Do Glyconutrients Cure Lyme Disease? Jenna's Lyme Report

[Guest guest]

This is a good blog about Lyme disease and many of the topics are relevant to

those of us with MS. Since Lyme is often considered a cause of MS it makes

sense that many of the issues cross paths and continue on together. This

article is about the effectiveness of Ambrotose with Lyme and in general.

Is it True That Glyconutrients Cure Lyme Disease?

In the last few months I¡¯ve been getting strange calls from friends of the

family, and people who go to church with my mother, and various messages through

Facebook - all inquiring about glyconutrients¡­had I heard of them? Did I know

they supposedly cured Lyme?

Then, something else popping up on the Lyme forums: ¡°Ambrotose¡± - evidently it

was the greatest new hope for chronic Lyme. What was this product that had

popped up out of nowhere - seemingly while I took a long nap?

Then came the call. A friend who had originally written me through the website,

and was a wealth of information having personally tried so many protocols and

still bumping along at the bottom of the ocean floor. A new excitement filled

his voice as he reassured me that the Ambrotose saleswoman was going to offer a

six month full money back guarantee! We both thought that was quite amazing,

and he promised to keep me informed.

What was it?

According to Wikipedia (hopefully unbiased) Ambrotose, Mannatech¡¯s lead product

is ¡°a glyconutritional dietary supplement ingredient consisting of a blend of

monosaccharides, or sugar molecules.¡±

I still hadn¡¯t made the connection between Ambrotose and gluconutrients - no, I

must admit to missing Rosner¡¯s blog post before he was forced to remove

it, but his website is covered with ads for Ambrotose so I don¡¯t think I¡¯m too

far off in my assumption that he supports the product as a valid protocol for

chronic Lyme disease.

As I began to look further into the company that manufactures Ambrotose, I found

that it is a Multi-Level-Marketing company that went public in 1999. I was

surprised to learn that from 1999, the profitable company eventually posted a

net loss in 2006 and the shares dropped to a low of $2 in 2008.

Aside from the financial instability, there appear to be a number of pending

lawsuits and a long list of angry doctors who feel that Mannatech¡¯s marketing

department took liberties with factual test data versus wishful thinking. In

fact many of the lawsuits arise from ¡°trials¡± that were not reported

accurately.

I will try to keep all of the information as it pertains to Lyme disease and the

symptoms of chronic and/or neurological Lyme disease.

One of the highest ranked websites on Ambrotose was created by Dr. Ray Sahanian

called, ¡°Glyconutrients, an Honest Review.¡± Much of the information written

here was found as a result of Dr. Sahanian¡¯s committed work.

A ¡°glyconutrient sham¡±.

Glycobiology. 2008 Sep; Schnaar RL, Freeze HH. Department of Pharmacology and

Molecular Sciences, The s Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205,

USA.

The discipline of glycobiology contributes to our understanding of human health

and disease through research, most of which is published in peer-reviewed

scientific journals. Recently, legitimate discoveries in glycobiology have been

used as marketing tools to help sell plant extracts termed ¡°glyconutrients.¡±

The glyconutrient industry has a worldwide sales force of over half a million

people and sells nearly half a billion dollars (USD) of products annually. Here

we address the relationship between glyconutrients and glycobiology, and how

glyconutrient claims may impact the public and our discipline.

Humans studies regarding a Mannatech glyconutrient products:

There are some early studies being conducted with these products that I have

listed below.

Before claims are made that Mannatech glyconutrients treat or cure ADHD, cancer,

immune dysfunction, lupus, etc, it would be helpful to see at least a few of

long term double blinded placebo controlled human studies conducted by

independent researchers who are not on the payroll of glyconutrient

manufacturers.

I am not referring to studies with various monosaccharides, polysaccharides,

arabinogalactans, glycoconjugates and other molecules containing sugar chains

such as in glycoproteins, glycolipids, and proteoglycans. I am referring to the

Mannatech glyconutrients, ¡°the eight essential sugars¡± that are promoted as

cure alls.

Cognition and memory:

Percept Mot Skills. 2009 Feb; Stancil AN, Hicks LH. University, 2400

Sixth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20059, USA.

Neuropsychological tests were administered to 62 college students to assess the

influence of glyconutrients on perception, cognition and memory in two

randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced studies.

Participants were given both a glyconutritional supplement and a control

substance prior to testing. In Exp. 1. a Same-Different visual discrimination

task, Raven¡¯s Standard Progressive Matrices, and the Stroop test were

administered. In Exp. 2, simple and complex working-memory capacity were

measured.

Participants receiving the supplement performed significantly more accurately on

the visual discrimination task and the first session of the simple

working-memory test.

Comments: There are dozens of inexpensive and easily available over the counter

herbs and nutrients that influence memory and mental abilities. Examples include

acetyl l carnitine, ginkgo biloba, DMAE, choline, cdp-choline, vinpocetine, fish

oils, certain B vitamins, etc.

One could easily use these or others and most will be less expensive.

Dr. Sahanian¡¯s opinion:

One in vitro study shows glyconutrients stimulate the immune system.

This really does not give us much information on how glyconutrients, and in what

dosage, would have an influence on the immune system in humans when ingested as

a supplement.

Furthermore, there are countless varieties of glyconutrient molecules and

glycunutrient molecule combinations within an herbal product.

The immune system is extremely complicated with countless cells and substances,

tissues and organs, all communicating in unimaginably complicated interactions.

As an aside, there are countless herbs and supplements that have an influence on

the immune system.

For the time being, I am not in a position to recommend the use of a Mannatech

glyconutrient supplement to enhance the immune system or for other purposes.

There are many more nutrients and herbs that have been studied more thoroughly.

Even the ones that have been studied more thoroughly are not understood that

well.

There are hundreds of different glyconutrients and glyconutrient combinations in

a variety of different dosages (assuming scientists agree on the definition of a

glyconutrient or even feel the need to use such a term). We have no idea on how

these interact with each person¡¯s immune system.

Some people may benefit by taking a glyconutrient supplement while another

person may find it harmful or get a side effect.

To complicate matters further, there could be a short term benefit but,

prolonged use could lead to overstimulation of the immune system and could

potentially reverse any initial benefit.

The whole issue of glyconutrient supplementation is very complicated and if you

hear of promotional material that makes it appear simple, be skeptical.

I suggest you be even more skeptical if you hear of cure all promises and

endless testimonials that tout the benefits of glyconutrients. Most of the time

testimonials are made up by the marketers selling the products.

In brief, the use of the term glyconutrients is unnecessary and does not help

the advancement of nutritional research.

Following are some of the responses Dr. Sahanian has received in response to his

research regarding glyconutrients:

Dear Dr. Sahanian: I am a retired medical doctor and read your web page on

glyconutrient with great interest and have several comments that you may find

helpful.

If you look at the compositions of these glyconutrients (gum tragacanth, gum

ghatti, arabinogalactan, aloe vera gel polysaccharides) you will note they are

gums and fibers. These plant polysaccharides are soluble fiber and are not

digestible. Therefore, their sugars could never be released and absorbed by the

body.

These fiber are destined to be fermented by the colonic bacteria in the gut

where they are used as nutrients to make more bacteria. No study has ever shown

that the human body absorbs sugars from a diet of fiber.

Mannatech makes the sugars appear to be necessary and also essential by telling

people they are no longer in the modern diet. The truth is that these

glycontutrient sugars can be obtained in the modern diet from the glycoforms

that cover every cells, but these sugars are most likely made by the body from

other sugars. They say these glycontutrient sugars are needed for optimal

health.

There has never been a study that shows taking more of these sugars has any

health maintaining purpose. Mannatech brandishes every piece of scientific

literature on glycoscience and glycomics as validating their product when in

fact these paper have absolutely nothing to do with their glycontutrient

product.

This is a flagrant, although clever and deceptive, example of falsely misleading

the consumer. It certainly puts a black mark on the otherwise legitimate dietary

supplement industry and needs to be addressed.

This is a quote from a September 2006 newspaper article on glyconutrients

written by Denny Robbins for the Star-Telegram: ¡°These and other issues have

caused outrage among some advocacy groups, and brought scrutiny from at least

two state attorneys general, a class-action lawsuit and questions from some of

the world¡¯s pre-eminent scientists.

¡°My blood boils when I think about all the desperate people who have taken this

stuff on,¡± said Hudson Freeze, a professor of glycobiology at the Burnham

Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif.¡± " There are authentic,

scientific studies that have looked at people drinking these kinds of materials,

and it doesn¡¯t really do anything except increase flatulence.¡±

Independent research states that the body cannot digest Ambrotose, as it lacks

the enzymes needed. Prominent glycobiologist Dr Schnarr of s Hopkins

told ¡°20/20¡å in a June 1, 2007 interview, ¡°All of the sugar building blocks

that we need in our body are made from the most common foods we eat.¡±

UC Berkley has a Wellness Guide that publishes this about glyconutrients:

Sold primarily by the supplement manufacturer Mannatech under the product line

Ambrotose, glyconutrients contain eight monosaccharides (that is, simple

carbohydrates, or sugars).

Mannatech alleges that our diets are lacking in all but two¡ªglucose and

galactose¡ªof these sugars. It is true that sugars are not just ¡°empty¡±

calories but do, in fact, play an essential role in many biological functions,

including cell-to-cell communication and immunity.

There¡¯s actually an emerging and important field of science, called

glycobiology, which explores the function of carbohydrates in health and

disease. But glyconutrient marketers have no basis for saying that consuming

sugars in supplements has health benefits.

Claims, purported benefits: Enhances the immune system and treats a wide range

of medical conditions, from diabetes and high cholesterol to psoriasis and

multiple sclerosis. [and Lyme disease according to some enthusiastic

salespeople.]

Bottom line: Our bodies are able to convert the sugars in foods (such as fruits

and vegetables) from one form to the other forms as needed.

There is no evidence that toxins, stress, drugs, or other factors interfere with

the conversion process, as the marketers of glyconutrients claim. There is no

evidence that relying on our bodies to create the sugars instead of ingesting

them in food or glyconutrient supplements causes any problems.

Glyconutrient marketers provide long lists of studies that supposedly support

the use of glyconutrients for all kinds of medical conditions, as well as for

general health.

But these are unpublished conference presentations, anecdotes, and lab or animal

studies, or they are from obscure journals of questionable reputation.

No well-designed research shows any health benefits for glyconutrient

supplements or suggests that glyconutrient supplements live up to any of the

claims or are useful in treating any medical condition.

Don¡¯t waste your money on these expensive products.¡±

(UC Berkley Wellness Guide)

My final thoughts on glyconutrients are along the same line as other alternative

protocols. Our bodies are so unique, and our immune systems are not fully

understood by top immunologists. Lyme disease in its many presentations refuses

to respond uniformly to even the strongest antibiotics. So why would we expect

that it would respond uniformly to glyconutrients?

If you are taking the product and feel better, that is what matters most¡­your

personal results. As I repeat in articles and to friends - the protocol that

works without a hitch for one person may be a disaster for someone else.