Sugars that are good for you from the aloe vera plant – Part 1

The diet debate

We’ve been taught from a young age that there are good foods and bad foods. Our bodies need food to fuel them but we’re often bombarded with conflicting information about what will provide the cleanest, most energy-efficient fuel and what will leave us feeling flat and lethargic.

Sugar has been a constant source of consternation in the world of nutrition. How many times have you been told that a healthy diet needs to be low in sugar? What most people don’t know is that not all sugars are created equal. Were you aware that “good” sugars can be sourced from the humble aloe vera plant?

Not all sugars are created equal

Monosaccharides vs polysaccharides

Many of you will have heard of glucose and fructose, two monosaccharides (simple sugars) that are commonly found in lollies and soft drinks. Sucrose, or table sugar, is a disaccharide that is sweet, is high in calories and raises your blood sugar level. In other words, while important in small doses these are the ‘bad sugars’ that your doctor always warns you about.

But what of the other naturally-occurring sugars that are beneficial for your body’s ongoing wellness but that are often lacking in our modern diets? These sugars can be found in the aloe vera plant. Have you ever heard of mannose? Mannose is one of the eight sugars which comprise the chains of glycoproteins in our bodies and a polysaccharide rich in mannose can be found in Mannatech’s Ambrotose®  products.

Why sugar?

The investigation of sugar structures and their effects on the human body comes under a relatively new field of study known as glycobiology.

Mannatech was a front runner in the related field of nutritional glycobiology, releasing its pioneer Ambrotose Complex formula in 1996, well before scientists and nutritionists had really started to pay attention to the beneficial effects of polysaccharides rich in particular dietary sugars.

“The thing that struck me about glycobiology was how it could impact the immune system,”Dr Ben Carson, American author and retired neurosurgeon[1].

Ambrotose utilises a glycan (sugar structure) that naturally occurs in the gel of the aloe vera plant known as a mannan, a mannose-rich polysaccharide. This and other glyconutrients – a term coined by Mannatech to indicate a glycan that may be of particular nutritional importance to the body – are formulated to enhance cell-to-cell communication and have a positive effect on the immune system, cognitive functions and overall wellness.

Getting technical

Every cell in the human body needs to be able to communicate with the cells around it in order to express its needs, direct nutrient flow or send commands to other parts of the body. How do cells do this? With transceiver sites known as cell receptors (partially).

Transceiver sites

Cell receptors use sugars to communicate with each other. If a particular sugar is low in supply, the message may not get through or it could become garbled.

That’s where Ambrotose comes in. Ambrotose complex and Advanced Ambrotose products both utilise mannose from the gel of the aloe vera plant, along with a range of other glyconutrient sugars in a powder called Manapol that is specifically designed to support cellular communication.

Communication is key

Steve Nugent, Global Wellness Director at Mannatech

Let’s look at an example of why cellular communication is so important in the body. According to Steve Nugent, Mannatech’s Global Wellness Director “Most people don’t get so excited about cellular communication.  It doesn’t sound dramatic or exciting, right?  But it is one of the most dramatic things that can occur in your body. There is no function in your body that can happen without cellular communication.”

Imagine communicating with someone via your mobile phone but you just can’t get your message through! Steve explains this further: “You’ve probably had a conversation on your cell phone where you talked to somebody and bits and pieces of the conversation dropped out.  Maybe a word, maybe a part of a word, maybe a whole sentence dropped out.  Now if the communication is a simple one and it’s someone you know, well no problem, you will probably do just fine.  But if the communication is with somebody you don’t know and it’s a complex communication you may not do well and that is the same in your body.”

Steve continues, “Look at these little squiggly things coming up out of your cells. They are called receptor sites in the science text books but what they really are is transceiver sites, because they don’t just receive signals, they also send signals.  Each of these transceiver sites has a requirement for sugars that are bound to proteins and they are called glycoproteins.  If you don’t have these sugars at the position that they are supposed to be in then that transceiver may not send or receive an accurate communication. If it’s something simple like breathing or blinking, that’s more an automatic thing but if the action is more complicated, you need those sugars or may have trouble getting through that situation. Who could have imagined that these good sugars could have been sourced from a prickly and understated plant like the aloe vera plant?”

According to Rockefeller University “Removing one sugar (from their cell surface structures) turns protective antibodies (repair cells) into attackers. Research shows that the more destructive autoimmune functions appear to be lacking ‘antibodies’ associated with this (sugar).”[2]

When your cells talk, your body listens

Your body and Ambrotose

The body is a wonderful piece of machinery when everything’s running smoothly, but if one piece is out of whack or unavailable the system falls apart. Without communication between the separate parts there is no unity in the body and complex processes like immune responses are degraded and can possibly fail.

That’s why Ambrotose complex and Advanced Ambrotose products are so important. They aid your system in allowing the fastest and most complete communication between cells, helping ensure your body’s processes are maintained to the highest level.

A body on Ambrotose is a body you can trust.

New video coming out

Our head office in the United States are launching a new 9 minute DVD on Ambrotose powder, which has been impacting peoples’ lives for almost 20 years. Click here to view the teaser video just released this week from the U.S.

The final 9 minutes DVD does need to be customised to the Australasian region before it can be released here. Stay tuned!

Jason Lester is powered by Ambrotose

Jason Lester has just completed running over a marathon each day for the past without fail for over 83 days now across the Great Wall of China. Click here to read more about his quest. Congratulations Jason on a wonderful achievement!!

Jason taking his Ambrotose “bomb” during the M5M China Run

Being an ultra endurance athlete, Jason pushes his body to the absolute limits.

Being a vegan, he follows a strict diet that is plant-based.

He needs to ensure his diet supports his performance and also his lifestyle.

Jason is acutely aware of not only what his body needs and when it needs it, but also of the importance of nutrition in its purest, most natural form. That’s why Jason was attracted to Mannatech products, based on Real Food Technology^SM solutions.

Are you looking for a new secret weapon for better workouts? You may have found it with Advanced Ambrotose capsules or Ambrotose powder .

Jason’s workout regime  focuses on pre-workout, during and post-workout nutrition, all plant-based. You can unlock both power and performance with Mannatech products, packed with the phytosterols, glyconutrients, amino acids and herbal compounds. And we have the science to support our products.

In addition to Ambrotose, Jason also takes:

• EM-PACT^® sports drink – the proven pre-workout sports drink
• BounceBack^® capsules – the unmatched advantage for recovery.

Are you powered by Ambrotose like Jason? Share your experience with this Mannatech product by writing a comment in the box below.

© 2014 Mannatech, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ambrotose, Advanced Ambrotose, Em-pact, Bounceback, Mannatech, Stylised M Design, M5M, Mission 5 Million and Real Food Technology are trademarks of Mannatech, Incorporated.

[1] Dr. Ben Carson personally consumes Mannatech products. He has also spoken at some Mannatech events on nutrition and other topics.

[2] Rockefeller University, July 4 2007