The Future Isn't What It Used To Be
This is what they call "Hope"?
We've all gotten used to the idea that certain maladies will be
around for a while...like until the Second Coming. Maladies such
as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis...and many more
are expected to be around, in epidemic proportions, longer than
we think we will be alive...and anyone who tries to tell us
otherwise is looked upon with real skepticism. In fact, when
anyone tries to tell us "there's hope" for such maladies as say,
diabetes, we are more likely to believe the person is trying to
sell us something...and usually we are right.
But, what's even worse is the fact that the "hope" we do receive
is usually something like the following:
Studies show that people at high risk for type 2 diabetes can
prevent or delay the onset of the disease by losing 5 to 7
percent of their body weight. You can do it by eating healthier
and getting 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week. In
other words: you don't have to knock yourself out to prevent
diabetes. The key is: small steps that lead to big rewards.
Learn more about your risk for developing type 2 diabetes and
the small steps you can take to delay or prevent the disease and
live a long, healthy life.
Of course, this is good advice. No denying it. As a medical
doctor, I had to dispense advice like this for years, for
diabetes and other conditions. Funny, as good as it is, I NEVER
saw anyone become ecstatic, do cartwheels or celebrate because
they had just received such counsel. Why? BECAUSE WHAT WE REALLY
WANT FROM THE MEDICAL WORLD IS A CURE!
And why not? It just doesn't seem fair the only real answer to
conditions like diabetes or obesity is the "hope" that means we
stop eating almost everything we enjoy, sweat till we drop,
"pop" prescription pills 'till we're bloated, and think
positive...forever.
A new future?
So, of course, I was skeptical too when I began to hear the
claims associated with glyconutrition. As a long time medical
professional and scientist, I know "claims" are easily made...
And who ever heard of "glyconutrition" anyway?
In 1999, the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Dr. Gunter
Blobel for his work in the science of Glycobiology (the biology
of glyconutrition). Out of the last eight Nobel Prizes awarded
in medicine, four Nobel Prizes have been awarded for discoveries
made in this ONE field. Believe it or not, this field
(glyconutrition) affects maladies such as diabetes, cancer and
heart disease directly. Why? Because, eight sugars have been
isolated for their support of the immune system and cell
communication. Additionally, human life cannot be supported
without them. This information got my attention. When a single
Nobel Prize is won in medicine, everyone is paying attention.
When four of them are won in the SAME field, as in this case
involving glyconutrition, the medical world is "on fire" with
the news. As that information made its way through the medical
world, other issues made the news too. For decades the American
Medical Association, the powerhouse of medical professionals,
taught that nutritional supplements were not necessary for good
health. But, in June 2002, the AMA admitted that nutritional
supplementation was vital to good health and helpful in treating
diseases. Also, the prestigious MIT published its findings. It
wrote that these "sugars" were one of ten technologies it
believed would change the world in the next decade. Nutritional
supplementation was again vital to the conventional medical
world...and at the center of the storm was glyconutrition. But,
what really jolted me professionally was this: Until these
discoveries, scientists had NO idea how the cells of your body
could tell the antibodies of your body you had an infection and
that they had to "get on over here" to deal with it. Until these
discoveries, scientists had NO idea how the cells of your body
told the rest of your body they needed nutrition, oxygen, waste
elimination, infections healed...and a thousand and one other
necessary functions of every cell. Goodness! We in the
scientific world hadn't known just exactly HOW even aspirin made
its way to that nasty headache of yours. We just knew it worked.
So, we prescribed it. Sugar? Say it ain't so, doc! But, my
attention was riveted to the news that scientists like Dr.
Gunter Blobel had discovered what it was that let the cells
COMMUNICATE with the other systems of the body. And would you
believe it? What he found was amazing. Sugar...SUGAR! (Glyco =
Greek for "sugar") No...not table sugar (else diabetics wouldn't
be so excited over this new-found help for their diabetes).
There are over 200 sugars in nature but, eight of them are VITAL
to our good health. In fact, eight of them are the
glyconutrition "backbone" for helping the body prevent or heal: