Methylene blue helps your cells make more energy and calm your brain, so you don’t feel as hungry or tired during fasting.
Scientific Claim
Methylene blue acts as an alternative electron carrier in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, enhancing cellular ATP production and modulating monoaminergic neurotransmission to reduce fasting-induced metabolic stress and appetite.
Original Statement
“Methylene blue is a mild MAOI which means that it has a serotonin effect because as norepinephrine comes up and epinephrine comes up during a fast you do want to kind of counterbalance that with a little bit of a sense of calm. But the reality is it's giving you an additional electron donor and carrier. So you're actually creating more energy in a way that's going to allow you to get through the fast without feeling like you have these metabolic demands for food.”
Context Details
Domain
pharmacology
Population
human
Subject
methylene blue
Action
enhances
Target
mitochondrial ATP production and modulates monoaminergic neurotransmission
Intervention Details
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
This study shows that methylene blue helps brain cells make more energy by improving how they use oxygen and sugar, which supports the idea that it boosts energy production in cells.
Contradicting (3)
Methylene blue reduces monoamine oxidase expression and oxidative stress in human cardiovascular adipose tissue
This study shows methylene blue reduces certain stress markers in fat tissue around the heart, but it doesn’t show it boosts energy production or reduces hunger during fasting, which the claim says it does.
Methylene blue does not bypass Complex III antimycin block in mouse brain mitochondria
This study found that methylene blue can't work when a key part of the cell's energy system (Complex III) is broken, so it can't help cells make more energy in that situation—contradicting the idea that it's a universal energy booster.
Methylene blue administration fails to confer neuroprotection in two amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse models
The study tested if methylene blue helps sick mice with nerve damage, and it didn’t help at all—so it probably doesn’t boost energy or reduce hunger the way the claim says.