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Glyconutrients and Arthritis -- A Sweet Way to Better Health

Natural medicine has always been popular in the treatment of arthritis, one of the oldest diseases known to mankind. The topic of glyconutrition has been making headway recently, especially since several studies have shown a positive relationship between glyconutrients and arthritis. What's surprising to many people is that some popular dietary supplements for arthritis contain glyconutrients, they just didn't know it.

For instance, take chondroitin and glucosamine, which are glyconutrients. These are becoming more routinely prescribed to arthritis sufferers. The beneficial relationship between glyconutrients and arthritis is evident in the fact that these minerals help slow down the advancement of the disease. In some cases, studies have even shown that they are able to repair or rebuild cartilage that has been broken down because of wear and tear. As most of us already know, arthritis occurs when the cartilage between the joints thins out over time and because of the absence of cartilage, the bones start rubbing together, which gives rise to pain and inflammation.

How do glyconutrients help arthritic patients? According to the book "Sugars That Heal: The New Healing Science of Glyconutrients," by Dr. Emil Mondoa, if the body gets enough of the essential sugars or saccharides it needs, it can help treat many diseases, including arthritis. And Rita Elkins, in her book "Miracle Sugars: The New Class of Missing Nutrients," claims that a dietary deficiency in these sugars is a major contributor to the prevalence of many diseases in today's society.

But this doesn't mean that a person has the license to eat all the sweet and sugary foods he wants. Glyconutrition espouses only eight kinds of sugars, but we normally only get two kinds in our regular diet: gluctose and gallactose. These sugars play an essential role in how cellular function is maintained and how the immune system works, among other functions. It works for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the joints) and other forms of arthritis because of its ability to ameliorate inflammation, which is a hallmark characteristic of arthritis.

Web sites like Glycoscience.org and Avantrex.com offer a veritable treasure trove of information on emerging facts regarding the relationship between glyconutrients and arthritis. Glyconutrition is being explored in many clinical studies, the results of which have been published in major medical journals. The growing prominence of glyconutrition is truly welcome news for those who prefer non-drug options to deal with their arthritis.