What is Beta Glucan?
Beta glucan is a natural polysaccharide categorized as an immune modulator. It modifies your immune system to enhance its efficiency.
Just as supplements such as vitamins (or vitamin C) and minerals are extracted from whole food sources, beta glucan is derived from the cell walls of various foods, usually mushrooms, whole grains, cereals, or yeast.
As a polysaccharide and fiber, beta glucan’s molecular structure is formed as a strand, with periodic branches along the chain.
Formulations of beta glucan are indicated by the point at which the branches occur, such as beta (1,3) (1,4) glucan, or beta (1,3) (1,6) glucan. Beta (1,3) D-glucan is the bioactive form most commonly used for high-quality supplements.
While we refer to it as simply beta glucan, read the supplement labels to be sure of what kinds of beta glucan you are considering taking.
β-glucan supplements are typically in capsule form, taking the beta glucan to be absorbed by the intestinal tract and utilized where needed throughout the body.
Top Benefits of Beta Glucan for Your Skin
Here are additional benefits of incorporating beta glucan into your skincare routine.
Sensitive Skin Treatment
While sensitive skin may not have a direct cause, it can often be triggered by certain soaps, skincare products, makeup, toner, or moisturizers.
When molecules bond on the skin's surface, they create a thin invisible layer. This layer enhances the skin's inherent protective skin barrier, shielding the delicate skin beneath from the daily challenges posed by the environment.
Glucans are also able to reduce transepidermal water loss and strengthen the skin’s outer layer.
If you are struggling with dry skin, redness, and skin irritation, beta glucan replenishment cream might be a promising remedy worth considering.
Deep Dive: Hyaluronic Allergy: Causes, Side Effects and Treatment
Actively Decreases Wrinkles on Your Skin
β-Glucans have skin regenerative properties that can revitalize immune cells, stimulate collagen production, and strengthen the skin's ability to withstand adverse environmental effects. (1)
In turn, this will promote anti-aging and anti-wrinkle benefits.
Skin Hydration
People who use beta glucan skincare are known to experience deeply nourishing and hydrating effects.
Beta glucan acts as a humectant in your skin, which means it has the ability to create a barrier on the surface of dry skin, adding moisture, hydration, and plumping up the skin to feel more supple.
Antioxidant Properties
Our skin is exposed to environmental stressors on a daily basis, including exposure to the sun, pollution, and stress related to life.
Each of these circumstances can initiate the production of free radicals, which steal from other molecules until the skin cell becomes unstable and breaks down.
Free radicals left unchecked become oxidative stress, which leads to health concerns in the body.
As an antioxidant source, beta glucan works to supplement your diet and help minimize and repair skin damage caused by toxins and stress.
Nutritionally, though, a focus on varied fruits and vegetables and a reliable source of beta glucan can target skin health from a cellular level.
Topical Usage of Beta Glucans
Applying beta glucan cream directly on the skin can help increase skin hydration, improve skin firmness and elasticity, and reduce wrinkles.
During an eight-week clinical study conducted on women, the application of beta glucan topically yielded significant improvements in various skin aspects. The results showed a 27% increase in skin hydration, a 56% reduction in facial wrinkles, and a 29% enhancement in skin elasticity and firmness.
Research on the Topical Application of Beta Glucans:
Our Topical Beta Glucan Cream Contains the Following Three Core Ingredients:
Aloe
Aloe vera is a gel-like substance from the Aloe plant that is known for its healing ability for a variety of minor skin ailments. It has been used for health purposes for close to 4,000 years.
Aloe contains over 75 nutrients and 200 biologically active molecules.
The moisturizing effect of Aloe can help ease itchy and dry skin commonly associated with eczema.
Our cream does not contain water and is 64% ACTIValoe® aloe vera.
Suggested Reading: Aloe Vera Benefits for Your Skin
Beta Glucan
Our glucan ingredient has the potential to prevent cellular damage commonly associated with aging or skin that has been exposed to the sun.
Beta glucan assists in boosting the immune response against various skin conditions such as dermatitis, eczema, bedsores, wounds, and burns.
Due to its unique carbohydrate structure, this molecule has the ability to bind with multiple receptors throughout the body. This may help in safeguarding sensitive skin against the daily impact of environmental stressors as well as boost your innate immunity.
These frontline immune cells are responsible for diligently monitoring, identifying, attacking, and eliminating foreign substances that do not belong in the body.
Hyaluronic Acids
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a gel-like substance that retains moisture in the skin and acts as a powerful hydrating ingredient. According to a study on WebMD, hyaluronic acids also act as a cushion in the skin tissue and joints and can also help to decrease swelling.
Within our beta glucan skin lotion, there are four types of Hyaluronic Acids:
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Sodium Hyaluronate acts like a sponge, helping the skin retain moisture, enhancing elasticity, and plumping within the tissues. This remarkable compound is renowned for its ability to hold water, as it can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water.
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Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate is an even smaller molecule of Hyaluronic Acid that can deeply nourish and hydrate the skin. It has stronger antioxidant properties compared to HA, offers enhanced anti-aging benefits, and provides better protection from the sun.
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Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate is another form of Hyaluronic Acid that functions on the skin's surface. Its purpose is to prevent water evaporation, resulting in prolonged moisture and softness.
Sodium Hyaluronate Cross Polymer is a special mesh-like structure of Hyaluronic Acid that can increase water capacity by five times more than that of normal HA.
By forming a smooth gel film on the skin, this cross-linked HA gel effectively retains moisture, providing long-term moisturizing benefits.Learn More: Is Hyaluronic Acid Good for Acne?
Wound Healing Effects of Beta Glucan
The most dramatic display of the skin’s abilities as an organ is the way wounds heal. From scratches to surgical wounds and every variant in between, the stages of wound healing are remarkable.
Homeostasis stops bleeding with a clot; white blood cells fill the area, occasionally with visible pus; the wound closes, and eventually, fresh skin cells and tissue grow to close the wound, tighter and stronger than it was to begin with.
The better your nutritive state is, the better your body will be able to execute the wound healing process. (2) We see this with diabetes – when a person’s diabetes is out of control or advanced, and the nutrients consumed are not properly metabolized, wounds are slow to heal.
Just as beta glucan pairs with a well-rounded diet for antioxidant capabilities, it is a partner in wound healing as well. Giving the body the fuel it needs to carry healing properties to wounds is important. Boosting the body’s efforts with a healing supplement like beta glucan is even better.
Part of the wound healing process is the re-establishment of skin tissue where the wound occurred. Skin is more than what we see, with multiple layers and types of cells. As a wound heals, the layers are rebuilt, including collagen fibers, the strands that help glowing skin retain its elasticity.
Researchers have found glucan receptors in this part of the skin and demonstrated that beta glucan can impact the rebuilding of collagen after a wound. (3)
A study in 2011 evaluated the cell regeneration process after a scratch.
Beta glucan from Better Way Health, the source that we highly recommend, advanced healing substantially, restoring cells and bridging the gap that the scratch had left. (4)
Beta Glucan Supports Immune Function for Vibrant, Glowing Skin
While every body system is technically interwoven, the immune system seems to be especially closely linked to each of the others. Beyond keeping us from coming down with that common cold or worse, the immune system is much more than disease prevention.
It regulates the way that the body responds to stress, which is one of the biggest contributors to premature aging and skin problems.
Those little lines and wrinkles on the forehead are obviously connected to stress, evidenced by the descriptor “worry lines”; stress is connected to skin diseases as much as aging.
A bout of acute stress can be physiologically processed on the skin, breaking out into hives or other unpleasant symptoms. As researchers learn more about the immune system and stress responses, the connection between mental stress and the skin is increasingly clear.
Normal immune response includes white blood cells called macrophages traveling to the site of intrusion or disease in the form of inflammation. When the immune system overreacts, or reacts to a perceived threat – such as stress – it is essentially chasing a ghost, creating uncomfortable and unnecessary inflammation without resolution.
Beta glucan helps at this crucial foundational level by helping the immune system to have more efficient responses to illness as well as stress, leading to a decrease in unnecessary inflammation.
Topical treatments for age prevention and disease have their place, but they often address the symptoms only and not the cause. With the effects of stress minimized and the immune system stabilized, we are able to protect our skin from the inside out (5).
Not Just Any Beta Glucan
As with anything in the natural health realm, quality is much more important than quantity – beta glucan is no different. In the wound healing study referenced above, Better Way Health's source was not the only beta glucan tested. Several others were evaluated as well, yielding little to no result.
Beta glucan is a fiber found in cell walls of plants, which means that there is no single source. Just as we think of snowflakes as unique though they are all composed of ice crystals, plants are varied and unique while frequently sharing basic composition features. Beta glucan is a shared feature of cell walls in various plants, but the source may determine effectiveness.
We’ve discussed beta (1,3) d-glucan as the highest bioavailable form of beta glucan – that’s the first thing to look for. Next is the plant source. Mushrooms, grains, and other plants are beta glucan sources. Better Way Health's Beta Glucan, which has tested very well as we have seen, comes from baker’s yeast, the type of beta glucan tested on so-called glucan receptors.
Finally, the purity levels of a beta glucan supplement are easily tarnished, and like any supplement, no federal requirements exist for testing and quality assurance. For beta glucan, low purity levels can inhibit effectiveness. This is all the more reason to choose a beta glucan manufacturer that is reputable and volunteers strict purity standards.
Topical Support for Skin Health and Healing
There is no magic bullet in natural health – or life – and that is part of the beauty of holistic health. We don’t expect to take one supplement, add or eliminate one food, or follow one order and then find our problems solved.
No, our body systems do not function in a vacuum, and we cannot expect to improve them with singular approaches.
We’ve seen how antioxidants are beneficial for cell and skin health from a nutrient source as well as a supplemental beta glucan source. Now, we’re going to soothe it with topical antioxidants, as well.
Topical antioxidants are nothing new – vitamin E formulas have been part of pharmaceutical acne treatments for decades. Researchers are now finding that topical antioxidants may also help to both protect from and reverse existing photo-damage.
By combining an antioxidant-rich base oil with nutritive and healing essential oils, we can support the skin from the outside while a healthy diet and beta glucan supplementation support it internally.