Glyconutrients fight battle of fatigue, burnout
by KC Jones, feature editor

    Many students and faculty may be realizing the burnout of their mid-semester workload, especially if they have families and jobs to juggle as well. Many find themselves feeling tired and overwhelmed.

   Some may feel tired all the time, no matter what is happening in their lives. They may actually be experiencing a condition called chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) causing their lack of energy.

   CFS is a debilitating disorder of unknown cause but based upon clinical criteria established by the Center for Disease Control. Immune dysfunction is a hallmark of the disease. Patients with CFS often have diminished natural killer cell functions.

   Natural killer cells are the most active part of the body’s immune system: the front lines of defense.

   Research is finding that our body can kill with sweetness, not the refined sugar that destroys the body by abusing blood insulin levels, but essential sugars known as glyconutrients.

   Glyconutrients are eight monosaccharides. Glucose and galactose are normally present in sufficient quantities in Western diets, but the other six—mannose, fucose, xylose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine and sialic acid—are typically deficient.

   These sugars are crucial to cellular health because they make up glycoproteins, which restore the normal cell membrane function allowing nutrients and molecules to pass in and out of the cells, also affecting extracellular and intracellular communication and vital enzymatic reactions.

   When one realizes that glyconutrients are necessary for every cell in every organ to function optimally, their importance cannot be overstated.

   When it comes to nutrients, it seems this one has the same story as the rest of our essential nutrients. We just don’t get enough in our diets anymore, and the body cannot produce enough without the proper substances.

   The main sources of these essential sugars are plant-ripened fruits and vegetables. In today’s market place, the produce is picked green while the essential sugars are still in the roots and stems of the plant. Studies by Harvard Medical researchers prove that essential phytochemicals are not formed by the plant until the last stages of fruit or vegetable maturation. What little essential sugars are in the green produce are destroyed as enzymes start to break them down as soon as they are harvested.

   Dr. Darryl See leads much of the glyconutrient research. He is a renowned immunologist as associate clinical professor of medicine, division of infectious diseases for the University of California at Irvine.

   His researchers used a supplement from Mannatech Trademark Inc. to determine if glyconutrients could treat CFS. Supplementation is safe because glyconutrients have no known side effects or drug interactions.

   “Nutritional intervention has been shown to enhance the quality of life forces for CFS patients,” researcher Dykman said.

   “Killer cell functions increased, helping protect the body from cancerous cells, viruses and other intracellular microorganisms. Over 85 percent of abnormal conditions are attributable to a compromised immunological function and free radical damage within the cells,” See said.

   According to See, immune system dysfunction includes conditions such as herpes, lupus, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, AIDS, diabetes, cancer and athlersclerostic heart disease.

   Because glyconutrient research shows improvements in several immune function parameters, it is considered helpful in the treatment of these conditions.

   See started using glyconutritionals with patients and found that natural killer cells went up an average of over 50 percent.

   “It is now established that cell surface glycoproteins are the basis for immune function or lack of,” he said.

   N-acetyl-glucosamine is one of the glyconutrients necessary for free radical destruction. Unfortunately, the body will not absorb it in an isolated form; the only method of absorption is when it is contained in food.

   The options become growing your own fruits and vegetables or finding produce that has been flash frozen because it doesn’t lose nutrients when preserved that way.