Sugars taste sweet not only because they provide readily accessible energy for our aerobic metabolism, but also because they signal the ripeness or fullness of life chemistry and spirit in many plant foods. When sugar content is high, so is the content of vitamins and minerals, especially the spirit minerals that have a similar spatial energetic resonance, tasting sweet by themselves. Sugars are carriers of the spirit minerals, containing ring structures composed of six members, with one being oxygen, and all the others being carbon.
When sugars are processed, they are stripped of associated nutrients including vitamins and minerals, especially the sensitive spirit minerals. When these stripped, nutrient depleting sugars are ingested, the body and spirit continue to crave the full nutrition they are associated with in the whole food source. This produces an addictive response to refined sugars that contributes to overeating and undernourishment in industrialized cultures. As with entheogens, being even more profound transporters of spiritual substance, refinement and processing by harsh chemicals and metallic machinery energized by dysharmonic electromagnetic frequencies such as 50 and 60 Hz alternating current produces what I call a weaponized end product. Instead of feeding the body and soul, it robs the life essences from both.
Excess, weaponized sugars deposit onto the body's own chemistry in a process called AGE. This glycation (sugar deposition) affects both extracellular and intracellular compartments. Glycation can cause amyloid plaque protein deposits, which are classically extracellular, but can also be intracellular. Glycation can also cause aggregation of proteins via cross-linking.
Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGE) produced by non-enzymatic glycosylation cause cross-linking of collagen and elastin in the connective tissue in which all cells live. Cross-linking shrinks connective tissue, making us shorter as we age, and increasing the strain on sensitive nerve fibers and their delicate circulation.
AGEs are formed in the body when sugar levels are not stable. They also come in the diet, when we eat cooked carbohydrates. Eating more raw, organic, unprocessed foods is a great start for reducing AGE-ing, along with avoiding things that destabilize sugar regulation, including sugar, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and stimulants in general. There are also a few nutritional compounds known to protect against AGE formation:
Minerals Vanadium, Chromium and Zinc are involved with sugar regulation and help protect against AGE formation.
Probiotics have been shown to have anti-glycation effects. Probiotics help to produce B vitamins in the gut.
Thiamine (Vitamin B1) reduces AGE generation. High fiber diets tend to supply more thiamine, while thiamine reserves are depleted by alcohol. Garlic and onions supply fat-soluble forms of thiamine (allithiamines) such as benfotiamine, which is more physiologically active than thiamine. Benfotiamine stimulates transketolase, an enzyme essential for normal glucose metabolism, promoting endothelial cell health in the kidney and retina. Benfotiamine helps decrease inflammation and even repair damage that has already taken place to the nerve cells. Benfotiamine supplements are available from Complementary Prescriptions and Source Naturals, with a suggested dosage of 150 mg once or twice a day.
Vitamin B12 helps protect against AGE formation. The recommended form is Methyl Cobalamin, which can help reverse any neurological damage.
Vitamin C helps protect against AGE formation. The recommended form is Magnesium Ascorbate. When this form is absorbed by your cells, the Magnesium is drawn in with the Vitamin C. Magnesium is beneficial inside the cell, while Calcium is not.
Vitamin E helps protect against AGE formation. The recommended form is Unique E, the only pure, unadulterated Vitamin E complex supplement on the market since 1963 available only through nutritional physicians (made by AC Grace). Unique E is much more therapeutic than other forms of Vitamin E. It can be safely taken at higher dosages, although it is always recommended to taper up Vitamin E dosages gradually so that blood pressure is not destabilized. Unique, unlike other fat-soluble vitamin E products, is stable against oxidation at room temperature. This means it will be more stable at body temperature, too! Other companies dilute their Vitamin E in soy oil.
The active co-enzyme form of Vitamin B6, Pyridoxal 5' Phosphate (P5P) reduces AGE formation, and is widely available as a supplement from many manufacturers. Pyridoxamine, a relative of Vitamin B6, also reduces AGE formation, especially fat derived AGEs, though not as well as P5P. Pyridoxamine reduces AGE levels, preventing complications of aging and diabetes as documented in animal studies. It is found in carrots, walnuts, fish and chicken, and used to be available over the counter as a vitamin supplement, but the FDA has forced it off the market so it can potentially be regulated as a more expensive drug in the future.
The currently available prescription anti-diabetic medication Metformin (Glucophage) does reduce AGE formation. The investigative new drugs Pimagedine (aminoguanidine) and Alagebrium were also being tested for anti-glycation effects but are not on the market.
Bioflavonoids are also called Vitamin P. Resveratrol from the skin of red grapes as well as cranberries and blueberries, has protective anti-glycation effects. Other bioflavonoids in cinnamon, clove, yerba mate and green tea reportedly have anti-glycation effects. Cinnamon and clove both improve blood sugar regulation, so enjoy! Yerba mate and green tea have beneficial bioflavonoids that could be useful as exracts, but avoidance of the stimulant effects of the drinking tea made from the whole herb is recommended. Caffeine free extracts of Camelia sinensis (green tea) containing the beneficial bioflavonoids called catechins and epigallocatechin gallates (EGCG) are available and are recommended.
N-Acetyl Carnosine (an antioxidant found in animal tissues, and thus deficient in vegetarians) acts as a scavenger to inhibit AGE formation, preventing protein modification, protecting LDL from both AGE and oxidation, and even reversing damage that has already occurred. N-Acetyl Carnosine is available as an oral nutritional supplement. Carnosine is less bio-available, but also available as a supplement, and dosages of 1,000 to 1,500 mg per day are recommended. Beta-Alanine, one of the amino acid components of the dipeptide Carnosine, is another option to help reverse AGE, since dosages of 1,000 mg twice a day help sensitive cells produce increased levels of Carnosine.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid, found in potato, carrot, broccoli, beet and yam also helps prevent AGE formation. Alpha-Lipoic Acid is an excellent nutritional supplement with many additional benefits as it regenerates other antioxidants including Vitamin C.
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