Beta Glucan - Barley Derived

The molecule of Beta glucan is a soluble type of fiber found in mushrooms, yeast, oats and barley. Research has been completed on all sources of Beta glucan and all have shown some positive effect of Beta glucan on the body.

What researchers have discovered, however, is that not all Beta glucan is the same. There can be molecules of Beta glucan that are of a large molecular weight (big size) as well as molecules of Beta glucan that are of a small molecular weight (small size). Additionally, there are Beta glucan molecules with a (1-4) connection, a (1-6) molecular connection and a (1-3) molecular condition.

While each type of Beta glucan looks different, there is no good research showing the effectiveness of the different types of Beta glucan.

The research available on barley-derived Beta glucan revealed a great deal of (1-3) and (1-4) Beta glucan. Most of the research on barley-derived Beta glucan focused on exactly the same issues as oat-derived Beta glucan, which also contains (1-3) and (1-4) molecular linkages. The studies focused on the lipid-lowering and anti-diabetic properties of Beta glucan.

One study showed in an animal study that total and LDL cholesterol were reduced after a diet of barley-derived Beta glucan when compared to a control group. HDL levels did not change at all. Another study simply looked at the toxicity of barley-derived Beta glucan and found that it was completely nontoxic.

Still another study in mice looked to see if there were any immune changes in the animals after eating barley-derived Beta glucan. This is an important study because Beta glucan from yeast and mushroom is known to improve the immune system. It's possible that Beta-glucan from barley differs from Beta-glucan from mushrooms and yeast.

Barley-derived Beta glucan is also known to lower blood sugar in diabetics. When wheat cookies were compared to barley cookies in diabetics, the barley cookies lowered the measurements of diabetes by more than 50% compared to the wheat cookies. They found that barley cookies worked better than barley crackers.

Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the statement that both oat and barley glucan can reduce cholesterol when taken internally. This makes it legal for oat and barley products to make that claim.

Barley-derived Beta glucan material has shown in testing to be effective against elevated cholesterol and diabetes. Barley and oat products have been found to be identical in their activity in several research studies.

Yeast-derived Beta glucan has shown positive results on cholesterol and blood sugar challenged individuals as well as it has proven to be a powerful immune system support material. Yeast-derived Beta glucan is not a treatment for any disease or condition. It is an immunomodulator that has been shown to support immune system function.

References:

1. Wilson TA, et al. "Reduced and high molecular weight barley beta-glucans decrease plasma total and non-HDL-cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic Syrian golden hamsters." J Nutr. 2004 Oct;134(10):2617-22.
2. Delaney B, et al. "Repeated dose oral toxicological evaluation of concentrated barley beta-glucan in CD-1 mice including a recovery phase." Food Chem Toxicol. 2003 Aug;41(8):1089-102.
3. Angell JP, et al. "Anti-clastogenic effect of beta-glucan extracted from barley towards chemically induced DNA damage in rodent cells." Hum Exp Toxicol. 2006 Jun;25(6):319-24.
4. Delaney B, et al. "Evaluation of the toxicity of concentrated barley beta-glucan in a 28-day feeding study in Wistar rats." Food Chem Toxicol. 2003 Apr;41(4):477-87.
5. Delaney B et al. "Beta glucan fractions from barley and oats are similarly anti-atherogenic in hypercholesterolemic Syrian golden hamsters." J Nutr. 2003 Feb;133(2):468-75.
6. Casiraghi MC, et al. "Post-prandial responses to cereal products enriched with barley beta-glucan." J Am Coll Nutr. 2006 Aug;25(4):313-20.

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