the essential amino acids lysine and methionine. L-Carnitine plays an important role in fat metabolism by allowing long chained fatty acids to pass through the mitochondrial membrane (12, 13).

L-tartrate

L-tartrate is a form of L-carnitine. L-Carnitine is a dipeptide made from the essential amino acids lysine and methionine. L-Carnitine plays an important role in fat metabolism by allowing long chained fatty acids to pass through the mitochondrial membrane (14, 15).

Rice extract

Rice extract can also be known as red yeast rice and has been found to reduce cholesterol (16) and improve blood circulation (17).

L-valine

L-valine is an amino acid which has been found to aid in the development of muscle growth (18) and tissue repair (19).

L-leucine/ L-isoleucine

Leucine and Isoleucine are Branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s). They are essential for protein synthesis which is stimulated after exhaustive exercise (20) as well as the critical metabolic process in muscle (21, 22). The metabolic roles of Leucine include energy production and the modulator of muscle protein synthesis via the insulin signalling pathway. There is a reason to suggest that it helps maintenance of muscle mass during weight loss (23). Leucine has also been shown to help in the direct maintenance of glucose homeostasis by improving the redistribution of glucose via the glucose – alanine cycle (24).

Magnesium

Magnesium stearate does not induce any nutritional benefits. The main reason for this substance being in the supplement is that it is a lubricant for the machinery that manufactures the product.

Inositol

Inositol is an ingredient similar to glucose. It has been found to enhance intracellular calcium signalling (25) as well as reducing blood glucose levels, however more research needs to be done on this topic as it has not been fully proven (26).

Magnesium salts of fatty acids

Magnesium salts of fatty acids provide no nutritional benefits as it is used as a thickener in supplement products.

Alpha lipoic acid

Alpha lipoic acid acts like B vitamins as it helps convert fats, carbohydrates and proteins into energy (27). It can also acts as a unique antioxidant as because it is soluble in both water and
lipids. This allows it to neutralize free radicals just about everywhere in the body, inside and outside the cells and it protects membranes by interacting with vitamin C and glutathione, which may in turn recycle vitamin E (28).

Zinc gluconate

Zinc has been identified as a factor for many enzymes responsible for the synthesis, storage and release of insulin (29), with increases in lean body mass while fat mass either remains stable or decreases, depending on the degree of baseline zinc deficiency (30). With this evidence is has been shown that this ingredient is important for the growth and development of body tissues as well as this a variety of biological processes including wound healing and muscle cramps (31) have been found.

Titanium dioxide

Titanium dioxide does not provide any nutritional benefits and is used as a whitening agent and a thickener in supplements.

Dl alpha tocopheryl acetate

Dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate is otherwise known as vitamin E and is an antioxidant (32). This means that it protects the muscles from free radicals, which causes muscle soreness and damage to the muscle tissue and fat cells (33). Dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate can counteract these free radicals before damaging these parts of the body which can allow exercise to be prolonged (34).

Maltodextrin

Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide which is a complex carbohydrate. This ingredient is water soluble and unlike other carbohydrates, is easily digestible (35) and can give a quick release of energy without any spikes of glycaemia (36).

Octacosanol

Octacosanol is a natural product extracted from plants (37). It has been found to lower LDL and increase HDL (38). Other benefits have been an increase in strength and reaction as it can affect the nervous system (39). Improved stamina and exercise capability has also been observed (39).

Vitamin B6

The active form of vitamin B6 is known as P-L-P (40), which is stimulated by exercise (41). During exercise the body relies on the liver to produce glucose via glycogenolysis, for which vitamin b6 is essential for, and is an integral part of the glycogen phosphorylase enzyme and thus will provide energy to the bodies’ muscles (42).

Vitamin B1

Thiamine is also known as vitamin B1 (43) and is essential in carbohydrate metabolism and oxidation (44). The reported effect that have been found includes, a decrease in heart rate, blood glucose and lactate concentrations (45).

Biotin

Biotin can also be know as vitamin B7 or Vitamin H. it has been found that it can contribute to metabolism and cell development (46) as well as providing energy during exercise (47).

Cyanocobalamin

Cyanocobalamin is also known as Vitamin B12. Research studies on vitamin B12 have found that it is required for red blood cell production (48), Protein synthesis and the repair and maintenance of tissue cells. (49).

The mixture of B vitamins and different forms of carbohydrates enables this supplement to provide energy to an athlete, this supplement also contains ingredients that can help with building muscle, however there is no research to back up the claims that it can increase motivation and help out in stressful situations. This supplement is recommended to be taken pre-workout. This supplement has no banned substances when referring to the WADA prohibited list when observing the label/ingredients posted on the website.

*NOTE – This product has not been tested in a laboratory and may contain other substances that may not appear on the label

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