Yes, glycation does happen in human. The reason you should give attention to it is that it plays a role in how fast you age and probably live here on earth.
What Is Glycation?
Glycation is a biological process where sugar molecules, such as glucose or fructose, non-enzymatically attach to proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids.
Indeed, this process called glycation occurs naturally in the human body and can have significant implications for health.
Here’s an overview of glycation, its effects, and why it’s important:
How Glycation Occurs
Glycation involves the binding of sugar molecules to free amino groups in proteins, forming early glycation products called Schiff bases. These are usually unstable and can rearrange into more stable compounds known as Amadori products.
Simply put, excess of sugar in the blood plays an important role in in the glycation process.
In fact, the glycation process leads to a loss of protein function and impaired elasticity of tissues such as blood vessels, skin, and tendons (1).
Talking about why it happens, the above cited study says glycation reaction is highly accelerated in the presence of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and tissue oxidative stress.
Over time, these can further react to form advanced glycation end-products (AGEs).
Effects Of Glycation In Human
Protein Functionality
-
- Impaired Protein Function: Glycation can alter the structure and function of proteins, potentially impairing their normal biological activity. For example, glycation of hemoglobin forms glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), which is used as a marker for long-term blood glucose control in diabetic patients.
Glycation And Aging In Human
-
- Accelerated Ageing: Accumulation of AGEs is associated with the aging process and age-related diseases. AGEs can cross-link with other proteins, affecting tissue elasticity and function, contributing to conditions such as arteriosclerosis (the blockage of arteries) and skin wrinkling.
Diabetes Complications
-
- Increased Risk of Complications: In diabetes, high blood glucose levels accelerate glycation, leading to an increased formation of AGEs.This contributes to various complications, including Weakness, numbness and pain from nerve damage, usually in the hands and feet (neuropathy), blindness (retinopathy), deterioration of kidney function (nephropathy), and heart-related issues (cardiovascular diseases).
Oxidative Stress And Inflammation
-
- Increased Oxidative Stress: AGEs can promote oxidative stress and inflammation, exacerbating chronic conditions and contributing to the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic kidney disease.
Importance Of Glycation In Human Health Monitoring
- Diabetes Management: Monitoring HbA1c levels provides insight into blood glucose control over the previous 2-3 months, helping manage diabetes more effectively.
- Diet and Lifestyle: Diets high in sugar and processed foods can increase glycation and AGE formation.
Adopting a healthy diet low in sugars and rich in antioxidants can help reduce glycation and its harmful effects.
Preventing And Managing Glycation
From all you have been reading, you must have seen that sugar plays a major role in glycation.
In fact, consuming products that often end up as sugar in the blood (high carbohydrate diet inclusive), could dispose you to glycation.
As a result, if you control your blood sugar level, you will be on your way to minimising glycation.
To help you, here are the things that studies suggest.
Blood Sugar Control And Glycation
-
- Tight Glycemic Control: For people with diabetes, maintaining blood glucose levels within the target range is crucial to minimise glycation (2).
Diet And Glycation
-
- Low-Glycemic Diet: Consuming foods with a low glycemic index can help regulate blood sugar levels.
- Antioxidant-Rich Foods: Foods rich in antioxidants, such as fruits and vegetables, can help neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress associated with AGE formation.
Lifestyle Choices
-
- Exercise: We live in an age where people engage in sedentary behaviour that raises your risk of glycation. But studies have discovered that regular physical activity helps improve insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control.
Various herbal supplements or regular physical exercise have beneficial effects on glycemic control and oxidative stress with a consequent reduction of AGE accumulation during aging (3). - Avoiding Smoking: Smoking can increase oxidative stress and AGE formation, so avoiding tobacco products is beneficial.
- Exercise: We live in an age where people engage in sedentary behaviour that raises your risk of glycation. But studies have discovered that regular physical activity helps improve insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control.
Plant, Natural Foods Compounds That Minimise Glycation In Human
There are different compounds in natural food items, vegetables, fruits, herbs and other plants that can minimise glycation.
In fact, a study says “a number of medical herbs, dietary plants, and phytocompounds inhibits protein glycation (4).
It observed that these natural products with high antioxidant capacity may be promising agents for the prevention of glycation and AGE formation.
So, this is the more reason you should begin to edit your meal so that you would maximise time in a world that is full of distraction.
As you age, you are able to stay stable and healthy when glycation and AGE is down.
The anti-AGE activity in the herbs and food items may be one mechanism of their beneficial actions on human health.
Studies say herbal products are relatively safe for human consumption, compared with synthetic drugs.
Thus, the search for anti-AGE agents using herbal products has been increasing.
Flavonoid In Plants And Glycation In Human
Many herbal products have potent anti-glycation activities that are said to be similar or even stronger than aminoguanidine. Aminoguanidine is “an investigational drug for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy that is no longer under development as a drug” (5).
For example, several polyphenols can inhibit the glycation process. This was found in different studies.
Flavonoids are the major class of polyphenols. Anti-glycation properties of various flavonoids, such as kaempferol, genistein, quercitrin, and quercetin, have been reported (6).
Indeed, recent studies demonstrated a potent AGE-breaking property of epicatechin.
Epicatechin is one of the most abundant flavonoids present in different fruits. It is in apples, blackberries, broad beans, cherries, grapes, pears, raspberries, cocoa, and tea leaves (7).
In an animal study, this compound destroyed glycated serum albumin and decreased AGE accumulation in retinal tissues in a rat.
Understanding glycation and its impacts on health is crucial for managing conditions like diabetes and mitigating the effects of aging.
Making informed lifestyle choices and maintaining good health practices, will help you minimise the harmful effects of glycation in human.