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Overview
Complementary Components of HealthCare Seminar
Series
AM Module
Advances in Vitamin/Mineral Technology
Now, more than ever before, health care professionals
are being asked questions about nutritional supplements
by individuals desiring to maintain health or overcome
health challenges. While vitamin/mineral supplements
in the past were often considered an expensive and unnecessary
luxury, it is now well documented that for multiple
reasons, most people do not consume an optimal amount
of these nutrients by diet alone. It now appears prudent
for everyone to take vitamin/mineral supplements for
optimal health. Since the 1940’s, continuing research
has led to the development of second and now third generation
vitamin/mineral supplements. As the technology has advanced,
better understanding of solubility, absorption and bioavailability
has evolved to help maximize the efficacy of these supplements.
Not only does this course cover the basics of the various
vitamins and minerals and their positive and potential
negative effects on the body, but also outlines the
important differences in the three generations of vitamin
and mineral supplements available - including the more
recent inclusion of protective plant phytochemicals
to the formulas. With almost 5000 thousand nutritional
companies to choose from, an important added section
to this course will provide information on how to more
readily discern nutritional fact from aggressive and
sometimes misleading marketing practices when it comes
to recommending a specific vitamin and mineral supplement
to our patients.
PM Module
Introduction to Glyconutritional Technology
The speaker will explain what glyconutrients are and
describe their major fates in the human body. Apart
from the fact that they can be used to provide energy,
one major fate is to be built into the sugar chains
of glycoconjugates (glycoproteins, glycolipids &
proteoglycans). Emphasis will focus on the sugar chains
of glycoproteins. As will be shown, these molecules
have many important functions in the human body, involved
in maintaining wellness, and are also involved in a
variety of major diseases. Consideration of the structures
and functions of sugar chains leads to an introduction
to what is meant by the terms Glycobiology and Glycomics,
and also of their overall significance. Active research
is underway on how some of the actions of glyconutrients
may be mediated by the gastrointestinal system, which
contains 70 % of the human immune system. The session
will conclude by indicating that there are a relatively
large number of mechanisms by which glyconutrients may
sustain human wellness. |
