Overview
Complementary Components of HealthCare Seminar Series
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.

Glyconutritionals: Advances in Clinical Applications
“… nowadays, hardly a month goes by without researchers finding new links between disease and sugar biology … all of this has profoundly changed scientists’ views of sugars and their place in the scheme of things. ‘People now realize that we can’t manage without them.” says New Scientist Magazine. This module examines glycomics in the mainstream, how pharmaceutical, biotech and nutraceutical companies are making use of this technology and presents highlights of glycomics in scientific literature. Examining glycosylation-defect deficiencies and how they relate to autoimmune, chronic degenerative and genetic disorders, participants will understand the significance of glyconutrients in health and the case for supplementation.