Eight Essential Glyconutrients: Arabinogalactan

Arabinogalactan is a glyconutrient that is water soluble and can be found in various plants, fungi and bacteria. It is most commonly extracted from the Larch tree but is also available in leeks, carrots, radishes, black beans, pears, maize, wheat, red wine, Italian ryegrass, tomatoes, ragweed, sorghum, bamboo grass and coconut meat and milk.

This glyconutrient is most widely known for it’s immune-enhancing abilities. So it comes as no surprise that the widely accepted medical herbs echinacea and astralgus are rich in arabinogalactan. It helps the body to fight infection by increasing the activity of natural killer cells and other areas of our immune system. It has been found in some studies that decreased natural killer cell activity can be linked to a variety of chronic diseases including chronic fatigue syndrome, viral hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Arabinogalactan is also beneficial for our digestive system, it is a very important source of dietary fibre increasing the production of short-chain fatty acids which are essential for colon health. It is considered to be a prebiotic and acts as a food supply for "good" bacteria in the gut as well as helping to eliminate "bad" bacteria. Many Doctors use prebiotics to prevent and treat intestinal conditions like diverticulosis, leaky-gut, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as well as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis.

Arabinogalactans – another of the essential glyconutrients.

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Eight Essential Glyconutrients: Fucose

I have talked a lot about these glyconutrients that we are NOT getting in our diets, why they are so essential to our health and why we need to supplement them, so I thought that I would start to discuss in more detail what the individual glyconutrients are and what they do.

The first to get this detailed treatment is Fucose. This nutrient occurs most commonly in fucoidan which is a brown algae found in seaweeds. It is also found in some mushrooms, brewers yeast and human breast milk. When attempting to increase our intake of all whole foods these days we need to be aware of where they are produced due to increasing pollutants in the world.

Why do we need Fucose? It is involved in many of our body processes and research has shown that it influences brain development, acts as an immune modulator by retarding tumour growth/spread and improves cell communication. It also provides protection from respiratory tract infections and inhibits allergic reactions. The transfer of fucose to newborns in breast milk is thought to be the catalyst for improving their immunity.

Here we have it: Fucose, the first in my series of essential glyconutrients!

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If Glyconutrients Are So Important, Why Haven’t I Heard of Them?

“The problem is that all this information has not yet reached the main stream medical community in a form that makes it official for them. I believe that physicians will respond when they get the OK from their information resources. Maybe the educated public can influence the process by asking questions of physicians and presenting literature to stimulate their paradigm until they too become believers.” Dr Norman Peckham, MD
The average time that it takes for new discoveries to filter through to your local GP is 20 years. Glycobiology first made it into the Doctors text book, Harper’s Biochemistry, in 1996. So we still have a way to go in following this pattern until the knowledge and use of glyconutrients becomes widespread.
Instead we have to rely on a few enlightened individuals, both doctors and the general public, to ‘spread the word’ about the importance of adding glyconutrients to your diet. As yet the scientists have not even touched the tip of the iceberg as far as the precise benefits that can be achieved, it is the most exciting field of science today.

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But My Body Can Make Glyconutrients!

Our bodies are amazing and yes they can make the glyconutrients that are missing in our diets but should they? What could our body be doing with the available nutrient building blocks that it has? Is this the most effective use?

There are so many questions that still remain unanswered but what we do know is that your body cannot make all of the missing glyconutrients. Sure we can compensate for the loss of a few of these vital sugars in our diet but remember most of us are only getting 2 of the 8 essential glyconutrients in our modern diets. That is a lot to make up for.

In fact at this point in time scientists can positively link 13 different medical conditions directly to our body’s inablility to convert all the glyconutrients that it needs for optimal health. Surely the well informed decision is to supplement these essential sugars if at all possible?

There is one proprietary glyconutrient blend available (and only one due to existing patents) in supplement form. When taken twice daily it provides our bodies with adequate amounts of essential glyconutrients and more besides. It has been formulated in a plant base so that our body recognises this supplement as food and can utilise the full benefit of the nutrition as it was designed to process food and not synthetic chemicals.

Make the informed choice – do you think your diet is deficient in glyconutrients?

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Current Scientific Research on Glyconutrients

Glycobiology is at the cutting edge of science today. The race is on to break the ‘sugar code’! Independent scientists and pharmaceutical companies are involved in the over 20 000 studies annually conducted on glycoforms. All indications so far are that when the code is unravelled it will mean a huge step forward in both health and medicine.

So far some amazing results have been shown when glyconutrients are readily available by the body. There are 8 confirmed essential biological sugars or glyconutrients. Here is just a sample ‘Top Ten’ of results proven in completed studies:

1. Increases the amount of natural killer cells and macrophage against infectious organisms
2. Stimulates immune T-cell activity when invaders are present
3. Decrease in cell death in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
4. Increased disease resistance in run down people
5. Increased Antioxidant activity
6. Protection against toxins and pollutants
7. Retards premature aging
8. Decreased inflammation
9. Assists cell recognition of ‘invaders’
10. Enhances cellular ability to stick to each other and elicit the correct reaction.

It is well known and accepted that the ability of a healthy body to heal itself is extraordinary. However the flipside is also true – that when we do not give the body vital glyconutrients it will not effectively protect us from diseases and premature aging.

And this is yet the tip of the iceberg!

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OK So Glyconutrients are Essential – Why Supplements?

Do you know how the food you are eating is produced? For most people the answer is probably no. The fact that most children these days do not have any idea how milk for example gets from the cow to the table (or for that matter that it comes from cows!) I find quite sad.

Having grown up on a farm myself I have firsthand knowledge of a lot of modern farming techniques. We have land that is continually cropped and filled with chemical fertilisers to enable the nutrient leached soil to raise yet another crop. A little known fact is that plants require the addition to the soil of only 3 nutrients to grow, the body needs at least 45 nutrients to function effectively. Where can we get these if not from our food?

And that is not even taking into account the genetically modified seed that many of the farms now use. The idea in this scenario is that the end product is superior and that you can produce a tougher plant that requires less chemical pesticides. Supposedly that is to contribute to a more natural environment, it just so happens that it reduces the production costs too! (and the essential sugars)

The fruits and vegetables that we do raise are picked early for transport to faraway markets and then gassed to ripen. If you drop a tomato on the floor these days it is so hard it is more likely to bounce than go splat! The all important phytonutrients in ripe fruit are never given a chance.

Of course then our food is cooked and canned, pasteurised and processed. Science has shown that cooking depletes the scant glyconutrient levels in some cases to trace amounts. There is no way that we can derive enough of the vital glyconutrients from our diet alone.

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New Scientific Validation for Glyconutrients

Beginning 15 September 2009 The Royal Society of Medicine held a 3 day event called the 9th Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium. There were eight separate studies presented with the latest scientific findings regarding the effect of glyconutrients within the body. Two of those papers focused on the only complete glyconutrient blend that can be purchased as a supplement. This product was in fact validated by the studies in ways which far exceeded the previous claims regarding the supplement.

The new studies proved beyond doubt that the addition of glyconutrients to your diet does assist with cell to cell communication – it does glycosylate your cells. This means that your cells are functioning correctly, your tissues and organs are healthier and so are you! It helps to nourish, control and support every cell in your body, something that no vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herbal can do.

The results showed that glycoprotein synthesis can be changed by nutrition: that glyconutritional supplementation is something we all could do to support our immune system thus impacting our general health and wellbeing.

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Why is it important for Cells to Communicate Efficiently?

Complete cell-to-cell communication means your cells can relay vital information and allow your body to act upon it naturally. Glyconutrients provide building blocks for healthy cells and are the foundation for the cellular communication code, your body’s ‘operating system’.

“Monosaccarides represent an alphabet of biological information similar to amino acids and nucleic acids, but with unsurpassed coding capacity.”

ACTA ANATOMICA

You can easily see what happens in this representation of the ‘cellular alphabet’ when just one shape (read glyconutrient) is taken away:

Scientists have known for years that the body has the ability to repair itself – the challenge is to provide what it needs to maintain optimal health.

The cell is where health begins, it is the basic unit of the body: healthy cells make healthy tissues that make healthy organs that make healthy systems that make healthy bodies!

Cells communicate in order to sustain good health. Adequate supplies of gylconutrients will ensure this. Each cell needs to be glycosylated. This means that you need glyconutrients in your diet every day. All cell types have different lifespans from just a few hours to many years so every day your body is replenishing 50-150 billion new cells.

Every day you need glyconutrients. The better the cells communicate, the healthier they will be and the healthier you will be.

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