The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.
--- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
On March 10th, 1876, a technology was born that revolutionized the daily lives of people everywhere. It was the invention of the telephone. Certainly, this disruptive technology allowed for better communication across the globe, from a simple chat with neighbors, to planning business meetings, to one of the most important aspects, which is to be able to summon emergency help with lifesaving speed.
The growing popularity of this technology created a need for telephone numbers. A telephone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. This number contains the information necessary to uniquely identify the intended endpoint of the telephone call. It goes without saying, the phone systems and the different devices used to communicate via this system have grown since its inception and interconnected to encompass the world.
It is interesting to note, that every cell in our wonderfully made bodies depends on a communication system that is much like the telephone system. On the surface of each and every cell are hairy like branches called glycoprotein. They are critical components of the cell membrane and allow the cell to communicate and interact when it is in need of defense, of cleansing, of regulating, of regenerating healthfully, and of modulating. This action is termed ‘cell to cell communication’ and information can be found under the term coined as glycoscience.
This fairly new discovery of cell to cell communication is filled with promise. Its importance in the role of an optimal working immune system is a major breakthrough for the medical community. As alluded to in the previous paragraph, it is based on the theory that healthy cells make healthy tissue, healthy tissue makes healthy organs, healthy organs make healthy bodies. The science of glycobiology has discovered that when our cells are given the necessary nutrients at the cellular level, then they are able to defend, to repair, to regulate, to nourish, to modulate, and to regenerate properly. All of this is accomplished in part by a fully functioning communication system on the surface of each and every cell of our bodies. The discovery is so cutting edge and full of hope, that in 1996, the American Medical Board allowed the revision of the Harper's Biochemistry Book [one of the many medical books for medical students], and devoted a whole chapter to the science of glycobiology. This action, in and of itself, speaks volumes to its importance. To this day, many universities are opening up new programs devoted to this new science.
Many may view the idea that through proper nutrition, an optimal working immune system with a highly efficient communication system could not only ward off disease but practically eliminate disease and help the body achieve optimum health as an unrealistic scenerio. Skeptics would surely balk. However, from 1996 to present day, this discovery of such cutting edge technology, this unconventional avenue of achieving excellent health through food, has won four Nobel prizes in the field of immunology. In 2001, MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], the big brains behind studying technologies that will change the face of the world, emphatically stated, 'The discovery of cell to cell communication will soon change the face of health-care globally.’
Glyco means sugar, but it is not the common table sugar that is readily called to mind. In fact, it has nothing to do with table or refined sugar at all. There are eight essential sugars that should be derived from our diets to create these glycoproteins. They are glucose, galactose, fucose(not to be confused with fructose), mannose, glucosomine, galactosamine, neuraminic acid, and xylose. In today’s world, our diets provide only two of these sugars, glucose and galactose. While the body is able to synthesize the other six sugars from glucose, it requires a great deal of energy, enzymatic conversion, and, thus, depletes the body’s reserves. It is likened to a generator required to give much needed assistance to a hospital when the power has been blown. It can turn on the electricity and bring the hospital up to operating status, but it cannot be used to supply power to many of the important lifesaving instruments in the hospital. The generator simply cannot supply the Herculean demand; it would burn out.
If deficiencies in any of these eight essential sugars occur, the needed glycoproteins which contain codes are not synthesized, therefore, limiting the cells’ natural ability to carry out necessary, vital, cell-to-cell communication. This break in communication inhibits the cell’s natural ability to defend against disease and illness, to demand much needed fuel, to receive instructions, to replicate and regenerate healthfully, and to be able to modulate the body’s biochemistry properly.
As of today, according to JANA, (The Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association), ninety percent of the American population is nutrient deficient. Why is this? It is because, not just as Americans, but as a world society, we have sorely compromised the nutrient rich abundant storehouse of a medicine called food.
I ask, do you think it is time that a new measure of intelligence to advance knowledge and understanding of our health, of our bodies, of our future, is imperative?
As I compose this essay, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of articles being published on glycobiology and, or, glyconutrients, and how they can help the human body achieve optimal health. Although I have no life threatening health challenges, nor do my family, I have always been eager to glean any information or studies that will help my family and I continue to be blessed with our good health. In today’s world the price of just living and striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle is challenging due to our nutrient deficient foods, the environmental toxins we are subject to each and every day, plus the avoidable and unavoidable stress we subject our bodies to each day.
I am a mother of five and a grandmother to ten beautiful children. As I stated earlier, their health is extremely important to me, and I, without doubt, know that you feel the same about your loved ones. I know that childhood diseases, from mild to life threatening, are on the rise. I know that there is a very real possibility, given the statistics, that one of my loved ones could be stricken as I write. I am not a doomsday pessimist; I am a realist.
We have an incredible body that was designed by our Creator to function at optimal level when given the necessary nutrients to do so. However, in today's time and age, we, as a world society, have sorely compromised the nutrient rich abundant storehouse of God's medicine called food by depleting our soils, by green harvesting, and by using carcinogenic pesticides. In our busy world we have also created fast foods, a vast menu of empty calories and a sure promise of health issues to come. We’ve filled our stomachs with refined sugars, processed meats, unnatural and animal fats, and a lab full of preservatives. This, in turn, has reaped havoc not just upon our immune systems, but upon every system in our bodies. It affects every generation, every gender, and every race. This fact is quite evident in the halls of our great hospitals, so aptly name and dedicated as: The Children's Hospital, M. D. Anderson Cancer Institute, and St Luke’s Heart Institute. This is to name only a few. It is also evident in the promotion and work of many research societies from The American Cancer Society, to the Alzheimer Research Foundation, and The Society for Diabetic Research. This list goes on and on. These research programs were not instituted because trauma induced such disease; they were created out of a need to give hope to those afflicted, to find a cure, to prevent, or at the very least, to suppress the ravaging effects of these acquired diseases. Despite the concerted efforts of mankind to discover a cure, we have failed miserably. I am not criticizing the altruistic efforts of the noble; I am facing a daunting truth. It will never be more apparent or come home to roost, than when you have a loved one afflicted with Alzheimer's, or pancreatic cancer. The picture becomes even more disturbing when a young man, in the prime of his youth, suffers a heart attack on the football field; or when a young woman, so full of life and promise suffers so greatly from digestive disorders that it affects her everyday life. Perhaps the saddest is when a small child succumbs to the ravaging effect of pediatric cancer, or a doting father is stricken with some neuromuscular disease. The bottom line, such things profoundly alter the life of everyone involved, from the victim to the families. You might even go so far as to say it affects others indirectly from employers to taxpayers.
The medical community tells us they are making great strides in improving the quality of our lives, but are they? Unfortunately, most research is pharmacologically driven; and the devastating results are, we are being sold false hope in a bottle, in a pill, in a new treatment. We, as a society become so doctor driven with a rescue mentality. Doctors base their hope and their credentials on the truthfulness, reliability, and mission of the pharmaceutical industry. This has caused not only the lay person, but the medical society to not think outside the box. Could we possibly change the way we see things, our reference point based on our education in a different direction? Perhaps, we could look at a paradigm shift that gets to the grassroots of Creation. Have we thought to look at our most primitive generations and questioned the why of their longevity? Have we sought to understand the magnificent design of our bodies and what it takes to keep it functioning as it was so intelligently designed to do? The answer to that question is yes. There is an elite group of doctors, research scientists, and biochemists that have been thinking outside the box. These elite groups of professionals are what I term, ‘the big guns in the field of immunology’.
As of 1996, medical communities are becoming increasingly aware of this newly discovered Glyco- science. As a result, they are becoming educated on this new nutrient category and its effects on promoting a highly effective and functioning immune system. The World Health Organization emphatically stated that the ingestion of this vital nutrient has the ability to protect and defend in the case of biological agents induced into warfare. It is likened to having a poisonous snake in your house, but with its mouth taped shut. Yes it is there, but it cannot hurt you.
To further cement the magnificence of this new disruptive discovery, universities around the globe, such as Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M, are opening up departments dedicated to this new technology, as well as hospitals. John Hopkins, Cedar Sinai, and M.D. Anderson are just a few of the tertiary hospitals on board.
I must emphasize again, there are a lot of studies out there concerning glycobiology and the establishment of glyconutrients. It is merely a matter of typing both terms into your search engine. What a great communication system we have since the invention of the telephone. Would you not agree?
I will also stress this nutrient is not a drug, it is a food; a necessary food that should be served to our families each and every night. As a food, it does not immediately suppress a body’s system activities through chemical intervention. Does that make sense to you? However, because these vital nutrients are lacking in our foods, the elite professionals have searched the world over and have gone to the remotest parts of the Earth where the most primitive dwellers have been blessed with longevity free of disease. They have sought and learned to procure these vital treasures that comprise the eight essential sugars and have created a proprietary blend of standardized and stabilized glyconutrients.
There is a very real possibility, no a probability, that doctors in the very near future will be educating and prescribing to the masses disease prevention, instead of treating disease specific. It will change the face of health care; and it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. The educational movement is growing exponentially every day. The pharmaceutical giants are having to deal with this new science and they realize they are going to have to hop on board before they are literally forced to. Even as I write, the drug companies are trying to reinvent the wheel and integrate glycomics with drugs and drug protocol. They realize that sugar coded and sugar loaded drug therapy is their financial future. They have seen the studies and the positive results that glycobiology has complimented their conventional drug therapies, and they are being forced to recognize and deal with it. There is only one problem; as is typical of such an industrial entity, they are searching for the synthetic version. Thankfully, they are governed by the FDA; therefore trials and testing will put them further in the future. These drug giants also realize that they will have to deal with an impending global educational movement where the population will be more aware of maintaining their health through proper nutrition, and as a result, a doctor’s patient will undeniably have a more hands on approach to their medical treatment in regards to drug therapy. Please do not misunderstand me; I acknowledge there is great need for conventional drug therapies. They have most definitely attributed to the recovery of sickness and have prolonged life in a modicum of comfort; but rarely do drugs cure anything, and it is undeniable that drugs, I emphasize all drugs, are toxic. They all can kill if improperly prescribed, overdosed, or an adverse reaction occurs. Thousands of deaths a year are attributed to this very fact; prescribed drugs. “Here this is for you. Oops, it did not work. I am sorry.” I am not even talking about improperly prescribed ones.
In the book Mind Power, the author Gary Null, Ph.D, stated, “In reality we are in the midst of a medical Viet Nam. This medical Viet Nam produces 780,000 American casualties each year because of medicine."
I cannot stress enough to you the importance of this fairly new discovery. The research is beyond exciting and the evidence of its value in supporting the task and structure of our immune system is, to say the least, awe-inspiring.
Now, I would like for you to imagine this scene. What if your child had been seriously hurt in your yard? The injury was severe and life-threatening; time was of the utmost importance. What would happen if there was a communication system breakdown and you could not make the call; or if the number you called was the wrong number? The ending result could spell tragedy. A tragedy that could have been avoided had the communication system functioned properly, or you had dialed the correct phone number.
Now, imagine if your skin cell did not receive the correct information via communication to reproduce properly after a tear? Or worse yet, what if your immune system did not get the call in which the troops the general had sent out, had already destroyed the invading enemy and needed to cease fire; or because of garbled signals saw themselves as the enemy and began attacking your system. Mutiny has a disastrous effect. I have just described auto-immune disease. What if your immune system’s communication tower was on the blink---- then suddenly and with urgency, your cells tried to call out for help because a highly lethal virus was attacking it with the ability to take over the cell and replicate at an alarming rate, taking and invading all of your organs? The immune system did not get the signal to wage war. I just gave you a simple layman’s vision of cancer. In any event, like the scene with the child, the results could be devastating.
Yes, within the last few years, our understanding of our bodies, especially the immune system, has given us great promise. Just as with the proper sequence of numbers to make that important telephone call where only minutes count, it is now known that providing our bodies with the proper nutrition is crucial in maintaining cell-to-cell communication. This type of signaling is a vital function to every system in the body, most importantly the immune response.
In 1887 Paracelsus, the Father of Pharmacology said,
Everything man needs to sustain health
can be found in nature.
It is the job of science to find them.
thank you for reading.. jlsavell
