Making a Choice

Health is related to nutrient consumption. The body needs the correct raw materials to continually rebuild itself, power itself and maintain health. In recent years, science has begun to demonstrate the long-term effects of incorrect food choices. Diabetes and heart disease are just two nutrient-related diseases that come immediately to mind. As scientific data connecting nutrition and health has grown, more attention is being given to the subject of nutrition. The secrets of good nutrition are written in the life style of our ancestors. They consumed more than 100 different foods, fresh, unprocessed and therefore rich in vitamins and minerals. The hunter-gatherers also consumed a much greater quantity of food to support their comparatively vigorous life styles. The industrial revolution drastically reduced man's energy requirements. Modern man eats much less food, and the food he eats contains fewer nutrients. Missing food ingredients (nutrients) can often be provided by dietary supplementation.

Physicians and nutritionists are increasingly convinced that the dietary habits adopted by Western society over the last 100 years are mainly responsible for the increase in coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and some types of cancer. These conditions emerged only in the past century, and are virtually nonexistent in the few hunter-gatherer populations remaining in the world today.

Given our modern understanding of disease, how healthy could we be if we, as a society of people, consumed the nutrients of our pre-agricultural ancestors?!

Mannatech announced its flagship product, Ambrotose, 1996 based on the discovery that the body’s immune system needs eight plant-based sugars – also known as glyconutrients – to function properly. Medical research has shown that cells use these glyconutrients to communicate with each other so the immune system, when confronted, can mount a coordinated response to foreign invasion. These sugars are plucose, fucose, mannose, galactose, xylose, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylneuraminic acid. According to Mannatech, six of these eight glyconutrients are deficient in the modern diet, largely because foods today are heavily processed and balanced meals have succumbed to fast food. Mannatech scoured the world to find new, rich sources of the missing nutrients.