RUBIX: BEHIND THE LABEL

Rubix is a premium, non-stimulant fat burner that works via different but synergistic pathways to help boost your metabolism, oxidize fat, and help suppress your appetite. This product can help enhance fat loss without the use of heavy doses of caffeine and other stimulants. Rubix uses 4 key ingredients to increase your daily energy expenditure and help burn fat. Not to mention: NO artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners! This article is intended to break down the ingredients in Rubix and explain how each one works to aid in fat loss and calorie burning.

Micracarn™ Micro-peptide infused L-carnitine-L-tartrate: L-carnitine is a quaternary amine that is essential for fat burning via beta-oxidation. Long-chain fatty acids cannot cross the mitochondrial membrane into the mitochondria matrix where they can be broken down to help generate ketones and ATP. L-carnitine binds to fatty acids, where it displaces Coenzyme A and carries the fatty acid across the outer mitochondrial membrane, through the intermembrane space, and passed the inner mitochondrial membrane into the matrix where beta oxidation takes place.¹ L-carnitine has been used successfully to increase fatty acid metabolism in people who are either carnitine deficient or have genetic abnormalities that interfere with the beta oxidation process.²   Supplementing with L-carnitine has been shown to increase the activity of different enzymes in the beta oxidation pathway, including pyruvate dehydrogenase complex when combined with exercise.³ L-carnitine use can also increase muscle glucose uptake and spare muscle glycogen(shows that your muscles are using fat for fuel and not just glucose) via AMPK activated glucose mediation.⁴ Research has shown that taking L-carnitine(2g 2x a day) with carbohydrates can increase muscle carnitine levels significantly, up to 21%. These subjects used 55% less muscle glycogen during exercise compared to the placebo, as well as experienced an 11% increase in power output.⁵   LCLT was shown to have the fastest peak plasma concentrations following oral supplementation compared to other forms of L-carnitine.⁶ Typical doses of L-carnitine-L-tartrate are between 2-6g/d.

Micracarn is a unique form of LCLT that is infused with naturally occurring growth factors and peptides extracted from chicken embryos.

Capsimax®: Capismax is a novel ingredient comprised of capsaicin, the main ingredient in pepper spray, as well as several capsaicinoids that are derived from chili peppers that are associated with their taste and other sensory properties. Capsaicinoids bind to the TRPV1 or vanilloid subtype 1 receptor which initiates multiple metabolic processes including releasing catecholamines mainly epinephrine, activating PPARα and PGC-1α, both of which affect energy expenditure and glucose/lipid metabolism, as well as increasing brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity which leads to upregulation of UCP1, an uncoupling protein that regulates body heat. They also have been shown to induce a feeling of satiety and decreased appetite via interacting with the hunger hormone leptin and inhibiting the enzyme STAT-3 in the hypothalamus.⁷ Capsimax has been shown in humans to increase daily energy expenditure. Subjects who ingested 100mg of Capsimax on average burned 111kcal more than the placebo group over 24hr, a 7.23% increase over baseline.⁸

The alkaloids are not only very insoluble in water, but also hot to the touch and can cause a burning sensation after consumption. To counteract this, Capsimax uses a patented OmniBead Beadlet delivery system that encapsulates the capsaicinoids and gives a controlled-delivery without any adverse GI interactions. This was shown to be effective and well tolerated in humans.⁹  Daily recommended doses of Capsimax are 100-300mg/d.

Paradoxine®: Paradoxine is a trademarked version of the spice Afromomum melegueta, commonly known as grains of paradise. Paradoxine is standardized for active aromatic ketones including 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol, 6-gingerdione, and a guaranteed 12.5% of the main active 6-paradol. It is botanically related to ginger and has been traditionally used to aid in digestive and GI health. The main mechanism for fat loss for grains of paradise seems to be by activation of brown adipose tissue(BAT) and whole-body energy expenditure.¹⁰ BAT is considered metabolically active fat tissue and is primarily used to regulate body temperature by dissipating energy as heat, while white adipose tissue(WAT) is mostly used for the storage of excess energy as triglycerides. There is an inverse correlation between the amount of BAT one has and total body fat.¹¹ Paradoxine at a dose of 40mg/d was shown to increase total energy expenditure by 6% and decrease visceral fat in healthy subjects via BAT activation.¹²   Typical doses of Paradoxine are 40mg, 2-3x a day.

GoGBB (Gamma butyrobetaine ethyl ester chloride): Gamma butyrobetaine (GBB) is a naturally occurring carnitine precursor that is used to effectively increase muscle carnitine levels. In the body, GBB gets converted to carnitine via the enzyme gamma butyrobetaine dioxygenase (BBOX), the last step in endogenous carnitine synthesis.¹³ GBB ethyl ester has also been shown to significantly increase vasodilation via NO production. Researchers noticed a 300-fold increase in NO, which they speculated are from the NO Synthase pathway(same as arginine and citrulline).¹⁴   GBB esters are relatively new to the supplement world and more research is needed to elucidate its mechanism of action, as well as its effect on fat loss/fatty acid metabolism.

My thoughts on Rubix:

The first thing I noticed is the sweating...holy shit! This is a quite noticeable effect that comes along with an increase in body temperature. By the end of my cardio session, it looked like I jumped in the pool with my clothes on. I liked the combination of carnitine with capsaicin and 6-paradol, as you can really feel its effects. I am very interested to learn more about GBB ethyl ester chloride, as I couldn't find any research that shows an in vivo mechanism of action. I suspect that this compound contributes to the excessive sweating. There is a definite pepper taste, but it was masked well by the Pepino Limon flavor. I have tried Rubix with carbs, fasted, and with a glucose disposal agent and in my opinion the sweating was most pronounced when taken with carbs. This coincides with the research. I will continue to research Rubix and glucose disposal agents to see if it can have the same effect that insulin has for increasing muscle carnitine concentrations.

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References:

1. Longo, Nicola, Marta Frigeni, and Marzia Pasquali. "Carnitine transport and fatty acid oxidation." Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Molecular Cell Research10 (2016): 2422-2435.
2. Engel, Andrew G., and C. J. Rebouche. "Carnitine metabolism and inborn errors." Organic Acidurias. Springer, Dordrecht, 1984. 38-43.
3. Karanth, Jyothsna, and K. Jeevaratnam. "Effect of carnitine supplementation on mitochondrial enzymes in liver and skeletal muscle of rat after dietary lipid manipulation and physical activity." (2010).
4. Fisher, Jonathan S., et al. "Activation of AMP kinase enhances sensitivity of muscle glucose transport to insulin." American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology And Metabolism1 (2002): E18-E23.
5. Wall, Benjamin T., et al. "Chronic oral ingestion of l‐carnitine and carbohydrate increases muscle carnitine content and alters muscle fuel metabolism during exercise in humans." The Journal of physiology4 (2011): 963-973.
6. Eder, Klaus, et al. "Free and total carnitine concentrations in pig plasma after oral ingestion of various L-carnitine compounds." International journal for vitamin and nutrition research1 (2005): 3-9.
7. Zheng, Jia, et al. "Dietary capsaicin and its anti-obesity potency: from mechanism to clinical implications." Bioscience reports3 (2017): BSR20170286.
8. Deng, Y., et al. "Capsaicinoids Enhance Metabolic Rate in Normal Healthy Individuals using a Novel Metabolic Tracker Breezing Device-An Open Label Placebo Controlled Acute Study." Obes Open Access2 (2017).
9. Deshpande, Jayant, Shankaranarayanan Jeyakodi, and Vijaya Juturu. "Tolerability of capsaicinoids from capsicum extract in a beadlet form: a pilot study." Journal of toxicology 2016 (2016).
10. Sugita, Jun, et al. "Grains of paradise (Aframomum melegueta) extract activates brown adipose tissue and increases whole-body energy expenditure in men." British Journal of Nutrition4 (2013): 733-738.
11. Saely, Christoph H., Kathrin Geiger, and Heinz Drexel. "Brown versus white adipose tissue: a mini-review." Gerontology1 (2012): 15-23.
12. Sugita, Jun, et al. "Daily ingestion of grains of paradise (Aframomum melegueta) extract increases whole-body energy expenditure and decreases visceral fat in humans." Journal of nutritional science and vitaminology1 (2014): 22-27.
13. Paul HS, Sekas G, Adibi SA (Feb 1992). "Carnitine biosynthesis in hepatic peroxisomes. Demonstration of gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase activity". European Journal of Biochemistry / FEBS. 203 (3): 599–605.
14. Sjakste, Nikolajs, et al. "Endothelium-and nitric oxide-dependent vasorelaxing activities of gamma-butyrobetaine esters: possible link to the antiischemic activities of mildronate." European journal of pharmacology1 (2004): 67-73.