Material Monster

What are Glyconutritionals?

The Greek word “Glyco” means “Sugar”. Most people think of sugar as being bad for you. However, there are actually TWO kinds of sugars. One is the refined or “extracellular” sugars which have been long associated with human disease. The other sugars are “intracellular” which can be found in fruits and vegetables and provide the body with nutrition it needs. These sugars, also known as “complex carbohydrates”, have been studied for years. However, only recently have we begun discovering their purpose in the body.

An increasing number of scientists believe that certain carbohydrates represent the next frontier in the search for non-toxic treatments for various degenerative conditions. Even though we have just begun to scratch the surface in understanding the full potential of these carbohydrates, the research being reported in just the last decade has ignited a new level of hope and optimism with some of the world’s leading immunologists. The March 23, 2001 issue of Science Magazine is devoted to the topic of cellular communication and the role that simple sugars play in that arena.

Healthy bodies are comprised of many components working together in sophisticated harmony, and must have accurate internal communication to function correctly. In it’s most basic form, this communication occurs at the cellular level. Glyonutrients form what can be referred to as the “alphabet” of your body!

To maintain a healthy body, cells must “talk” to each other. Their language is one of touch, written in saccharides (or simple sugars) on the cell surfaces. These simple sugars combine with other molecules to make glycoforms such as glycoproteins when combined with proteins or glycolipids when combined with fat. Of the 200 monosaccharides that occur naturally in plants, 8 have been discovered to be components in the cell surface glycoforms (see Harper’s Textbook of Biochemistry–1996). Like thousands of different “keys” projecting from the cell surface, they will either unlock the required functions of the adjoining cell or not. If the right keys are available, the body functions smoothly. If not, it doesn’t. Acta Anatomica, a European journal, states that these simple sugars have a coding capacity that surpasses that of amino acids!!

Only two of the eight monosaccharides are found in today’s diet. Our diets have changed in response to the demands for quicker, cheaper food. Consequently, we are not eating foods that contain the necessary fuels for our cells to communicate in a healthy, effective manner. While our body has the capacity to manufacture these simple sugars, the conversion process is complicated. During the conversion process your cells are exposed to tens of thousands of free radical hits each day. This requires time, energy and a host of other micronutrients in order to complete the conversion. Viruses can also interfere with our body’s ability to make these conversions. People who are ill or who have inborn errors of metabolism are especially vulnerable to a breakdown in the process. Whenever the monosaccharides cannot be made, communication is slowed down or impaired as a result.

Since your body has more than trillion cells and fully regenerates all of its cells in approximately 1 year, any miscommunication or slowdown could cause major health problems. With millions of cells regenerating each day, it’s easy to imagine what could happen if during this process, the cells didn’t regenerate correctly. This is why glyconutritional supplements are so very important!

So what are the experts saying about these powerful compounds? Check out some compelling evidence that the scientific and medical world are jumping on board by leaps and bounds:

February, 1990
Magazine, Bio/Technology
“Capitalizing on Carbohydrates”
Carbohydrates are identified as essential for immune function. “Almost without exception, whenever two or more living cells interact in a specific way, cell surface carbohydrates will be involved.”

1995
Magazine, Nature
Cell surface sugars are necessary for recognition and immune function.

1996
Medical Textbook, Harper’s Biochemistry
Vol. 24, Murray, et. al.
Glycoprotein chapter reviews the sugars necessary for cell-to-cell communication.

March, 2000
Launching of glycoscience.org, the first Web site devoted to the nutritional importance of certain saccharides called glyconutrients.

October, 2001
National Institutes of Health grants $34 million grant to Scripps Institute to study glycobiology

2002
GlycoScience.org receives a merit World Wide Web health Award for credibility, clarity and appropriateness

October 2002
Magazine, New Scientist
“Sugar Rush”
Emphasizes glycobiology as the basis of understanding immunology, neurology and developmental biology.

February, 2003
MIT’s Technology Review
Glycomics identified as “One of 10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World.”

2003
GlycoScience.org receives two Silver World Wide Web Health awards for credibility, clarity and appropriateness.

December 2003
Nutritional company that pioneered research in field of glycobiology, presents GlycoScience.org Web site and 8th Annual World Congress on the internet in medicine (MedNet) International Conference, “Internet in Health for All.”

2004
18,032 Medline articles with keyword “glycoprotein” published.

So the obvious question becomes, “what can all this science do for me?” Well, no one can claim a cure for anything, but imagine what would happen in your body and consequently your health when your cells are given the proper building blocks to restore and maintain wellness in every system of your body? This is solid science with solid proof in hundreds of thousands of people. The next question is, “what will YOU do with this powerful information?

Lori Wilton is an independent wellness consultant who specializes in glyconutrient education and has overcome her own health challenges through the understanding and practice of good nutritional principals without the use toxic pharmaceuticals. She and her husband Bill are in church ministry in Oregon. Lori is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

To get your FREE report entitled, “The Ten Deadly Health Myths of the 21st Century” go to: http://www.living.well.myglycostore.com.

You may be able to lower your elevated blood
pressure naturally, living without statin drugs
and their risks and discomforts.

Statin drugs decrease CO-Q-10 production in your
body. And CO-Q-10 is needed for every cell in the
body in its mitochondria, including the heart.

A healthy heart needs more, not less, CO-Q-10, a
very good reason not to use statins, if possible.

Serious fatigue and muscle pain can result from statin
use.

What’s the alternative to statins?

There’s a natural tool box of blood pressure lowering
approaches available. Steven Sinatra, M.D. and Gary
Null, Ph.D have strong credibility and very specific
advice in this area.

I’ll combine my own successful hypertension lowering experiences, too, integrating them into Sinatra and
Null’s sage advice.

As I gained weight 15 years ago, becoming an
unpleasingly plump 262 pounds, my blood pressure
soared to the 180 over 95.

I rejected statin prescriptions, fired my
pill-pushing doctor, joined a Gold’s Gym,
and exercised down to under 200 lbs within two
years.

My blood pressure returned to normal. So, I know
that in many cases, including mine, natural means
can defeat or lessen hypertension.

The best tool in the tool box is Co-Q-10. If you have
high blood pressure, then a daily dosage of 300 mg
–equally divided and taken with meals-is a good dosage.

If you have no hypertensive problems, a Co-Q-10 dosage
of 30 to 60 mg is OK.

I take 300 mg daily, since I’ve had problems with
elevated blood pressure, and I want to keep this
under tight control. My blood pressure averages
128/76.

You must take Co-Q-10 for 12 full weeks before
attaining the desired benefit–then keep taking it.

Doctor Sinatra also recommends D-Ribose along with
Co-Q-10. D-Ribose energizes your cells naturally–it’s
not a stimulant. A daily amount of three 2,000
mg dosages is good, particularly before or after
exercise. I take this, too.

Recent research has found that much larger doses of
Co-Q-10 (1,200 mg) can delay the progression of
Parkinson’s Disease by up to 44%.

And the October 2005 edition of “LifeExtension,”
the magazine published by the Life Extension
Foundation, shows in a small study that Co-Q-10
may also program cancer cells to self-destruct,
making Co-Q-10 an invaluable adjuvant therapy for
cancer patients.

Other very useful anti-hypertension tools are Vitamin
C (3,000 to 6,000 mg daily), Omega 3 fish oils
(3,000 mg daily), L-Carnitine (1,000 mg daily), and
Hawthorne Berry extract (250 mg three times daily).

If you have high LDL cholesterol, too, try these to
lower it naturally: policosanol (20 mg daily divided
in two doses), niacin (flush or non-flush, starting with
500 to 1,000 mg daily dosage), and nattokinase
(take as directed on the container you buy).

Niacin reduces cholesterol production, which is made
in the liver. When you visit your doctor, he or she
should do a “liver panel” as part of your overall blood testing. In a few cases, niacin can cause abnormalities
in liver function.

Nattokinase, fermented from soy beans, naturally helps to prevent blood thickening and clotting, allowing for the
possibility of lower blood pressure. This was discovered in Japan, and “natto,” as it’s called, is availabe in the United States.

So, take action on this. If you take statins now, you
may be able to reduce the dosage or get off of them
completely by taking this advice and getting your doctor’s
cooperation.

Your doctor can help wean you from these drugs in
an orderly way. If he or she refuses, work with a
doctor that will help you in this manner.

John J. Alquist owns and operates Alquist Enterprises, which advances self-employment. John is a professional speaker, author and business consultant. Visit him at http://www.tell-it-well.com or email his at john@tell-it-well.com.

Every day, it seems like we are living in an increasingly liquid world. I’m not preaching against the evils of alcohol or for a new era of prohibition that will save us from sin and politicians. After all, water is also a liquid, and it rarely inflicts us with either sin or politicians.

But we do expect everything to be excruciatingly easy these days, so liquid is the operating system of choice.

No time to eat? Grab a liquid breakfast and run. Why tie a knot in the umbilical chord connecting your bed to your desk? If you can find a long enough straw, just start slurping as you rise from bed, and smack your lips to the last drop as you whiz out the front door. Bye.

Remember when soap came in bars? Solid bars? Sorry, I guess I’m showing my age. Now everybody uses liquid soap. Yesterday I reached for the soap. No, wait. I reached for the hand cream. Or was it the soap? But what if it is the hand cream? Soap or hand cream? Which is which?

People used to nail siding onto the exterior of their homes. Now they just spray on “liquid siding”. It comes in three tasty flavors: siding, ceramic and stucco. Yum.

And now they’ve taken my little vitamin supplement pills and liquefied them, too.

“Hold on just a minute. How do you know they liquefied the vitamin pills?”

Who said that?

“Are vitamins naturally solid? Or are they naturally liquid?”

Uh. I had to admit that I probably would not recognize a vitamin if I bumped into it in the street … in which case I have a hunch it might be too big to swallow. Say, who is this?

“Where do you think vitamins come from, anyway?”

I always assumed they came from the back of the corner store in a small town in Indiana, but upon reflection, I suspect they might come from oranges and fish and milk. Who are you?

“Don’t you think it’s pretty hard to stuff a fish into a hard, little pill?”

I suppose The Voice has a point.

“You drink milk, don’t you?”

Yeah, but that’s because it’s liquid. Suddenly I recalled my dream from just last week. Cow after cow heading into a factory on a conveyor belt. At first I though it was the Annual Bovine Family Reunion, but on the other side of the factory, riding the same conveyor belt, were neatly sealed cartons of milk. Aaargh!

“Squeezed. Like an orange. You drink juice, don’t you?”

Yeah…but squeezing a cow?

“Just what do you know about liquid?”

I thought real hard. Everything comes in one of three states: gas, liquid and solid. Gas is like the politicians when they are talking. Liquid is like the politicians when they are hard at work attending cocktail receptions. Solid is like statues of politicians.

Everything comes in either gas, liquid or solid. That is about all I could remember of my high school chemistry. That, and how to explode a partially dissected frog. No, wait. That wasn’t chemistry class. Silly me. Why would we have a partially dissected frog in chemistry class. That was that other class. What was it called, again? Oh yes, “home economics”.

“Did the frog contain vitamins?”

Not any more.

“Do you think it’s easier to pack vitamins into a tiny, hard pill or into a drink?”

I suppose it all depends on what kind of explosive you use. I tried to imagine squeezing a fish into a carton. But fish walking up a conveyor belt seemed just a bit radical … and even less tasty than freshly squeezed cow.

“Liquid vitamin supplements are made only from plant ingredients.”

That’s it. Keep your cow. Keep your fish. Keep your frog…what’s left of it. I’m going to for a pure liquid life.

About The Author

David Leonhardt publishes The Happy Guy humor column: http://www.thehappyguy.com/positive-thinking-free-ezine.html

Read more humor articles: http://www.thehappyguy.com/humor-articles.html

Get your liquid vitamins: http://www.vitamin-supplements-store.net

Info@thehappyguy.com

As you stroll up and down the isles at the supermarket filling your grocery cart, you are armed with everything you need to make sure you choose your items wisely. Making good, healthy choices is the very reason you carefully put together your shopping list the night before. Now, you know that most of the snack food items are taboo and should be off limits, but maybe you could take a walk down junk food lane on the off chance you might find something acceptable to munch on later. When you see the words “low fat” or “fat-free”, your brain automatically gives you the go-ahead because these foods can’t make you gain weight, right? But, is that really all there is to it, or is there more here than meets the eye?

According to studies, Americans eat around 49,000 extra calories every year which translates into a grand total of 14 extra pounds of body fat per year. This is why an estimated 65% of Americans are considered overweight. In essence, Americans are slowly getting fatter, and it is largely from the consumption of “fat-free” foods.

The problem is, while “fat-free” foods contain no actual fat, many of them do contain high amounts of sugar. It is all this sugar that has been added to these products that allows them to be called “fat-free”. Consuming high amounts of sugar will cause you to gain weight because sugar makes your blood sugar levels rise rapidly, causing a large insulin response. Insulin, particularly in high amounts, will transport much of this sugar right to your fat cells for storage. With this in mind, is there anything you can do to prevent yourself from being lured into the labeling web of deceit?

Here are some things that will help clear up the blurriness of labeling reading so you can have a more clear view of what’s really in there.

To start with, always read everything on the label. Do not just look at the fat content then only skim down at the rest. Look at the sugar content and compare it to the overall carbohydrate content to see how much of the carbohydrates are actually sugar.

Always compare the calories from fat to the total calories. Fat should not be higher than 30% of the total calories at the absolute most.

Look at the protein content and try to make sure there is at least a decent amount of it in the item. Protein rich foods like granola make good, healthy snacks.

Also important is to look for the fiber content of certain foods. When you buy breakfast cereal for example, make sure it has at least 5 grams of dietary fiber per serving. Also try to buy whole grain items like whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta as these also provide decent amounts of fiber.

Aside from reading the labels, you should also read the list of ingredients. Here is where you get to see what is actually in each item. When buying any flour items such as bread or pasta, avoid anything with the words enriched, bleached, or white flour in the ingredients. The more enriched a product is, the less nutritious it is. White flour has a very high sugar content and therefore is not the best choice. Look for items with whole wheat flour instead.

One thing that gets hidden in the list of ingredients that you really need to be aware of is the trans fats. These trans fats are cleverly disguised with the words “hydrogenated vegetable oil”. These are oils that the manufacturer adds hydrogen to in order to transform them from their liquid form to a solid form. These fats are more dangerous by far than saturated fats and you know how bad saturated fats are. If you see the key word “hydrogenated” anywhere in the ingredients, put it down, back away slowly, then turn, run, and don’t look back!

Always remember to read everything on both the nutrition label and the list of ingredients before buying an item. Never let yourself be fooled into thinking an item won’t make you gain weight by the words “fat-free” so boldly displayed on the front of the package. It is this kind of deception that has been the cause of unwanted weight gain throughout the nation. Remember, the FDA requires all food manufactures to disclose everything in their products to you, but it is ultimately up to you to read far enough to find it all.

The next time you go food shopping, take these tips with you and ensure yourself that you are making the right choices for you and your family.

Jim O’Neill gives you tons of valuable information on the subjects of weight loss, fitness, and nutrition to make it easy for you to live a healthy lifestyle. Sign up now for his free 7 part mini e-course at: http://www.mrgymfitness.com