The quote by Ann Whitemore:
‘The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”
is an accurate one. The key to maximizing your health is to stay physically active and choose nutrient-dense foods rather than overly processed junk food. Not always easy to do in a society where people eat convenience food in a rushed manner rather than enjoying home-cooked meals. But the more you know about nutrition, the smarter your dietary choices will be. One dietary component you might not be familiar with is beta-glucan.
What is beta-glucan, and does it have health benefits? Beta-glucan is a type of polysaccharide, branched polymers of glucose, abundant in the cell walls of yeast, oat, and barley. Oats and barley are the richest in beta-glucan compared to other grains.
Other excellent sources include yeast, mushrooms, alfalfa, and some cereals. Adding more beta-glucan to your diet could have some surprising health benefits. Let’s look at some of the compelling health perks of enjoying more foods that contain beta-glucan.
Beta-glucan Improves Blood Sugar Control and Metabolic Health
Like other soluble fibers, beta-glucans can have beneficial effects on a key metabolic health parameter: blood glucose levels. Your risk of developing type 2 diabetes may go down when you include more beta-glucan in your diet. Studies show that beta-glucan helps decrease blood sugar by improving insulin sensitivity. That’s why dieticians sometimes recommend beta-glucan rich foods to clients with high blood sugar levels.
Beta-Glucan is Heart Healthy
Being a source of soluble fiber, beta-glucans may lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. One way is by lowering blood cholesterol levels, which helps prevent plaque buildup in the arteries.
Research suggests that beta-glucans may work best if you replace other types of dietary starch and carbohydrate with it, particularly those high in simple sugars. So, skip that sugary bowl of processed cereal and have a bowl of old-fashioned oats instead. Steel-cut oats are the most blood-sugar friendly since they are the least processed.
Immune Health Benefits of Beta-Glucan
Beta-glucan may be beneficial for immune health, too. In a recent study, scientists found this soluble fiber may reduce levels of the inflammatory protein C-reactive protein in the blood. C-reactive protein is an important marker for chronic inflammation and immunity, but it can potentially promote heart disease and other diseases by damaging the inner walls of arteries that carry blood to the heart. By reducing inflammation, beta-glucan could protect against some types of chronic disease.
Possible Anti-Cancer Benefits
Research into beta-glucan derived from yeast suggests it has anti-cancer properties and may be useful in combination with traditional cancer therapy. Some studies show that beta-glucans enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. While there isn’t enough evidence to support the use of beta-glucan for cancer treatment in humans, early results are promising and show that it may be an option worth exploring.
Beta-Glucan Will Add More Fiber to Your Diet
Most people don’t get enough fiber in their diet and foods rich in beta-glucan can boost your fiber intake. The recommendations are that adult males get 37 grams of fiber daily and females 25 grams. Most people get only half that amount. By eating beta-glucan-rich foods, like oats and barley, you can boost your fiber intake.
Beta-glucan acts like fiber in your body, attracting water and swells so much that it becomes up to 15 times its original size in the intestines. This increases stool volume and softens stool. Plus, diets high in fiber are linked with lower rates of cardiovascular disease.
The Best Ways to Get Beta-Glucan
You can get beta-glucan naturally in oats, barley, and yeast. You can also buy it from health food stores and pharmacies. It is available as a dietary supplement in capsule or powder form. Although beta-glucan appears to be safe for healthy people, if you have a history of low blood sugar, talk to your physician before taking it as a supplement as it may lower blood sugar.
One of the best ways to get the benefits of beta-glucan is by eating a bowl of oatmeal and adding other foods rich in beta-glucan to your diet, such as mushrooms. Of oats and barley, barley has more beta-glucan, but oats are a close second.
The Bottom Line
Beta-glucan is a fiber-like compound with potential health benefits. Now you have another reason to enjoy a bowl of hot oats in the morning and add more mushrooms and barley to your diet. Enjoy!
References:
- Orally Administered Particulate β-Glucan Modulates Tumor-Capturing Dendritic Cells and Improves Antitumor T-Cell Responses in Cancer
- Bing Li, Yihua Cai, Chunjian Qi, Richard Hansen, Chuanlin Ding, Thomas C. Mitchell and Jun Yan
- DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-10-0820 Published November 2010.
- Chan, G.C., Chan, W.K. & Sze, D.M. The effects of β-glucan on human immune and cancer cells. J Hematol Oncol 2009(2);25. doi:10.1186/1756-8722-2-25.
- Kim HS, Hong JT, Kim Y, Han SB. Stimulatory Effect of β-glucans on Immune Cells. Immune Netw. 2011;11(4):191-195. doi:10.4110/in.2011.11.4.191.
- El Khoury D, Cuda C, Luhovyy BL, Anderson GH. Beta glucan: health benefits in obesity and metabolic syndrome. J Nutr Metab. 2012;2012:851362. doi:10.1155/2012/851362.
- Bashir KMI, Choi JS. Clinical and physiological perspectives of β-glucans: The past, present, and future. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18(9):1906. doi:10.3390/ijms18091906.
- Whitehead A, Beck EJ, Tosh S, Wolever TM. Cholesterol-lowering effects of oat β-glucan: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014;100(6):1413-21. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.086108.
- Thompson IJ, Oyston PC, Williamson DE. Potential of the beta-glucans to enhance innate resistance to biological agents. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2010;8(3):339-352.
- Shimizu C, Kihara M, Aoe S, et al. Effect of high beta-glucan barley on serum cholesterol concentrations and visceral fat area in Japanese men–a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2008;63(1):21-25.
- Yoon TJ, Koppula S, Lee KH. The effects of β-glucans on cancer metastasis. Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2013 Jun;13(5):699-708. doi: 10.2174/1871520611313050004. PMID: 23140352.
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