What is Beta-Glucan and What Does It Do?

What is Beta-Glucan and What Does It Do?
Beta-glucans are polysaccharides (a carbohydrate with several sugar molecules bonded together) that occur in the cell walls of certain cereal grains, bacteria, fungi, and algae.

The intriguing thing about them is that once ingested by humans, the immune system recognizes the beta-glucans as pathogen-associated molecular patterns or PAMPs. This means beta-glucan activates both innate and acquired immunity, which is a good thing.

Innate immunity is what you’re born with. It consists of cells like neutrophils, monocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, and a set of 30 blood proteins known as the complement proteins. Together, they wage a concerted attack against invading pathogens.

Adaptive immunity, however, involves cells that require “training.” Each infectious exposure “teaches” cells known as T-cells and B-cells to produce antibodies that attack specific infections. These cells “remember” the infection and produce long-lasting immunity to it. (This process is also the basis of most vaccines.)

It was initially thought that beta-glucans only activated innate immunity, which is great by itself, but the recent discovery that they also activate acquired immunity is really exciting.

In practical terms, it means beta-glucan has immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and radioprotective (protects healthy tissue from radiation) properties. And, since beta-glucan is essentially insoluble fiber, scientists posit that it might also have cardioprotective effects through increased control of cholesterol, weight, and glycemic response.