Barley Beta Glucan

Beta glucan is a soluble polysaccharide found in several sources, including yeast organisms, oat fiber, barley fiber and mushrooms of various types. Beta glucan has been shown to have multiple positive effects on the human body. The issue is whether or not all Beta glucans from the various sources are the same. Research has found that some molecules of Beta glucan are larger than others. They also have different linkages between the various sugar-like molecules. For example, there exists a (1,4), (1,3) and (1,6) linkages, which show how the different molecules are connected to one another in a long polysaccharide molecule. Research is available on the different sources of Beta glucan that can help you decide the usefulness of the different Beta glucan sources.

Barley sources of Beta glucan contain a large amount of (1,3) and (1,4) side chain Beta glucan. The research available has only really found barley Beta glucan to be useful in lowering cholesterol and other lipids and in lowering blood sugar. In this way, barley Beta glucan is much like oat Beta glucan in its properties.

In one research study involving an animal model, both the total and LDL cholesterol were reduced when the animal was fed barley Beta glucan as compared to a control group that didn't eat Beta glucan. The HDL levels where unaffected. Barley Beta glucan was found to be safe and nontoxic, even in high doses.

A related study in mice showed that there were no immune changes in those animals that were given barley Beta glucan. This is an important study because other sources of Beta glucan, such as mushrooms and yeast, have a positive effect on the immune system. This makes it possible that Beta glucan coming from barley is different from the Beta glucan that comes from yeast or from mushrooms.

Like oat Beta glucan, barley sources of Beta glucan lower the blood sugar in diabetic patients. The studies used wheat cookies and barley cookies in diabetics and found that the blood sugar in barley users was lowered by 50% when compared to those who ate wheat cookies. As an aside, barley cookies seemed to work better than barley-derived crackers.

Further evidence that barley works against high cholesterol is shown in the fact that the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of both oat and barley for the reduction of blood sugar. It appears that barley Beta glucan and the products made with it is effective in the lowering of cholesterol and blood sugar and that barley and oats are nearly the same in their activity.

While Barley Beta glucan has been shown to provide heart health related benefits, yeast-derived Beta glucan has shown similar positive results. Results include cholesterol and blood sugar challenged individuals. Yeast-derived Beta glucan has also proven to be a powerful immune system support material.

References:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.