Since Dr Peter Koeppel, one of the leading experts on
immunology and biochemistry at a leading Swiss pharmaceutical
company released a paper on the use of nucleotides and RNA
for human health applications. Much information has been
sought regarding these valuable building blocks.
In part one of this series we will explain what a nucleotide
is and how it links in very closely with our DNA. The beneficial
implications of supplementing the daily diet with these
naturally derived conditionally essential dietary building
blocks, that are know as nucleotides will be explained in
part 2
Where do nucleotides come from?
As any good nutriontist will tell you, any thing that the
human body needs can be obtained from food. Foods that are
naturally high in nucleotides are listed below.
• Liver
• Tripe
• Lean Meat
• Fish
• Mushrooms
• Fungi
• Yeast extract
However to boost your immune system from nucleotides we
must take them in a more concentrated form, this will be
covered in more depth in the next article.
Part 1. Understanding Nucleotides and
DNA
Dr Koeppel states that nucleotides are the building blocks
that are necessary for making new DNA and RNA.To help us
understand this better; we need to think back to high school
when we learned about the double-helix of DNA. Remember
the spiral-appearing ladder with the different colored rungs?
That is a model of the DNA that makes up the genes and chromosomes
found in us all. DNA is a very large molecule, and the rungs
of the DNA ladder are made of a combination of two different
nucleotides.
The nucleotides are molecules, called guanosine and cytosine,
that pair up together, or adenosine and thymidine, which
also pair up together. Adenosine and guanosine are called
purines. Cytosine, thymidine and uradine are called pyrimidines.
RNA is similar to DNA, except that the molecule uradine
replaces thymine in that pair, and RNA is an intermediary
between DNA and protein. A gene is a discrete sequence of
DNA nucleotides, and genes are what make up our chromosomes.
So, it makes sense that genes are made of DNA.
While all of this sounds very technical, what you need
to understand is that nucleotides are molecules that are
essential to the creation of new DNA and RNA molecules which
are then used by new cells of all kinds. This is important
because nucleotides, either by themselves, or in combination
with other molecules, are involved in almost all activities
of the cell (and therefore, the body).
What is DNA in layman’s terms?
Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, which makes up the genetic
material in cells, is comprised of units called nucleotides.
Conclusion
Nucleotides can be simply described as the nutritional
building blocks of new cells. There are 5 key nucleotides,
which form the crucial building blocks of DNA and RNA, and
are therefore essential for ongoing new cell production
and system repair. In part 2, we are going to explain how nucleotides are
involved in many of our body’s vital functions, and
more importantly how by supplementing our diet with nucleotides
we can help to boost our immune systems. |
