45 Comments

Until today I had never heard of the natural sweetener Trehalose but like the equally safe Xylitol will try to obtain some.

Thank you Dr. Phan for another information packed essay and I wish you the best of Thanksgivings. God richly bless you and your family sir!

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Thank you. I hope that you also had a wonderful Thanksgiving. May God continue to bless you and your family.

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I have never heard of trehalose. Do recommend a particular brand? Also, what is the recommended dosage?

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Heather did some research on it. Our family uses Trehalose from Bulk Supplements ( you can get it online). It is a privately owned company in the U.S., so it is not a corporation with no Chinese influence. The recommendation from Dr. Seeds is up to 5 grams a day. That might sound a lot.

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But you can put it in your coffee, water, cook, and bake. It is also relatively inexpensive. Dr. Seeds is also using it as an IV drip to treat neurological degenerative disease, and Dr. Raj Merhad, PhD is researching it as an IV drip for ALS. So far, both of them have had excellent results.

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Hi, if this is used as a sweetener substitute, it is very expensive. My husband has diabeties and used it for his coffee instead of sugar. It takes 4x as much for sweetening.

So is it just better to use as a regular supplement? I found it quite expensive.

Thank you for this article and study results.

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Thanks! You and Heather are a great team!

I have been wondering about the company Bulk Supplements. Glad to know it is a privately owned American company. I have been looking at some of their other products. I will be buying from them today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I can’t stand the taste of stevia and I don’t know if it is even healthy. But happy to have an alternative other than stevia.

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Me too. Stevia has a bitter taste.

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A guest out our house for Thanksgiving commented on malic acid being very good. Is that something you recommended supplementing with?

I did a little research last night and read a comment that malic acid can stop a panic attack. I think the concept was that the sour taste is distracting. I thought that was interesting.

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So basically NAHD produces energy in the cells.

Malic acid mostly comes from fruit. Helps with chronic fatigue syndrome, pain, and has anti aging benefits. So people on a strict keto diet would be deficient. I don’t know how anyone can feel well not eating fruit.

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Thank you for your kind words. I have been feeling not so astute while listening to Dr. William Seeds interviews and trying to understand how BPC-157 works.

Now I have to look up NAD and NADH.

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Thank you for this discussion, Dr Phan. I am fascinated by this disaccharide! Am I understanding that all the benefits of this disaccharide must stem from a low Km? (Low affinity of the enzyme for the substrate?) After all, Trehalase does break the 1,1 linkage down into 2 D glucose molecules, which should game on--glucose on board, right?

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Maha you are spot on. It has a low to moderate Km. In the gut, the enzyme trehalase breaks that special bond. At that low to moderate Km, it can stay intact as a special disaccharide, helping with all the abovementioned aspects.

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Enzymatic Hydrolysis: Requires trehalase (slower) versus Processed Sugars (e.g., Sucrose, Glucose) is much faster.Km of trehalase Enzyme: Low-moderate (6–12 mM), giving it a gradual, mild rise in postprandial sugar and insulin spike. Compared to sucrose and glucose, trehalose has a very low Km.

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Thus, the glycemic response and the insulin spike for sucrose and glucose have a very high rise and prolonged duration. Happy Thanksgiving to you too

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Thank you for the additional clarifications. In the Food and Toxicology reference you provided, I was intrigued to learn that commercially grown mushrooms contain 8–17% trehalose. Perhaps this could this be another reason for their benefit profile.

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Yes! Mushrooms have a lot of Trehalose. I wonder if mushroom coffee is now so hot in the market.

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With mushroom coffee in mind...Besides Lions Mane .... which 2 others would be primary to add to a coffee bend?? Thank you for your help.

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Hmmm.... we're still talking about a man made sugar, no? I'm trying to go as close to God made as possible. The hydration of the cell -- is trehalose working on the zeta potential? Or cell danger response?

Doesn't protein and fat slow down the sugar rush? So if you're putting sugar in coffee would adding cream be of help?

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A)Trehalose works on the zeta potential because it is a larger molecule than glucose. Our cell has ionic water channels surrounding it that take in water.

B) You are right again. Protein and fat can slow down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, potentially reducing the intensity of a sugar rush and insulin spikes. Adding Trehalose to your food with protein and fat enhances the sugar and insulin spike even further.

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An important note "B) above.... So ideally WHAT IS THE IDEAL meaning most beneficial way of daily taking Trehalose??? Why would one be " Adding Trehalose to your food with protein and fat enhances the sugar and insulin spike even further.) Dr. Anthony Phan" especially if one is diabetic or obese or overweight?????

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1) It increases the AMPK pathway. ( Please see the previous post on the AMPK pathway)

2) It is significant that sugar rises and insulin spikes after meals. Trehalose prevents this.

3) It also works as an antioxidant as a disaccharide, mainly in the cardiovascular system, especially in the endothelial cells. Most diabetics die from oxidative changes in the endothelial cells, causing heart attack and stroke.

4) It protects the cellular membrane, especially the mitochondrial membrane. All diseases start in the mitochondria, and diabetes is a mitochondrial disease.

I listed 7 in my post. I stopped at seven and can go further, but start researching this hidden disaccharide in PubMed

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While I would defer to Dr Phan if he believes otherwise, studies have shown that the protein in dairy products blocks, or binds the protective polyphenols in coffee known as chlorogenic acids. This is true of milk vs dark chocolate as well. This article discussing the research can be found here: https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/coffee-benefits-blocked-by-adding-milk/

Many variables are at play. The darker the roast, the less the polyphenol content of coffee. Using full cream, which is a much higher percentage of fat vs protein would probably attenuate the decrease in polyphenol uptake.

Finally, Danish researchers looked in the other direction: does the binding effect of milk protein, particularly cysteine, on polyphenols in coffee have can anti-inflammatory effect on MILK ingestion? The answer was yes, but that might only be a concern for people who have milk allergy or lactose intolerance.

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I agree! But our dairy industry in America is ruined, and then you have to deal with lactose intolerance.

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Now I am puzzled. Don't know what to think. I wanted to buy this at amazon and read comments there. This is one, so had a question Dr. Phan, because I do value your wisdom. If you could let me know what this means and is it true. Thank you so much for your thoughts and info.

Trehalose sugar is made of Tilapia fish, so it has no Omega-3, but lots of Omega-2, which is crucial for plants to thrive in drought or harsh conditions.

~ WARNING! Omega-2 causes blood disorders in humans.

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No, trehalose is not made from omega-2 or any omega fatty acids in fish. Trehalose is a disaccharide, a carbohydrate composed of two glucose molecules joined by a specific glycosidic bond. It has no relationship to Tilapia fish.

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Wow! I did go to PubMed and read many articles on this. Just WOW. This is way more impresive than I could even begin to think. Many sound researching on this.

Thank you for your big nice brain Dr. Phan. I love your SS.

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Sounds most peculiar. Omega-2 and -3 are fatty acids, not generally associated with sugar. Perhaps some fish derived enzyme is used to produce the Trehalose but it seems hard to believe a product is sold as one thing and then a purported precursor is used to malign it.

Do a search on PubMed and see if there are any rational sounding papers relating these products, usually someone has researched them but I often find fear mongering misunderstands basic research sometimes deliberately.

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Thank you Kalle. This was inspiring for me to read so many good studies on Trehalose. Amazing -- Really Amazing. Exciting for this.

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Totally agree

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You should have put up all the lyrics Doctor! Sugar, ah honey honey You are my candy girl

And you've got me wanting you Honey, ah sugar sugar I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you (I just can't believe it's true) I just can't believe the wonder of this feeling, too (I just can't believe it's true)You are my candy girl And you've got me wanting you

SO TRUE. It is ADDICTIVE almost as addictive as sex. Frank Zappa said it was more addictive than heroin or was it cocaine?

I concur. I've been slowly getting off the habit. Cold turkey never worked for me. I've lost another 17 pounds in the past number of months, down to 226 this morning. I'm close to my goal at 220-225 which is what I was when I got married. Hit 290 at one time. Looked like I was pregnant with triplets. That had to GO. At 70 I get people thinking I'm in my 50's all the time. I just wish some of my muscles would feel like they did at 50! Great post. Thank GOD for Doctors like you!

Here is some of my medicine for your readers! https://bornagainclassics.com/MarkReynolds-MP3s/KingofZion/02-MarkReynolds_KingofZion,Judah'sLion.mp3

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Dr. Phan, The other day when I was reading about malic acid I found an article that said some believe fibromyalgia is connected to a malic acid deficiency. Today I remembered that there is also a connection with MTHFR and fibromyalgia.

So can one infer that people with MTHFR might have a malic acid deficiency?

Maybe I am over thinking.

I did recently buy malic acid from the bulk supply company and I am adding to the A+ water along with lemons. It is really good.

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Awesome! Another complexity of MTHFR is that it is also a Mitochondrial disorder involving another Vitamin B, Thiamine. B1 is involved in the enzyme needed to make ATP. You are now thinking about the cellular medicine level.

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I was supplementing with thiamine but I stopped and completely forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me.

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https://intelligentsugar.info/sugars/trehalose/

This is a helpful website with information on Trehalose.

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RFK Jr. should look into this, start removing processed sugar, and start consumer education on the benefits of this unique sugar. Thanks for the link.

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What is interesting is that fresh sugar cane juice is very healthy and the least sugary of all tropical juices. I met someone in Hawaii who had a friend who healed their cancer using fresh sugar cane juice.

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Interesting. Sugar is glucose+fructose. Glucose provides energy. Fructose is implicated in a lot of metabolic stress. So perhaps this Trehalose is a less-bad sugar.

I will have to see if it is available for retail purchase somewhere online. I have never seen it in a shop.

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You are spot on...a less-bad sugar with a positive pleiotropic effect. We get it online, and the brand is called Bulk Supplements. It is a privately owned company practicing GMP and won the Quality Assurance reward.

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Hmm, 10+ times more expensive than regular sugar, pity. It cannot replace all uses of sugar in commerce but could be a replacement sweetener for a low sweetener lifestyle and the fact that it is sightly beneficial means it has some merit.

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