Glyconutrients 101

Research over the past decade has demonstrated the importance of essential fatty acids and essential proteins (amino acids).

Now scientists and nutritionists are just beginning to understand that there are essential sugars as well. Eight essential sugar compounds function individually as building blocks to assemble a nearly infinite variety of complex molecules known as glycans or sugar chains.

Glyconutrients are natural sugar compounds, essential for maintaining good health. There are two key ways that glyconutrients impact your health:

These sugars can prevent viruses and bacteria from adhering to cells by taking up all their receptor sites. If the virus or bacteria can't bind to a cell, they can't make you sick; it's as simple as that. Turns out other sugar chains can work in similar ways to bind up all sorts of viruses and bacteria in other parts of the body.

There's another more complex role that these sugar chains play in the body. Glycans form a sugar coat around every single cell in the body, as well as filling up the spaces in between cells. They act as a sort of information super highway for the body, regulating communication both within the cell and between that cell and other cells.

Sugar chains play a vital role in nearly every physiological process, including immune system response, tissue regeneration and cell replication.

One of the most important functions of glycans is the facilitation of brain functions. For instance, serotonin and other neurotransmitters require glycan receptors in order to bind to the surface of nerve cells. Memory, stress response and other critical brain functions may become debilitated without the adequate assistance of glyconutrient sugar chains.

If you eat a diet rich in unprocessed fruits and vegetables, you're supplying your body with many glyconutrients. But just because they're sugars doesn't mean they taste sweet. For instance: Fucose, xylose and mannose are three of the eight essential sugar compounds. Mushrooms and seeds contain fucose; rye, barley and yeast contain xylose; and mannose can be found in broccoli, cabbage and seeds.

Problems arise when any of the foods mentioned above are highly processed. For instance, grapes and onions deliver glucose, one of the eight glyconutrients. But when glucose is processed into table sugar, nutrients and fiber are completely stripped away, transforming it from good nutrition into something that can compromise your health.