I was astonished at this video from a TED talk and its implications for glyconutrients.  The author does NOT use any reference to glyconutrients, only referencing the cell’s communication with its microenvironment, which we know is done via glycoforms.  Please watch this and let me know your thoughts.

Regulatory authorities throughout the world are drastically tightening the regulations relating to dietary supplements. Some are treating dietary supplements as medicines and demanding more and more scientific evidence to substantiate claims and document safety. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and certain members of Congress have recently been spurred into a frenzy of new regulatory activities by powerful lobbying groups. These activities include stepped-up enforcement of existing regulations and proposed new regulations that would directly target our industry.

While this may sound troubling, and it will be for the unprepared, it is also an opportunity. According to Dr. Andrew Shao, the Senior VP for Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), companies with good scientific validation and quality programs “may stand to thrive in the environment of stepped-up enforcement of the regulations because they are in compliance.” Dr. Sinnott, as chairman of CRN’s Senior Scientific Advisory Council, has worked closely with Dr. Shao and believes exactly the same thing. Mannatech has continually strengthened its scientific validation to reach a new industry standard that you probably won’t find in many other dietary supplement companies. Scientific validation has become a point of strength for Mannatech, and it will play to its distinct business advantage in the near future.

Speaking of scientific validation, the latest Ambrotose® research, published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology,¹ is a case in point. This paper, while just a small piece of the overall strategy to validate Ambrotose products for immune system functioning, enhanced cognitive functioning and beneficial gastrointestinal (GI) tract effects, is very important in its scope and content. It applies the most rigorous and modern scientific methods to elucidate the effects of Ambrotose and Advanced Ambrotose® products on the GI tract microbial ecology. This publication supports that both Ambrotose products have unique, beneficial effects on microbial ecology, which could be one mechanism for the broad range of systemic health benefits that users commonly report. It also demonstrates, unequivocally, that bacteria in the human digestive tract provide the enzymes necessary to process both formulations into smaller fragments for biological utilization. This puts to rest, once and for all, the theory of some self-proclaimed experts that Ambrotose products cannot be useful because they cannot be digested by the human body. While human organs may not produce the enzymes necessary to digest Ambrotose products, the bacteria in our digestive tracts do produce and secrete the necessary enzymes. We live in complete synergy with our GI tract bacteria.*

It is important to add that this research project was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Ghent (Belgium) and ProDigest, a European company with leadership in scientifically validated GI tract research. These partners were chosen as part of Mannatech’s efforts to globalize its research and development by seeking out and working with some of the best scientific experts in the world.

Scientific validation is important not only in providing a business advantage but also in complying with the ever-increasing oversight by the world’s regulatory authorities. Those who have it will survive and thrive. Mannatech is poised to do both.

¹Marzorati M. et al. Int J Food Microbiol 2010;139:168–176

Manapol aloe vera gel extract. Manapol extract, Mannatech’s very special polysaccharide, is a long-chain carbohydrate consisting mostly of the simple sugar mannose. It was licensed to Mannatech in 1994 when we first introduced the world’s first glyconutritional product, Man•Aloe® supplement, and it is exclusive to Mannatech today. It was revolutionary then, and it’s revolutionary now.

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcKhR7LddN8

What Makes Manapol Extract Revolutionary?

Back in the 1980s, scientists were accustomed to attributing the benefits of foods and medicinal plants to their constituent vitamins, minerals, fats or proteins. Back then, Dr. Bill McAnalley (who later became Mannatech’s first Chief Science Officer) ( youtube video ob Bill McAnalle http://bit.ly/LSsns2)  and other scientists discovered that many of the amazing topical and oral benefits of aloe vera gel could be attributed to a polysaccharide (that Dr. McAnalley isolated in its stabilized [acetylated^‡] form and named Acemannan). Researchers demonstrated that these mannose-rich long chains of sugars in aloe vera gel provided impressive immune system support.* Dr. McAnalley then developed the Manapol extract by modifying Acemannan so that it was suitable for human dietary intake.

Dr. McAnalley soon became interested in the role that mannose plays in human cellular communication, and went on to develop Mannatech’s second and third generation glyconutritional dietary supplements, Ambrotose® complex and Advanced Ambrotose® products. Leading the way as a pioneer in glyconutritional technology, Mannatech remains committed to the science of life-changing wellness possibilities. To date, more than 50 patents related to the technology behind our Ambrotose products have been issued globally, and these products are available exclusively through Mannatech.

More on Manapol Powder

Manapol powder is extracted from fresh, washed and filtered aloe vera gel by a specialized extraction method that yields insoluble fibers and stabilized, high molecular weight (MW) soluble fibers rich in long-chain mannose sugars—β-(1-4)-acetylated polymannans. The MW of over 20% of Manapol is >800,000. It also contains the monosaccharide sugars arabinose, fucose, galactose, galacturonic acid, glucosamine, glucose, glucuronic acid, rhamnose and xylose (1),(2),(3). Ambrotose complex powder provides an excellent source of Manapol powder.

Reference List

1.   Luta G, McAnalley B. Aloe vera: chemical composition and methods used to determine its presence in commercial products. GlycoScience & Nutrition 2005;6:1–12.

2.   Duncan, C., Ramberg, J., and Sinnott, R. Striking  differences in Aloe vera gel carbohydrate composition, molecular weight and particle size distributions following processing will not be addressed by dietary supplement GMPs.  1-5. 2008. Poster Presentation at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine’s 5th Annual Natural Supplements Conference, San Diego, California. January 17–20, 2008.

3.   Luta G, Duncan C, Sinnott R. Chemical characterization of polysaccharide-rich ingredients from Aloe vera, Larix laricina and Larix occidentalis, and Undaria pinnatifida. Poster Presentation at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine’s 6th Annual Natural Supplements Conference, San Diego, California. January 22–25, 20