The word nutraceuticals is an unofficial term that came from the combination of nutrition and pharmaceutical. The word is meant to describe natural food based (nutritional) substances that have pharmacological (healing) effects on the human body. Nutraceuticals is a relatively new term used by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine for all natural, standardized, non-toxic dietary supplements designed to optimize health through improved nutrition.

Glyco-Technology is a new and more specialized type of nutraceutical. "Glyco" is a greek word meaning "sweet" or "sugar." Glyco-Technology supports the process required by our cells to recognize and communicate with each other. Researchers have been studying these special sugars since the early 1970's and the cumulative knowledge gained has spawned a whole new field of science called "Glycomics" and also known as "Glycobiology."

When we think of sugar, we immediately remember what we were taught in high school biochemistry, that our bodies digest and burn sugars to produce energy. However, science has recently proven that the eight specific biological sugars are not burned in this way, and instead become building blocks known as glycoproteins and glycolypids. Basically, this means that these eight sugars actually become part of our own bodies. We now know that these eight sugars combine together to form complex structures which exist on the outside surfaces of all of our cells and which are used for cellular communication throughout the body.

Typically, only two of these eight sugars are in the foods we eat. The deficiencies of these sugars in our foods result from modern food processing and packaging practices, the growing of crops in mineral depleted soils, green (early) harvesting of fruits and vegetables and the use of food preservatives, etc. Of the eight sugars, we only get Glucose (an example is table sugar) and Galactose (from dairy) in our modern diets. Since we typically don't consume the other six, our bodies must create them through a sequence of enzymatic, chemical reactions. For example, to convert Glucose into Fucose, our bodies must produce over thirty-four different enzymatic reactions, generating intermediatery molecules in the process. These reactions can rob valuable energy from our daily living, which often leaves us tired and exhausted. If the body happens to be deficient in one or more of the enzymes needed to complete the sugar conversions, (due to toxins, stress, etc.) then the result is often severe and chronic weakness and increased susceptibility to sickness and premature aging.

However, supplementing our diets with even tiny amounts of these sugars, produces profound results. Most people notice an immediate boost in energy level and vitality. Prolonged supplementation of these sugars may lead to health restoration and recovery from almost any health challenge. These Glyco-Technology sugars are not meant to treat, cure or prevent any disease. However, their addition into our diets, supports the natural healing abilities of the body for defense, repair and recovery.

A large number of proteins carrying out essential functions are constantly being made within our cells. These glycoproteins have to be transported either out of the cell, or to different compartments - the organelles - within the cell. How are newly made proteins transported across the membrane surrounding the organelles, and how are they directed to their correct location?

Already at the beginning of the 1970s scientists discovered that newly synthesized glycoproteins have an intrinsic signal that is essential for governing them to and across the membrane of the endoplasmic recticulum, one of the cell's organelles. During the next twenty years, scientists characterized in detail the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes and showed that similiar "address tags", or "zip codes," direct glycoproteins to other intracellular organelles.

The principles discovered about the details of protein synthesis and transport turned out to be universal, operating similarly in yeast, plant, and animal cells. A number of human hereditary diseases are caused by errors in these signals and transport mechanisms. Continued scientific research has also contributed to the development of more effective use of cells as "protein factories" for the production of important drugs.

Glyco-Technology, comprised of the eight essential biological sugars, is essential in the formation of these glycoproteins within our cells. They support the process our individual tissue cells use to recognize and communicate properly with each other. Researchers at the Rockefeller Institute and many others have led to our recent understanding of the importance of good cell-to-cell communication for promoting optimal health. The discovery of the role that Glyco-Technology plays in human health has now entered into mainstream medicine, and research is continuing throughout the world.

Forthcoming "synthetic drugs" are being considered that would be based on these essential sugars. However, these will most likely be toxic and have potentially harmful side effects and are years away in development. However, one does not have to wait until these new drugs arrive in order to enjoy the health benefits of supplementing with natural forms of these Glyco-Technology sugars. Dr. Emil Mondoa, the author of the book "Sugars That Heal" explains, "these eight essential sugars, known as saccharides, are the basis of multicellular intelligence -- the ability of cells to communicate, cohere, and work together to keep us healthy and balanced. Even tiny amounts of these sugars -- or lack of them -- have profound effects."

Our cells are made up of many tiny internal structures called "organelles." These tiny strutures comprise an amazing system consisting of glycoprotein "factories", elaborate systems of pipes and transportation mechanisms for moving newly created glycoproteins around inside cells. Other organelles act to "groom" the sugar codes of glycoproteins before they are released into the outer layer of the cell membrane forming a "sweet" display to the extracellular world.

Cellular communication begins at the Nucleus starting with our DNA. The newly formed proteins then begin their journey through several assembly stages where sugars are attached and arranged. The resulting glycoprotein that is produced becomes "a text message" that conveys exactly what the cell wants or needs.

Just as a letter is routed through the postal system using Zip Codes, glycoproteins incorporate similiar unique identifiers in their molecular structures which assist in their transport. A glycoprotein consists of a protein molecule bound to a complex carbohydrate structure consisting of any number of molecular combinations and arrangements of the eight essential monosaccharides. The large number of combinations of these sugars comprises an "address", or a unique identifying code which is believed to direct and facillitate protein transportation both inside and outside of the cell.

How do newly synthesized proteins find their correct destinations within a cell, and how are they able to pass across the tightly sealed intracellular membranes? These were the central questions that researchers began to address in the late 1960s. Scientists started by analyzing now newly synthesized secretory proteins are first targeted to and then translocated across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum. These two steps are prerequisites for secretion of proteins out of the cell.

The diagram above shows a view of protein translocation across the endoplasmic recticulum membrane. The signal peptide, emerging from the ribosome, binds to the signal-recognition particle (SRP). The SRP-ribosome complex then docks to the SRP-receptor and channel ("translocon"). SRP dissociates from the receptor and the nascent polypeptide chain is translocated through the channel into the endoplasmic recticulum lumen. The signal peptide is finally cleaved and the protein is secreted out of the cell.

In 1980, researchers began to theorize that newly made proteins are targeted to and imported into the various organelles within the cell by built-in signal sequences. The signals are short stretches of amino acids encoded by the gene specifying the protein. They can be located at either end of the protein, or somewhere internally.