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NP056 GlycosciaTAGS: ANTIOXIDANTS/HERBAL FORMULAS | BLOOD SUGAR SUPPORT | CARDIO | MICROBIOME SUPPORT | WEIGHT MANAGEMENT Blood sugar support and mitigation of advanced glycation end products INTRODUCTION Glycoscia is formulated from three well-researched botanicals from the traditional texts of China, India, and Japan and the flavonoids quercetin and resveratrol. Glycoscia supports the body’s natural ability to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. It also may have anti-glycation end product effects as well. DESCRIPTION/ BACKGROUND Trans-Resveratrol (from Polygonum cuspidatum Root). Resveratrol is found primarily in red wine and red grape skins. In a now-famous recent Harvard study, mice fed resveratrol were reported over time to be thinner and healthier with increased life-spans. Each capsule of Glycoscia supplies a full 50 mg of Resveratrol, providing 50% trans-resveratrol compounds. This polyphenolic compound that exists in nature as cis- and trans- stereoisomers is primarily found in red wine, red grape skins, purple grape juice, and mulberries. A number of beneficial health effects, such as anti-cancer, anti-viral, neuroprotective, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and life-prolonging effects have been reported. It is also used for atherosclerosis, lowering cholesterol levels, and increasing HDL cholesterol levels. Salacia reticulata Root Extract. The herbs Salacia reticulata and Salacia Oblonga have been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine. Salacia plays an important role in supporting natural carbohydrate metabolism and in maintaining the homeostasis of lipid metabolism. The inhibition of these substances is thought to help the body maintain healthy blood glucose levels. These herbs are native to India and Sri Lanka and has been used in traditional Indian medicine and Ayurveda successfully for years. The active constituents, salacinol and kotalanol, inhibit alpha-glucosidase and aldose reductase. The inhibition of these substances decreases the breakdown of carbohydrates into absorbable monosaccharides and therefore decreases postprandial blood glucose levels. (2, 12) Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors are used to establish greater glycemic control over hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus type 2, particularly with regard to postprandial hyperglycemia. They may be used as monotherapy in conjunction with an appropriate diabetic diet and exercise, or they may be used in conjunction with other anti-diabetic drugs. Inhibition of these enzyme systems reduces the rate of digestion of complex carbohydrates. Less glucose is absorbed because the carbohydrates are not broken down into glucose molecules. In diabetic patients, the short-term effect of these drugs therapies is to decrease current blood glucose levels: the long term effect is a small reduction in hemoglobin A1c level. The petroleum ether extract of the root bark of S. oblonga was studied in diabetic rats and anti-lipid peroxidative activity was studied in the cardiac tissue. S. oblonga significantly prevented the hyperglycemia and hypoinsulinemia. (3) In a study conducted by Kowsalya et at., it was determined that 2.5 to 5.0 grams of Salacia Oblonga daily is effective in lowering the blood glucose, serum cholesterol, triglycerides and increasing the HDL cholesterol levels of non-insulin dependent diabetes patients. The presence of Salacia oblonga extract tended to lower postprandial hyperglycemia and significantly reduced the postprandial insulin response. The increase in breath hydrogen excretion suggests a mechanism similar to prescription alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. (1) Salacia oblonga extract functions as a PPAR-alpha activator, providing a potential mechanism for improvement of postprandial hyperlipidemia and hepatic steatosis in diabetes and obesity. (4) Quercetin. This is the most abundant of the flavanoid molecules that naturally can be found in apples, onion, tea, berries, brassica vegetables, seeds, nuts, flowers, barks and leaves. It promotes insulin secretion, increases vitamin C levels, protects blood vessels, prevents easy bruising and supports the immune system. It is also an aldose reductase inhibitor. Aldose reductase has been linked to chronic complications associated with diabetes such as peripheral neuropathy, retinopathy, and cataracts, thus quercetin protects against the complications often associated with diabetes. Quercetin is also a sirtuin-like deacetylase inhibitor. Red Sage Root (from Salvia miltiorrhiza). Acts as an antioxidant and supports the circulatory system. Used traditionally in Chinese medicine, recent research in the West confirms Salvia’s importance for supporting cardiovascular health and liver function. Sage root is used for the treatment of angina and chronic glomerulonephritis. It is useful in reducing all uremic indices when used in the early stages of kidney failure. Salvia has been used in treatment of chronic renal insufficiency in China for at least thirty years. In 1989, Japanese researchers reported on isolation of a constituent of salvia responsible for promoting renal function, which was identified as lithospermate B, which enhances plasma blood flow and reduces glomerular filtration rate in the kidneys of laboratory animals suffering renal failure. In 1993, Chinese researchers reported on the effect of salvia injection in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis for renal failure, claiming it could markedly increase the clearance rate and ultrafiltration rate of creatinine, urea nitrogen, and uric acid. (6) A study in Japan published in 2000 further noted that salvia inhibited nitrogen oxide (NO) production which was thought to be a contributor to both acute and chronic renal failure, while a study in Korea published in 2004 suggested that scavenging of free radicals in the kidneys was part of the mechanism of action for both salvia and its component lithospermate B. (8) Maitake Mushroom (from Grifola frondosa Mycelia). Research suggests that Maitake improves the lipid profile and appears to have blood sugar modulating effects. A 2002 study concluded that Maitake favorably influences glucose/insulin metabolism in insulin-resistant mice. Research suggests that maitake mushroom is immunostimulatory, can lower blood pressure, improve the lipid profile and appears to have some hypoglycemic effects. A study conducted in 2002 concluded that maitake mushroom, favorably influences glucose/insulin metabolism in insulin-resistant mice. The lowering of both circulating glucose and insulin concentrations suggests that maitake mushroom works primarily by enhancing peripheral insulin sensitivity.
TABLE 1: Key agents in Glycoscia. Glycoscia is used in the treatment of blood sugar dysregulation. The blend of ingredients have the following list of actions:
The glycation theory of aging and tissue damage. Glycation (also called the Maillard reaction, or non-enzymatic glycosylation) is a reaction by which reducing sugars become attached to proteins without the assistance of an enzyme. Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs) in tissues increase the rate of free radical production to 50-times the rate of free radical production by unglycated proteins. AGEs attached to LDL-cholesterol accelerates oxidation and subsequent atherosclerosis. The irreversible cross-linked proteins of AGEs in vessel collagen also contributes to atherosclerosis, as well as to kidney failure—conditions worsened in diabetes. (9) Cataracts are composed of urea-insoluble proteins in the lens of the eye. AGEs aggravate protein cross-linking in the plaques & tangles of Alzheimer’s disease, thereby accelerating neuron death. (10) The higher glycation rate in diabetics is undoubtedly related to the fact that diabetes greatly resembles accelerated aging. Hemoglobin glycation is often used as a time-integrated (as opposed to instantaneous) measure of blood glucose levels in diabetics. AGEs are universal symptoms of aging—adversely affecting skin, lungs, muscles, blood vessels and organ-function in general. Increased insulin resistance and other symptoms of diabetes are commonly seen features of aging. Diabetes-like atherosclerosis and the resultant generalized reduction in blood flow have an adverse effect on most organ systems. It appears that fructose and galactose have approximately ten times the glycation activity of glucose, the primary body fuel. Glycation is the first step in the evolution of these molecules through a complex series of very slow reactions in the body known as Amadori reactions, Schiff base reactions, and Maillard reactions; all lead to advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Some AGEs are benign, but others are more reactive than the sugars they are derived from, and are implicated in many age-related chronic diseases such as: type II diabetes mellitus (beta cell damage), cardiovascular diseases (the endothelium, fibrinogen and collagen are damaged), Alzheimer’s disease (amyloid proteins are side products of the reactions progressing to AGEs), cancer (acrylamide and other side products are released), peripheral neuropathy (the myelin is attacked), and other sensory losses such as deafness (due to demyelination) and blindness (mostly due to microvascular damage in the retina). This range of diseases is the result of the very basic level at which glycations interfere with molecular and cellular functioning throughout the body and the release of highly-oxidizing side products such as hydrogen peroxide. (11) Glycated substances are eliminated from the body slowly since the renal clearance factor is only about 30%. This implies that the half-life of a glycation within the body is about double the average cell life. Red blood cells are the shortest-lived cells in the body (120 days), so, the half life is about 240 days. This fact is used in monitoring blood sugar control in diabetes by monitoring the glycated hemoglobin level. As a consequence, long-lived cells (such as nerves, brain cells) and long-lasting proteins (such as DNA, eye crystalline, and collagen) may accumulate substantial damage over time. Metabolically-active cells such as the glomeruli in the kidneys, retina cells in the eyes, and beta cells (insulin-producing) in the pancreas are also at high risk of damage. The epithelial cells of the blood vessels are damaged directly by glycations, which are implicated in atherosclerosis, for example. Atherosclerotic plaque tends to accumulate at areas of high blood flow (such as the entrance to the coronary arteries) due to the increased presentation of sugar molecules, glycations and glycation end-products at these points. Damage by glycation stiffens the collagen in the blood vessel walls which can lead to high blood pressure. Glycations also cause weakening of the collagen in the blood vessel walls, which may lead to micro- or macro-aneurisms; this may cause strokes if in the brain. TYPICAL DOSAGE One (1) capsule twice daily or as directed by a health care professional PRODUCT HISTORY Glycoscia was originally developed in 2007 for use in the D’Adamo Clinic. REFERENCES
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