Diosmin and the Glycocalyx

Diosmin and the Glycocalyx

Diosmin is not new to medicine. It was discovered in 1925 and is widely present in citrus peel. It has been used in Europe since 1969 and has been found to be safe and effective. Its first uses were peripheral artery disease and the treatment of diabetes.

That's not the buzz that's going around now. Diosmin appears to repair the glycocalyx. The glycocalyx looks like sea-grass and is a negatively charged surface coating of blood vessels. It facilitates the conversion of mechanical actions in the blood vessel into chemical actions. The term, "endothelial dysfunction" is widely regarded as the first step in artery disease, whether it be in the heart, the aorta, or the legs. Oxidized, small dense LDLs can penetrate the membrane of the lining of arteries when there is damage to the glycocalyx. The endothelial cells, using up their internal plasmalogens battling the oxidative stress assaulting the blood vessels, pull their membranes in, making gaps in the wall of the endothelium. It's those gaps that attract the oxidized LDLs. The battle is all in that process: damaging the glycocalyx and depleting plasmalogens (which are designed to be the antioxidant of first resort in cells).

Here is where two other 30,000-foot metabolic processes insect. In Scientific American, Robinson published a consideration of the heart as facilitating a swirling movement down the arteries and capillaries. In that context, the heart functions as much as a suction pump as a pushing pump. There is no possible explanation for how our blood pressure can push fluid through our capillaries without needing very high pressures that we don't have. In fact, examination of the heart by physicists shows that the real work of the heart is not to pump, but to swirl, making natural vortices. That combined with the 4th nature of water that induces capillaries to flow naturally suggests that our capillaries are the real pump because of the 4th state of water in which water naturally flows up a tiny capillary.

The next trick is the negative charge of the glycocalyx. Red cells are actually larger than the diameter of capillaries. How can they slither through with virtually no friction? Ah, it's the mutual negative charge on the surface of the red cell and the negative charge on the glycocalyx that makes electrical repulsion and virtually makes for frictionless movement. Add that to the 4th state of water and capillaries are the real pump in your body. Did you get that? Capillaries are the real pump. Your heart is just a vortex-making machine to generate blood pressure to feed the larger organs. For them to work effectively, they need a healthy glycocalyx.

Has this got you all confused? Let it go. Just reorder your consideration of your blood vessels to tiny capillaries that naturally suck up water and propel it forward. Your heart is a ram-jet forcing the flow into a swirly to effectively send it back to the capillaries. All of that is contingent on the negative charge on the surface of arteries, made by the glycocalyx. The glycocalyx is damaged by oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress damages the glycocalyx. What is oxidative stress? It's the generation of reactive oxygen species from damaged mitochondria. What is the source of damage to mitochondria? Ultra-processed foods, trans fats, sugar, smoking, and pollution are just a few of the egregious causes of oxidative stress. It's ultra-processed foods that are just too purified, too easily digested, too filled with easily metabolized sugars and fats that flood into our mitochondria too quickly, overwhelming them with too many calories. Much like trying to fill a small juice glass with the gasoline pump at the gas station, it overflows too easily because the gas comes out too fast. It leaves a huge mess on the floor. In your body, that huge mess is reactive oxygen species that damage the glycocalyx and consume all your plasmalogens. Bummer.

And that's where diosmin comes to the rescue. Stay tuned. It's a hot topic of research.

www.What will Work for me. I'm convinced and heaven knows I have enough supplements. I'm certainly taking plasmalogens and Nitric Oxide for my arteries. But I've added Diosmin. Curcifereious vegetables give me abundant sources of sulfur and sulfur makes negative charges in the glycocalyx. Next time you see articles about seagrass being so important for ocean ecosystems think of the seagrass in your arteries that are swirling in frictionless movement.

References: FASEB, Nutrients, Science Direct, PLOS1, Square Space, UCI Samueli, Fourth Phase of Water by Pollack,

Pop Quiz

1. Your arteries are lined with a fine layer of hair that looks like sea grass called what?                    Answer: Your glycocalyx

2. What role does the glycocalyx play?                        Answer: Probably central to the ability of the capillary to propel your blood forward with the 4th state of water. 

3. What happens when the glycocalyx gets damaged?                           Answer: with denuded glycocalyx, we get damage to the lining cells that retract and make room for small, dense, oxidized LDLs to sneak in. That comes later.

4. What is diosmin?                           Answer: A neutraceutical found in citrus peel.

5. What is diosmin used for?                           Answer: In Europe, it is approved for the treatment of artery disease and diabetes. Repair of the glycocalyx is a recent discovery.