What Are Glyconutrients Anyway?

Glyconutrients are hailed to alleviate symptoms and even cure cancers, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, high blood pressure, obesity, asthma, influenza, inflammatory and fungal infections and most immune system disorders.

But are glyconutrients all just hype? Are glyconutrients just a scam?

Are they another gimmick being pushed on the ignorant public by a large domineering corporation with its own money-hungry agenda? Or are glyconutrients a wondrous new product in the vast world of nutritional supplements?

There are heart-warming stories and some "real science" behind the supposed miracle of glyconutrients. There are many major universities and companies across the US, Canada and Europe that now have laboratories focusing on glycobiology research.

There are at least eight bioactive sugars involved in cell-to-cell communication in our bodies (see Harper's Textbook of Biochemistry--1996). But, due to green farming (the early picking of fruit and vegetables so as to give more shelf life to perishables), we end up with fruit and vegetables that are sadly lacking in most of the sugars needed by our cells. These sugars - glyconutrients - develop in foods that are left to ripen naturally. In the perishables available to us in supermarkets, we receive only sufficient quantities of two - glucose and galactose.

So, by replacing the six missing nutrients, cellular function is increased and so the body is more able to repair, restore and correct malfunctioning systems. Acta Anatomica, (a European journal), states that these simple sugars have a coding capacity that surpasses that of amino acids!

It is possible to increase your intake by following this glyconutrient recipe for making your own glyconutrients.

Glyconutrients (a phrase coined by a glyconutrient manufacturer) are the missing link. They are monosaccharide sugars that have a biological function and are not to be confused with the sugars you put in your coffee. These sugars are used by our bodies as encoding molecules for numerous structures created by our cells. These structures (glycoforms) are what our cells need to communicate effectively and function normally. They are the different combinations of the eight basic building block sugars mentioned earlier as bioactive sugars.

People with health issues will have glycoforms that are not structurally correct - usually because our bodies have insufficient quantities of most of these glyconutrients. Organs, long considered irreparable, are rebuilt by the body when glyconutrients are present in larger than normal quantities.

The use of glyconutrients leads to greater communication between cells - a worthwhile experience when one realizes the importance of communication to the health of any relationship. The relationship between the 600 trillion cells that are you - is surely a primary one.

REFERENCES

• Harpers Biochemistry - Chapter 56, entitled Glycoproteins is devoted to glycoscience.
• Science Magazine, Special Issue ~ Carbohydrates & Glycobiology, March 23, 2001.
• Scientific American ~ July 2002. Sweet Medicine: Building Better Drugs from Sugars.
• Natural Muscle magazine. "How To Thrive on an Ailing Planet - Glycoproteins." by Spice Williams-Crosby (July '99).
• Newsweek Magazine (April 25, 1994)

Article: What Are Glyconutrients?

 

• Read interesting glyconutrient case studies
• Read Glyconutrient Recipe