Trehalose by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Trehalose is a natural alpha-linked disaccharide made by two alpha glucose units. Trehalose is also known as mycose. Trehalose is found in animals, plants, and microorganisms. In animals, trehalose is found in high amounts in shrimp, and also in insects, including locusts, butterflies, grasshoppers, and bees, in which blood-sugar is trehalose. The trehalose is split into glucose by the catabolic enzyme trehalase.

Trehalose and exercise performance
Effects of pre-exercise ingestion of trehalose, galactose and glucose on subsequent metabolism and cycling performance.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003. Jentjens RL, Jeukendrup AE. Human Performance Laboratory, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK.
The glycemic and insulinemic responses to different carbohydrates vary and these have been suggested to affect performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of pre-exercise ingestion of glucose, galactose and trehalose on metabolic responses at rest and during exercise and on subsequent time-trial performance. Eight well-trained male cyclists completed three exercise trials separated by at least 3 days. At 45 min before the start of exercise subjects consumed 500 ml of a beverage containing 75 g of either glucose, galactose or trehalose. No differences were observed in time trial performance between the three trials. Pre-exercise ingestion of trehalose and galactose resulted in lower plasma glucose and insulin responses prior to exercise and reduced the prevalence of rebound hypoglycaemia. Despite the attenuated insulin and glucose responses at rest and during exercise following pre-exercise ingestion of galactose and trehalose, there was no difference in performance compared with pre-exercise ingestion of glucose.

Trehalose as eye drops
Trehalose versus hyaluronan or cellulose in eyedrops for the treatment of dry eye.
Jpn J Ophthalmol. 2004. Matsuo T. Department of Ophthalmology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama, Japan.
Trehalose eyedrops were found by a previous study to be safe and effective compared with saline in the treatment of moderate-to-severe dry eye syndrome. The present study was designed to compare the efficacy of trehalose eyedrops with that of the commercially available eyedrops containing hyaluronan or cellulose now used in the treatment of moderate-to-severe dry eye syndrome. We found trehalose solution was a better treatment for moderate-to-severe dry eye syndrome in comparison with two commercially available eyedrops containing hyaluronan or hydroxyethylcellulose.