First in a series starting with MANNOSE with the understanding that research indicates they work synergistically when eaten together.

by J. C. Spencer

The knowledge of glycomics, the study of sugars, is growing exponentially.  The National Library of Medicine sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on their website www.PubMed.gov cites 465,656 references (as of this writing) to published papers on glycoprotein.  Scientists are adding so many new research papers each day (thousands per month) that it is nearly impossible for anyone to keep up with the progress of glycomics.  PubMed references to published papers on one of the nine sugars, mannose, is already at 21,306.

In this series, I will deal much with the importance of nine specific sugars which I refer to as royal sugars or noble sugars.  These sugars may be called plant sugars, plant saccharides, phytosugars, phytosaccharides or glyconutrients.  The healthful sugars included in this royal family are, fucose, galactose, glucose, mannose, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylneuraminic acid, xylose, and trehalose.

In addition to the nearly half a million cited references, the importance of these nine sugars is evidenced by the fact that the U. S. Patent Office has issued an astounding number of patents for the use of these nine sugars.  When you take the number of patents on each sugar and add them together you get over 150,000 possible patents.  About 105,000 of these patents were issued since 1995 and the number continues to grow.

Science magazine dedicated twelve articles (March 2001) to educating its science and medical readers about sugars.  One article by Hudson Freeze, PhD, was entitled Saving Lives with Sugars.  His article reported how mannose apparently has life saving results for children with CDG1b, a genetic disease.  Dr. Freeze and Thorsten Marquardt of the Pediatric Clinic in M�nster, Germany found that another monosaccharide, fucose, works as a treatment for a disorder affecting the immune system.

Some researchers believe we can live a vibrant healthy life to the age of 150 if we make the right choices, eat right, maintain a high pH, exercise properly and keep our minds alert.  George S. Roth, PhD, author of The Truth About Aging and former researcher for the National Institute on Aging is optimistic with his words, �In addition to eliminating a lot of the diseases of aging, we�ll maintain function, vitality, cognition and all the other things we value in terms of quality of life.�

H. Reg McDaniel, MD has produced his findings with mannose in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) children.  The children in the study were diagnosed with FAS, and the families were told that their children would never be able to function normally.  Dr. McDaniel found that the children, after eight years, while not completely �normal,� are enjoying life, riding bikes, playing on the trampoline, and going to school.  The apparent brain function improvement of these children was due to the mannose and other micronutrients the children received which were similar to those found in human mother�s breast milk.

Mannose is found in nature and was in the American diet years ago much more than it is today.  Some of the foods which contain mannose are maple syrup, sorghum molasses, aloe, and certain mushrooms.  When I was a child, it was normal for me to use maple syrup or sorghum molasses on my whole wheat pancakes.  Everyone who ate this way received a supply of healthful mannose.  Removing this sugar and other nutrients from our diet no doubt has contributed to the lowering of general health and the escalation of certain diseases.

Today research is ongoing with mannose with many diseases.  An interesting assignment for the student of glycomics is to type into the search engine at www.PubMed.gov/ any disease you wish to research along with the word mannose.

In a few minutes I discovered that the number of references to published papers for mannose brain = 771; mannose cancer = 1,681; mannose Crohn�s = 18; mannose Alzheimer�s = 35; mannose dementia = 17; mannose Parkinson�s = 5; mannose nerves = 38; mannose stomach = 88; mannose lung = 521; mannose heart = 220; and mannose inflamation = 425.

Reading these Abstracts will convince the greatest skeptic of glycomics that mannose may be rather important to human health.  With the sugar mannose, it is the author�s conviction that healthcare costs can be cut by billions of dollars each year by simply putting mannose back into the bodies of those who wish to be healthier.