Many people from all around the world and from different cultures and societies agree that nature is the best pharmacy kit one could ever wish. Starting with your great grandmother and finishing with professional homeopaths, they have long been using natural products and foods to treat and ease symptoms of many illnesses and diseases. However, there is one particular product that is worth more attention to pay – it’s beta-glucans!
What are beta-glucans?
Beta-glucans are a remarkable type of fibers found in many contrasting foods and plants on which its real benefits depend. Even though some of the sources of beta-glucans have been used for centuries, at that time, people were considering the food itself being powerful and having healing abilities; particular interest in beta-glucans came to light only in the last decades of the twentieth century. Now they are widely used for many different purposes and in quite unlike ways: by mouth as food additives or vitamin pills, intravenously as an injection into one’s muscles, or used externally as various skin balms.
Being classified as water-soluble fibers beta-glucans slows down the process of digesting food, so our bodies do not rush to absorb sugars. Besides slower food transit, beta-glucans are partially indigestible; they travel through the whole digestive system. Beta-glucans strengthen the immune system and are safe to use when administered orally in quantities found in everyday foods, so a rich diet is one of the best ways to enrich one’s body with beta-glucans.
Where in nature do we find beta-glucans?
Beta-glucans were first found in the form of sugar hiding in the cell walls of lichens, which is a composite organism that grows based on a symbiotic relationship between fungus and algae. There are some species of lichens that are edible and safe, but be careful as some lichens are poisonous and can happen to be your last meal once they form from Cyanobacteria and releases harmful toxins. People mostly use inedible lichens for clothing, decoration, or dyes creating many astonishing colors.
Shortly after, beta-glucans were discovered in barley and other types of cereals: wheat, bran, and oats. As different types of grains are far more scientifically researched than seaweed or various mushrooms researchers inform consumers that particular species of cereals have different immune-strengthening potential because they contain unlike amounts of beta-glucans. Scientists state that barley is the most beta-glucan-rich type of grain and is followed by oats, which has a slightly lower content of beta-glucan.
You may also find beta-glucans in various Chinese and Japanese mushrooms, particularly maitake, reishi, shimeji, and shiitake. Unlike grains, which have different content of beta-glucans depending on the species, mushrooms have the highest levels of beta-glucan shortly before the spores start to mature. As the timeframe for picking these mushrooms is not long, and scientists have not researched them extensively, consumers must understand that it is safer to eat them in small quantities until more information follows.
Of course, there are more natural sources containing beta-glucans, for example, bacteria, algae, yeasts, etc. Even though the latter has more beta-glucans than mushrooms, they are just as widely used and healthy; the only difference is that you may need to consume smaller amounts of brewer’s or baker’s yeasts to reach the same results as eating cereals or mushrooms. No matter the quantity of yeast-derived beta-glucans that one consumes throughout the meals or as supplements, these beta-glucans are one of the safest and smartest ways to improve one’s health.
What is the value of beta-glucans?
The first widely known and scientifically proven beta-glucans’ benefit to a person’s body was boosting the cardiovascular system. Scientists agree that consistent consumption of grain-based beta-glucans adds up to maintaining a healthy heart and improving cholesterol and insulin levels, reducing high blood pressure (hypertension), and the risk of strokes. Beta-glucans also reduce the risk of type II diabetes and help control blood sugar levels if already diagnosed with such an illness. Different studies argue for how long one should consume beta-glucan-rich foods before the first results may show; however, they do not feud about its benefits.
Beta-glucans also help people dealing with particular skin conditions. Various researches show that routinely used a face cream with beta-glucans reduces the skin flares and itching caused by eczema. Beta-glucans may also reduce canker sores – painful ulcers developing on the soft tissue in one’s mouth or on the gums. Yeast-derived beta-glucans have a distinctive feature of stimulating skin cell response and defending our skin against the pollution from the environment – it also delays the aging process!
Other advantages of consistent beta-glucans use include reducing the symptoms of hay fever and lowering the chances of getting an infection after various surgeries as yeast-derived beta-glucans have specific anti-inflammatory properties. It may also shorten the length of one’s intensive care unit stay as it improves survival rates and overall well-being. Cancer patients use beta-glucans intravenously as an injection; it may extend the life of patients or delay the growth of cancer of some localities when used together with usual cancer-treating medication.
Various studies have shown beta-glucans being valuable in the process of controlling one’s weight. As beta-glucans are fibers, they help people dealing with obesity or having metabolic syndrome – the condition affects about one-quarter of the population of all ages! Including beta-glucans-rich food into an everyday diet can effectively increase weight loss.
Besides all advantages, beta-glucans are mostly celebrated for their ability to stimulate immunity. Beta-glucans strengthen the immune system, ensure smooth functioning, and help one’s body deal with various diseases, bacterial infections, and viruses’ pathogens. Taking yeast-derived beta-glucans, for example, enhance the immune system by activating macrophages, which initiates a fast and incredibly powerful immune response.
Even if you think that all of the benefits of beta-glucans sound too good to be true, you will be able to see and feel for yourself. Hold on tight onto your chair as next week we are introducing an amazing new product to the market – it’s CBD oil with beta-glucans! This incredible combination means that CBD oil will improve your physical and mental well-being at the same time as beta-glucans strengthen the immune system and may ensure the smooth working of your heart.