Note: Glyconutrients are such an interesting subject when one talks about health that I asked Dr. Tom Taliaferro, an authority on this topic, to write an article for this blog. Be sure to visit Dr. Tom’s blog for many enlightening posts about health, weight loss, wellness care, and the pharmaceutical drug industry. Also visit Dr. Tom’s web site. – Ed Mass

The Glyconutrient supplement is one of the cornerstones required for optimal health.

Have you ever wondered how the cells of your body know when to fill in the damaged area of a cut or correct any type of damage to your body?

When you eat, how does your digestive tract know which food components to absorb and send into the blood stream and which ones to allow to pass?

How do the cells in your kidneys choose the correct molecules to filter?

The cells of your body are all capable of communication and it is through the use of glyconutrients that the cells have the "alphabet" of the cellular language. This form of communication is how the trillions of cells in your body work together to create you as you are today.

Until recently medical science did not know how a cell in the body worked to restore, protect and defend itself. Doctors have always known that the body heals itself–that is self evident–but the actual mechanisms were unknown. Recent discoveries in science have found that complex combinations of sugar molecules on the outside of cells provide the means to communicate all biological data.

This breakthrough discovery in biological science has opened up a new field of research called Glycomics or Glycobiology and has been identified by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as one of ten emerging technologies that will change the world, in their February, 2003 Technology Review Magazine.

The most amazing thing about this new field of science is that every cell in your body is already an expert in its application. When applied through nutrition, glyconutrients are a necessary component of natural, normal cellular function. In other words, every cell needs these nutrients to obtain and maintain optimal health.

What are glyconutrients? Put simply they are monosaccharide sugars which have been identified as having a biological function, instead of just being used for calories as has been taught for decades. This discovery led to the rewriting of Harper’s Biochemistry, the text book used to teach our next generation of doctors and health care professionals. But unless your doctor graduated from medical school after 2002, chances are they are uninformed in this field.

In the same way a few basic shapes form all of the letters of the alphabet, these glyconutrients provide the basic structures your cells need to build for proper communication and normal function.

The eight sugars found on the outside of the cell form receptors called glycoforms. Glycoforms are a combination of eight basic building-block sugars known as glyconutrients. The combination of sugars in a glycoform determine the information that is communicated.

What sorts of things do cells talk about? Every cell needs to be recognized by the immune system (seen), to be defended if it is under attack by a virus or bacteria, repaired if damaged, fed when needing energy, regulated by hormones to operate in synchronization with the rest of the body and cleansed as it collects and builds up toxins during normal function as well as exposure to toxins in the environment.

Due to numerous and complex reasons, people with health issues often have glycoforms that are not structurally correct. Usually this is because their body has insufficient quantities of one or more of the basic sugars and the body is then unable to build the glycoforms properly.

In addition to glycoform construction, clinical research has shown there is also an explosion of stem cell production in the body when glyconutrients are present in larger than normal quantities, allowing the body to rebuild organs that have long been considered impossible to repair.

How are glyconutrients absorbed into the bloodstream to gain access to the cells? In a recent experiment, researchers radioactively tagged glucose, galactose, and mannose sugar molecules and monitored their activity when ingested. The sugars went into the bloodstream and went directly to the cells and created glycoforms.

In spite of all this scientific information it is still important to understand this science is about nutrition. When we nourish the body we are providing the raw materials necessary for life. This is not the same approach as taking a pharmaceutical drugs where we take a pill for a symptom. Nutrition is something we require every day. When we are ill our nutritional requirements are often greater because the cells of the body require more nutrients to defend against disease to repair the damage caused by the disease process.

In other words, the science is simple: Open your mouth and swallow. How much do I need? Until it works!

Dr. Tom Taliaferro has trained thousands in lifestyle improvements over the course of 9 years. As a Lifestyle Adjusting Coach Dr. Tom takes what you bring him and helps you to see the potential of your health and wealth.

Dr. Tom can be contacted at drtomt or 760-446-1088.

Go here for information on weight loss. Read Dr. Tom’s blog. Visit Dr. Tom’s web site.