Naked Science Forum
On the Lighter Side => Complementary Medicine => Topic started by: tigger on 26/02/2006 22:54:06
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I was diagnosed with endometriosis and it was at the painful stage. My GYN didn't want to do surgery right away. He wanted me to try glyconutrients for 3 months and see if my symptoms improve or go away. I am very skeptical of the supplement hype. My GYN usually tries to push them on me. I did some research on the glyconutrients and decided to try the expensive supplement. I have been on them for 3 months and to my surprise, they really work. The proof these supplements gave me was that my severe tendonitis went away(I was needing surgery), my pain from endometriosis is gone, and most convincing is that my eyesight had improved one power since starting the glyconutrients(I had just had my eyes examined right before starting it). That was too much improvement in 3 months to be just coincidence. The cells in our bodies need 8 types of bio sugars to make them function completely, our diets provide only 2. This supplement(Ambrotose) completes the cells function of healing what's needing cellular repair in your body.
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The glyconutrients you are talking about are non-digestible chains of sugar that pass through your small intestine and are "eaten" by good bacteria (e.g. bifidus, lactobacillus) which then increase in number and produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and cause a decrease in the number of other bacteria and yeasts growing within your colon. The actual amounts of individual sugars that would be absorbed would be miniscule compared to the amounts of these sugars that your body actually makes each day.
So is there any other explanation for your benefits of taking these supplements? Yes.
Your body makes a certain amount of estrogen each month. The amount varies with your cycle. The estrogen is constantly produced and eliminated. It is eliminated through the liver. The liver attaches glucuronic acid (GA) to the hormone and then excretes it with the bile into the intestine. The attached GA keeps the hormone from being reabsorbed.
Some bacteria in your colon make an enzyme that is called beta glucuronidase. This breaks the bond of the estrogen and GA, and so the estrogen is reabsorbed. During times of the month where Estrogen is already produced at a higher amount, this magnifies the amount of estrogen levels in the blood, and magnifies the symptoms that can be caused by an estrogen excess (in relation to other hormones. The ratio being more important than the actual amount)
Increasing the "Friendly" bacteria in your colon have been shown to decrease the amount of the bacteria that product beta glucuronidase, and significantly decrease the amount of this enzyme present, and hence decrease the re-absorption of estrogen that your body is trying to excrete. This lowers the amount of blood estrogen during this time of month, and hence a decrease in the negative effects that high estrogen would cause.
The bacteria that produce beta glucuronidase are more predominantly found in people who eat at least some meat/animal products, and are found higher is some people than others. This is why studies have shown that vegetarians have less PMS symptoms associated with cycle, and excrete more estrogen in their feces.
So you see, the increase in beneficial bacteria by these "pre-biotic" substances decreased the abnormal amounts estrogen you were absorbing, and hence decreasing the effects of an abnormally high estrogen/progesterone ratio which was effecting abdominally located endometrial tissue. No sugars absorbed, but your result is the same.
As for the tendonitis, the glucosamine (the only saccharide in the supplement, which can be absorbed) in the supplement has been shown to be an effective treatment for forms of degenerative arthritis. Also, the increase in the SCFA's by the bacteria in your colon, such as butyrate, has some direct and indirect anti-inflammatory activity. So this is also not a surprise.
I haven't researched the benefits to the eyes yet, but I am sure that if it helped, there is an alternate explanation to explain it besides the "8 essential sugar" hypothesis, which is not supportable by current scientific literature.
The other factor here is that the ingredient in your supplement were not made by the company you bought them from. Carrington Labs makes the Manapol. Larex, inc. makes the Arabinogalactan (48% of the product), and glucosamine and gums are from other companies. While there is a patent on the combination of these ingredients, all of these ingredients can be bought separately and mixed for a substantial savings. You can get 3-4 times the amount for the same price. Change the Manapol to AloeImmune by Improve USA, which has a comparable chemical profile of beta-linked Acemannan, and you can get it even cheaper.
So far, the people who have switched to the alternative of making it themselves have reported no change in the benefits. So it works quite well.
Good luck.
Duane