Glyconutrients

[psaturn]

Has anyone done a good study on the glyconutrients ? I have not heard about this until a lady gave me a CD on glyconutrients and its miraculous effect on the body and how it can heal diabetes, stroke, blood pressure, progeria (congenital disease that causes premature aging on child) and etc.(rolls the eyes).

I did google search and apparently there are lots of studies being done.

Amazingly, many of those essential sugars (some call it super carbs) were present in many ingredients in Chinese cooking. I was amazed. Seaweeds, beef tendons, shark cartilage, cabbage, lots of veggies, leeks, and so forth. I was thinking, hmm, there must be something to it.

I was not aware that there were so many kinds of sugars besides the commonly known: fructose, sucrose, glucose, maltose, lactose.

The CD tells of miraculous recovery of patients that had no medical hope and upon administration of essential glyconutrients, that they got healed.

Thought that so many of you here have biochemistry background, that you may have a handle on this subject !

[psaturn]

No one has comments yet ? I am also checking out a company that sells glyconutrients in a pill or in a bottle form for convenience...

[psaturn]

California doctor sees potential in “glyconutrients” for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia
by Darryl See
ImmuneSupport.com

01-01-1999

Darryl See, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California at Irvine, has been exploring the potential benefit of glyconutritional supplements for CFS/FMS. (The prefix glyco means sugar.) Specifically, the product being studied is Mannatech’s Ambrotose, a patented blend of eight simple sugars or monosaccharides, which is sold through a multi-level network of distributors.

In his recently published study, Dr. See observed blood cells in the laboratory to see the impact of introducing the glyconutrient preparation. He found it enhanced the presence of glycoproteins (compounds of a carbohydrate and a protein) on the surface of the cells, which would enable better cell-to-cell communication. The glyconutrients also improved the function of natural killer cells and decreased the process of apoptosis or cell death, both aspects of the immune system. Dr. See filed the following report about his recent laboratory study for the Chronicle: There have been very few well-controlled in vivo (body) or in vitro (test tube) studies showing therapeutic efficacy in CFS/FMS. In the August issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Integrative Physiology and Behavioral Medicine, I present a study of the in vitro effects of glyconutritional supplementation, while Dr. Kathryn Dykman presents a prospective in vivo study on the same supplements.

In short, eight monosaccharides (simple sugars) are required for the synthesis of glycoproteins. Dietary supplements that supply these crucial sugars are known as glyconutrients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from normal controls and patients with CFS/FMS. Cell surface expression of the glycoproteins CD5, CD8 and CD11 were significantly reduced in patients with CFS/FMS compared to normal controls. Addition of glyconutrient homogenate to PBMC from patients with CFS stimulated with phytohemagglutinin significantly increased the expression of each glycoprotein.

Furthermore, natural killer (NK) cell function (also dependent on normal cell surface glycoproteins) was reduced in CFS patients. The glyconutrient preparation significantly enhanced NK cell activity versus human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), a virus thought to be an important co-factor in CFS/FMS. Finally, programmed cell death was significantly increased in patients with CFS/FMS. The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly deceased in PBMC from patients with CFS that had been treated with glyconutrients. Dr. Dykman’s study has confirmed these findings in a prospective study using glyconutrient supplementation in humans.

This is from :
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/1041/

[psaturn]

The eight "essential"1 sugars are: mannose, glucose, galactose, xylose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, ***ose (not to be confused with fructose), and N-acetylneuraminic acid. They are very important for health. I will not spend time dwelling on all the benefits as others have already done this in amble detail. In addition to the essential sugars, most of the ingredients in this recipe provide other health promoting properties as well. The aim here is to provide a simple and inexpensive way of getting glyconutrients. So let us now look at these eight sugars and see where we can get them from .



1. Mannose. Mannose may be the single most important of the eight sugars for us to get plenty of. One of the main sources is aloe vera, which contains acemannan. Acemannan is a mannose polysaccharide (i.e. a chain of mannose molecules). From what I’ve studied, most commercial supplements of aloe only have very small amounts of acemannan in them so the best way is to grow the aloe vera oneself. It is a very handy herb to have in the garden or green house (e.g. good for minor burns and some skin ailments) and it is easy to cultivate. Consult a gardening book, but apparently it needs a sunny spot that’s not too moist. I may want to enjoy using plenty of it, so ideally would like to invest in about ten plants. While I are waiting to buy and establish my own aloe plants I can use the glyconutrient powder which does have mannose in as well. This is from the kelp, the shiitake and the ground fenugreek. I have actually recently decided to* just take the powder simply because I find it easier. Fenugreek contains plenty of galactomamman, a polysaccharide of mannose and galactose (other sources of galactomamman are carob gum and guar gum). Ground fenugreek should be readily available from a good health food store or supermarket, or I can buy the seeds and grind them myself. I prefer organic fenugreek. Shiitake mushrooms have in them a compound called KS-2 which contains mannose bound to an amino acid. We will say more about shiitake (and kelp) later. Using fenugreek, kelp and shiitake should not be very expensive. Aloe vera plants may be expensive to start with, but a friend may have a "jungle" of the plants and be able to give some.



2. Glucose. Regarding the powder, glucose is found in kelp. But we don't really need to supplement glucose as its so abundant in our diets anyway. For the "jam" recipe the prime source is 100% pure grape juice, preferably dark organic (but I don’t worry if its not feasible). The grape juice will help, along with the next item, to make the aloe vera taste yummy instead of yuck. This juice is relatively cheap and if I have a juicer I can make my own.*



3. Galactose. Galactose is present in the fenugreek of the powder and also in a lot of foods that we normally eat. For the "jam" recipe the prime source is 100% pure apple juice, preferably organic. This juice will help, along with the previous item, to make the aloe vera taste yummy. Both apple and grape juice have health properties of their own. Again this juice is relatively cheap and those with juicers can make their own. Some analyses don’t report galactose as being in Apple juice. This is because the galactose is in the pectin fibre which is present in varying amounts in juice.*



4. Xylose. Xylose is present in the kelp used in the powder. Ground psyllium seeds are high in a xylose polysaccharide. They are cheap and easily obtained from a chemist or health food store. Psyllium is used in the "jam".*



5 and 6. N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetyl-galactosamine. *



Vegetable sources: For those not wishing to consume medicinal animal products orally it is nice to know that Shiitake Mushroom contains N-acetylglucosamine (as a constituent of chitin). I can purchase fresh and/or dried Shiitake Mushrooms from many supermarkets and food stores. I buy dried whole shiitake mushrooms and powder them by using my liquidiser. Or I can buy a tablet with shiitake in. Shiitake Mushrooms do not contain N-acetyl-galactosamine. I thought that mistletoe contained N-acetyl-galactosamine but it appears that it does not. Instead it seems to contain a lectin that is specific for the N-acetyl-galactosamine receptor site. Also there are some toxicity issues with mistletoe. N-acetyl-galactosamine is contained in dextran sulphate, which is present in a red algae called Dumontiaceae. But this product is only available from Japan as far as I know. So we are still looking for a readily available vegetable source for N-acetyl-galactosamine.



Animal Sources: Bovine cartilage and shark cartilage both have an abundance of these two essential sugars. These are both relatively cheap and available from a chemist or health food stores in capsules or loose powder. I prefer the bovine cartilage because it is predominantly the chondroitin 4-Sulfate form of chondroitin which is apparently slightly better (shark is predominantly chondroitin 6-Sulfate). I am not especially concerned about prions and mad cow disease from a bovine source because I can check where the cows come from and cartilage is not one of the tissues especially at risk for prion contamination. Actually, from what I’ve read, chondroitin is a substance that can be used to help treat prion disease as it interferes with the prions doing their dirty work in the nervous tissue. I am more concerned about the possibility of heavy metal contamination in shark cartilage, though I have not read any major problems regarding this. Those not wishing to consume animal products orally could use an arthritis cream containing chondroitin sulphate. The best cream I know of is Arthro-Aid DirectÔ , which should be rubbed on the tummy at the time the glyconutrient powder is consumed.*



7. ***ose. Kelp seaweed is rich in ***oidan, a polysaccharide containing plenty of ***ose. ***oidin is a complicated molecule that also contains xylose, mannose, galactose, and glucose. If anyone has an overactive thyroid they should not take this or other sea weeds without medical advice and monitoring. An alternative is beer yeast, which, according to my research, also contains plenty of ***ose. Kelp has many health benefits and can be bought cheaply as a powder. It does not taste good to me!



8. N-acetylneuraminic acid (otherwise known as sialic acid) is found in whey protein isolate. Whey protein isolate also contains lots of other goodies. If allergic to diary (though I am told some that are allergic to diary can take the isolate) an alternative is egg, which may be best raw. I need to make sure it is an organic egg from a healthy chicken. I need to make sure I buy whey protein ISOLATE, not just whey protein or whey powder. A 500g pot of whey protein isolate is a little costly but will last a long time and so is not a big expense long term. Note: I received some information early 2004 that suggested whey protein concentrate may have a higher amount of N-acetylneuraminic acid in it they the isolate.

From : http://www.lis.net.au/~dbird/glyconutrients.htm

[psaturn]

No one else has comments of experiences ?

[Dmitri]

This is very interesting, thanks for the info and the links, time to research.

[dearheart]

i'm familiar with these products. I 'm fairly sure which ones you are talking about and I took the products for a good 6 months. I would have taken them longer, but I could no longer afford it. They were the first supplement to help with my acne which is a symptom of my PolyCystic ovarian Syndrome which causes insulin resistance. I really saw a difference with these products, but alas, my budget just couldn't handle it. Thankfully, since losing weight and being put on metformin, a type 2 diabetic drug my sympotoms are now under control.... but I still think the glyconutrients have something to them.

[psaturn]

Thanks for letting me know.

I agree it is very expensive.

The company sales folks argue there is no high price to a good health....