Glyconutrients and Stress

Your body has an amazing capacity to manage many forms of stress that you experience regularly throughout your life. This includes the stress caused by hostile environments, chemical exposure, malnutrition, physical injury, illness and psychological pressures. Even exercise causes stress to your body which it must manage. Long-term exposure to the stresses can depress the immune system and increase our susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections. Understanding how our body manages stress, as well as how to support its mechanisms for dealing with stress, can help us improve our quality of life. 

During stress, resources are diverted from our normal digestive, immune and reproductive functions to allow the body to deal with survival and other reactive responses to cope with the stress. These resources are the nutrients which we should be receiving in our diets every day. Because of this diversion of resources, numerous studies have documented that stress can lead to increased vulnerability to infection, ulcers, cardiovascular disease and even some forms of cancer. Modern lifestyles tend to expose us to stress more regularly than in decades past so nutritional support to help sustain an adaptive response to stress, and minimize some of the effects of stress, should have obvious benefit.

In the body, structures called glycoconjugates act as the “cell-to-cell communicators” and play a key role in modulating our response to stress. These structures are built by our cells in response to various forms of stress. To deal with toxins, your cells build a molecule called p-glycoprotein to act as a pump through the cellular membrane. This same structure has been found in bacteria, which provides acti-bacterial drug resistance by pumping the toxins from the cell. Another family of glycoconjugates called heat shock proteins (HSP) are believed to protect and repair cells when exposed to heat stress. Another glycoprotein has been identified in the eye and is believed to protect various enzymes from inactivation by certain chemicals or heat. Some of these chemicals are found elevated in the blood of patience with diabetes and kidney failure and are considered risk factors for cataracts. Glycoproteins have also been identified in their roles during psychological stress and in the coordination of hormonal and autonomic responses to stress.

Other glycoproteins are constructed by your cells to deal with the important activity of repair. One such glycoprotein binds endothelial cells with neutrophils and platelets as a repair response to certain types of injury. Another glycoprotein orchestrates the adhesion and aggregation of platelets to aid the clotting response. This can have important benefits during surgery and in surgical recovery.

An example of the protective aspects of glycoconjugates is found in the mucosa lining the stomach, esophagus, intestines, and airway passages. The consistency of mucous is regulated through sialic acid, a glyconutrient also known as N-Acetyl-Neurominic Acid. A similar compound formed from sialic acid and fat molecules is secreted by skin epithelial cells and is believed to play a major role in protecting your skin from external elements.

The extensive scientific research on how cells of the body manage stress responses shows that these glycoconjugates play a major role in supporting optimal health. The construction materials for these glycoconjugates come from diet and are therefore important that we feed our body properly. The first choice for improved diet should always come from improved food choices. Supplementation Including glyconutrients can help ensure that we receive the necessary building blocks required by all functions of our cells on a daily basis.