Glyconutrients - Miracle Sugars

Glyconutrients.  The Greek word glycol refers to “sweet”.  The prefix glycol can be placed in front of a fat, protein, or any molecule and suggests that a sugar is attached.  Glycobiology is the study of the sugar portion of these proteins and fats.

Glycoprotein = sugar attached to a protein, Glycolipid = sugar attached to fat, Glycoform = any sugar form.  Like so many new frontiers in science, the role of these carbohydrates (sugars) was badly neglected and underestimated.  They were at best considered a simple source of energy and at worst considered nothing more than a contaminant on the surface of the cell.

Virtually every cell in our bodies is covered with minuscule hair-like glycoforms.  Until the invention of the electron microscope, scientists could not see these molecules on the surface of the cells.  They could detect hairs (proteins and fats), but could not distinguish that on the surface of those hairs were trillions of other molecules – sugar molecules.  Glyconutrients are not vitamins, mineral, proteins, fats, herbs, enzymes or homeopathic drugs.  They are carbohydrates.  Just as there are essential proteins called amino acids and essential fats called fatty acids, glyconutrionals are the newly discovered class of necessary carbohydrate nutrients.

Researchers have identified up to eight specific sugars that most of us fail to obtain through our diets.  These sugars are absolutely essential for proper cellular survival and function.  Without them our cells particularly our immune system cells do not work at optimum levels. 

Did you know that your health depends on the ability of cells to talk to each other?

Virtually every bodily process that both protects and heals us involves certain intra and inter cellular transmission.  These coded messages control everything from wound healing to cancer cell destruction.  In the past it was thought that proteins supplied cells with these codes.  However scientists discovered that it was actually the sugar molecules found on the surface that formed the “words” cells use to communicate with their neighbours.  When the body has the right supply and assortment of sugars to work with it make remarkable structures called “glycoforms”.  These glycoforms carry cellular codes and attach to the surface membranes of other cells of all kinds.  When two cells of any type touch, the glycoforms on each cell actually speak to one another through their intricate sugar codes.  If the body is lacking in these sugars, the code can be corrupted.

Click the following link to learn more about Cell Communication (how cells talk to each other).

Reference: Miracel Sugars, The New Class of Missing Nutrients by Rita Elkins, M.H. - Woodland Publishing