TREHALOSE: The Most Underrated Sugar On The Planet?

[Lokzo]

Hey fam!

I've been doing some deep dive into Trehalose, and this stuff is blowing me away.

What is Trehalose: a crystalline disaccharide C12H22O11 that is found in various organisms (as fungi and insects), Trehalose is about half as sweet as sucrose, and is sometimes used as a sweetener in commercially prepared foods.

Over time scientist have found a way to extract Trehalose from Plant Life. It tastes just like sugar yet it doesn’t act like sugar. Your body breaks it down differently, it’s actually healthy.

Many of the processed foods or frozen foods like freezy pops for children have Trehalose as the sweetener. Trehalose is more conducive to heat and cold temperatures than table sugar.

What we understand from the science of Glycomics that cells communicate through sugar and proteins. Sugars are the (OS) operating system of the body. There are eight sugars found on the planet we call them Glyconutrients.​

What makes Trehalose so special is that it acts like a sugar but it’s not really a sugar like good old fashioned table sugar. It’s a Disaccharide. Trehalose also has the added advantage of being an antioxidant

Trehalose is thought to form into a gel phase as cells dehydrate, which prevents disruption of internal cell organelles, by effectively splinting them in position. Rehydration then allows normal cellular activity to be resumed without the major, lethal damage that would normally follow a dehydration/rehydration cycle. Trehalose is also present in the nutrition exchange liquid of hornets and their larvae. Trehalose is the major carbohydrate energy storage molecule used by insects for flight. One possible reason for this is that the glycosidic linkage of trehalose, when acted upon by an insect trehalase, releases two molecules of glucose, which is required for the rapid energy requirements of flight. This is double the efficiency of traditional Glucose. As you know athletes love Glucose for energy. If insects us Trehalose for flight because it has double the energy of Glucose what do you think Treahlose can do for athletes?

Because Trehalose protects the cells from extreme temperature changes by hydrating the cells it acts as an age reverser or beauty enhancer for several cosmetic manufacturers. There is no question that Trehalose protects the cells from stress.
Scientists have found that Trehalose

Improves Sustained Energy
Improves Cellular Hydration
Improves Brain Function
Enhances Memory
Stimulates Calcium Absorption
Regulates Insulin and Glucose Levels in obese men.
Enhances cellular communication
Lowers body odor

So what does one do with Trehalose?
You could treat it like sugar and replace white table sugar with Trehalose.
You could drop a teaspoon or two of Trehalose in your coffee and tea or in your daily smoothie to sweeten it up.
It looks like sugar and it sure does taste like sugar.
That’s why we call it the sugar with a conscience.​

Disaccharide​	Unit 1​	Unit 2​	Bond​
Sucrose (table sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar, or saccharose)	Glucose	Fructose​	α(1→2)β​
Lactulose	Galactose	Fructose​	β(1→4)​
Lactose (milk sugar)	Galactose	Glucose​	β(1→4)​
Maltose	Glucose	Glucose​	α(1→4)​
Trehalose	Glucose	Glucose​	α(1→1)α​
Cellobiose	Glucose	Glucose​	β(1→4)​

​

Our data indicated that a daily intake of 10 g of trehalose improved glucose tolerance and progress to insulin resistance. Furthermore, these results suggested that trehalose can potentially reduce the development of metabolic syndrome and associated lifestyle-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. - Daily Intake of Trehalose Is Effective in the Prevention of Lifestyle-Related Diseases in Individuals with Risk Factors for Metabolic Syndrome - PubMed


Diabetes mellitus is the most prevalent metabolic disorder contributing to significant morbidity and mortality in humans. Many preventative and therapeutic agents have been developed for normalizing glycemic profile in patients with diabetes. In addition to various pharmacologic strategies, many non-pharmacological agents have also been suggested to improve glycemic control in patients with diabetes. Trehalose is a naturally occurring disaccharide which is not synthesized in human but is widely used in food industries. Some studies have provided evidence indicating that it can potentially modulate glucose metabolism and help to stabilize glucose homeostasis in patients with diabetes. Studies have shown that trehalose can significantly modulate insulin sensitivity via at least 7 molecular pathways leading to better control of hyperglycemia. In the current study, we concluded about possible anti-hyperglycemic effects of trehalose suggesting trehalose as a potentially potent non-pharmacological agent for the management of diabetes.

Autophagy induction by trehalose: Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic impacts​

Kiana Hosseinpour-Moghaddam 1, Michele Caraglia 2, Amirhossein Sahebkar 3 4 5
Affiliations expand

• PMID: 29663416
• DOI: 10.1002/jcp.26583

Abstract​

The balance between synthesis and degradation is crucial to maintain cellular homeostasis and different mechanisms are known to keep this balance. In this review, we will provide a short overview on autophagy as an intracellular homeostatic degradative machinery. We will also describe the involvement of downregulation of autophagy in numerous diseases including neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, aging, metabolic disorders, and other infectious diseases. Therefore, modulation of autophagic processes can represent a promising way of intervention in different diseases including neurodegeneration and cancer. Trehalose, also known as mycose, is a natural disaccharide found extensively but not abundantly among several organisms. It is described that trehalose can work as an important autophagy modulator and can be proficiently used in the control several diseases in which autophagy plays an important role. On these bases, we describe here the role of trehalose as an innovative drug in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and other illnesses opening a new scenario of intervention in conditions difficult to be treated.

Trehalose and N-Acetyl Cysteine Alleviate Inflammatory Cytokine Production and Oxidative Stress in LPS-Stimulated Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells​

 

[FoodForeal]

No

 

[Miso]

Any literature on trehalose consumption and its effect on gut flora? How is it metabolized and any risk for dysbiosis when compared to other sugars?

 

[belcanto]

Looks like 2 teaspoons daily is enough to make a difference if taken for at least 12 weeks, according to the study above.

 

[Mauritio]

Interesting. What do you personally notice from taking it?

 

[Cloudhands]

i think maiitake mushrooms (hen of the woods) are exceptionally high in trehalose, and this plays a role in their antidiabetic effects. Local mushroom growers i know sell tinctures of it that diabetics buy and use faithfully, i wonder if the extract mainly works because of the trehalose content.

 

[kYgirl]

May not be a good idea:

Sugar alternative is NOT so healthy after all: Trehalose, a substitute used in many processed foods, is giving rise to a superbug, severe disease, study warns – NaturalNews.com

A sugar alternative that was deemed “healthy” appears to be not so healthy after all. A new study discovered that the artificial sugar additive known as trehalose, which is found in many food products, potentially played a role in the increase of a deadly superbug called Clostridium difficile...

www.naturalnews.com

 

[akgrrrl]

Nope. Me neither.

 

[aliml]

Trehalose: Sugar Sent From Heaven!

The beetle cocoon that was manna for Moses

Molecule of the month: John Emsley looks at trehalose

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Lokzo]

Interesting. What do you personally notice from taking it?

Massive appetite suppression due to stable energy levels. Immediate reduction in brain fog (I had the Flu).

Wish I had my CGM Device on to observe glucose variability scores.

 

[Amazoniac]

"Trehalose is thought to form into a gel phase as cells dehydrate, which prevents disruption of internal cell organelles, by effectively splinting them in position. Rehydration then allows normal cellular activity to be resumed without the major, lethal damage that would normally follow a dehydration/rehydration cycle. Trehalose is also present in the nutrition exchange liquid of hornets and their larvae. Trehalose is the major carbohydrate energy storage molecule used by insects for flight. One possible reason for this is that the glycosidic linkage of trehalose, when acted upon by an insect trehalase, releases two molecules of glucose, which is required for the rapid energy requirements of flight. This is double the efficiency of traditional Glucose. As you know athletes love Glucose for energy. If insects us Trehalose for flight because it has double the energy of Glucose what do you think Treahlose can do for athletes?"

nrodiirr. toxic meraholitps rannhle of rtamacrinrr rl-ip ht-qin

It looks like the first part was taken from elsewhere and the bolded one is additional remarks by the person that you quoted. It's akin to compare an entire glycogen complex to a molecule of glucose and call the former more efficient, as if you was limited in the amount of glucose that you can consume.

- Structural basis for the recruitment of glycogen synthase by glycogenin

"The body stores excess blood glucose as glycogen, a sugary substance that contains up to 55,000 glucose molecules joined together as a chain, mostly in liver and muscle cells."​

To require cleavage can get in the way of utilization, doesn't make it more efficient:

- Estimation of intestinal trehalase activity from a laxative threshold of trehalose and lactulose on healthy female subjects

Spoiler

 

[Andy316]

I read sunflower seeds contain Trehalose, would sunflower oil contain it too?

 

[Dave Clark]

Wondering how trehalose affects candida? About five years ago I was using trehalose, with no problems, then I read somewhere that it was not good to use if you were dealing with candida infection. Is that simply because it is a 'sugar', or is it because it is worse than sugar in terms of feeding and promoting candida? I stopped because at that time I was dealing with candida. I can't find any info regarding that issue.

 

[David PS]

I happpened to see this in my news feed.

Trehalose improves palmitic acid-induced apoptosis of osteoblasts by regulating SIRT3-medicated autophagy via the AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 pathway - PubMed

Accumulation of lipid substances decreased the activity of osteoblasts. Trehalose is a typical stress metabolite to form a protective membrane on cell surface which has been demonstrated to regulate lipid metabolism. This activity of Trehalose indicates the potential effect of osteoporosis...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[joaquin]

May not be a good idea:

Sugar alternative is NOT so healthy after all: Trehalose, a substitute used in many processed foods, is giving rise to a superbug, severe disease, study warns – NaturalNews.com

A sugar alternative that was deemed “healthy” appears to be not so healthy after all. A new study discovered that the artificial sugar additive known as trehalose, which is found in many food products, potentially played a role in the increase of a deadly superbug called Clostridium difficile...

www.naturalnews.com

I was using trehalose for a short while and came across this article. I tossed it in the trash. The stuff is not good for man.

 

[Dave Clark]

Does anybody have a DIY recipe for trehalose in eye drops or skin lotion? Without referencing all the studies, it sounds like a useful, and safe addition to a moisturizing skin lotion, and a good addition to an eye drop solution. I can't find any commercially available, and it is always far less expensive to make your own anyway.