How
Beta Glucan works:
First,
you must have a medical condition caused by your immune system not
recognizing or dealing effectively with a problem.
For Beta Glucan to be effective, you need an impaired immune
system. This can include any abnormal health condition that threatens life.
An
impaired immune system simply does not recognize or does not deal
effectively with something that does not belong in your body.
Your
body has billions of macrophages and natural killer cells.
Their job is to find, kill and remove anything foreign in your
body.
Example,
this is a cancer cell. It
needs to be killed and removed from the body; however, if this does not
happen, the cell will divide. There
are two things wrong with this picture:
1) It has 3 natural killer cells doing nothing, and 2) You can
see the cancer cell, but ideally, the cancer cell would be totally
engulfed by natural killer cells and macrophages.
The
3 natural killer cells in the above picture do not recognize the threat
of the cancer cell.
The
human immune system has methods of combating infection caused by
a variety of microorganisms, such as bacteria, cancer and fungi. Its
first line of defense is macrophages, millions of immune cells that
circulate throughout the body and identify and destroy foreign
intruders. Beta glucan, which is extracted from the cell walls of yeast
(Saccharomyces cerevisiae), binds with macrophages and triggers
the immune mechanisms.
This
activation initiates a cascade of events leading to the expression of an
overall heightened cellular immune response that includes:
-
Production
of white blood cells in the bone marrow, including macrophages,
neutrophils and monocytes, which attack and devour harmful invaders.
-
Mobilization
of immune cells to the site of a foreign challenge.
-
Increased
phagocytic capacity or the ability to engulf and destroy intruders.
-
Communication
of the presence of an invader to other cells of the immune system,
including other macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer or NK
cells.
-
Presentation
of antigens to B and T cells of the acquired immune system, which
adapts or learns to defend the body against a specific threat.
-
Transformation
of B cells into large plasma cells that act as small factories
secreting antibodies. Antibodies bind with foreign cells,
identifying their presence for macrophages and other defenders that
attack and kill the intruders.
-
Solicitation
of antigen-recognizing T-cells to destroy infected or mutant cells.
What
generally will happen is the immune system components will then
recognize the original threat and start doing its job.
Beta Glucan works differently than
most immune products. It is an immune system modulator and works by
forcing your immune system to "work" and into a higher level
of activity.
Beta
Glucan has been intensely studied for over 30 years with, most of the
research being on Cancer and the immune system. None of the
research was done with micro-doses such as 3, 5, or 10 mg. There
are considerable studies in humans with late stage cancers using 3,000
mg daily.
You
have seen the spam:
"The
broad spectrum of immunopharmacological activities of glucan includes
not only the modification of certain bacterial, fungal, viral, and
parasitic infections, but also inhibition of tumor growth."
Nicholas DiLuzio, Ph.D. Department of Physiology Tulane University School of
Medicine"
This
specific published article used a dose of 3,000 mg a day, it is on a
current website selling a 7.5 mg product. It is common for
websites to detail articles in a format to "suggest" the
research was done on their product.
What
are the differences between Beta Glucan products?
Beta
Glucan is made from Baker's Yeast because it contains a high percentage
of the 1,3/1,6 molecular linkage. In
its raw form, Baker's Yeast is a large molecule entangled with fat and
protein. The immune system will not recognize raw Baker's Yeast
because of the fat clinging to the 1,3/1,6 linkage.
The protein in raw Baker's Yeast can do damage to an already
impaired immune system.
The
issue becomes how do you cleave off the fat and protein molecules
without damaging the molecule containing the 1,3/1,6 linkage.
It
is easy to remove some of the fats and proteins.
You do end up with Beta
Glucan (as defined by the FDA), but it is not very effective because it
would still contain fat and proteins, some as high as 40% (zero would be
ideal). It is also possible to go to the other extreme, and remove
most all of the fat and protein, but in the process the 1,3/1,6 linkage
is destroyed.
The
object is to produce a product with the lowest fat and protein levels as
possible and still keep a percentage of the 1,3/1,6 linkage intact.
No
Mystery:
Any
responsible manufacturer of Beta Glucan has each batch tested. The cost
of the test varies between independent testing facilities but generally
runs $300 to $500 per test. The
test results are very straight forward and report the exact percentage
of intact 1,3 and 1,6 linkage, as well as the fat, protein and ash (ash
= impurities) percentages. Every
manufacturer knows exactly what is in their product.
The
problem you will encounter comparing products is most manufactures will
not detail the specifications on their products for obvious reasons. You can click on the chart below to see what happens when we
had the leading products independently tested.
The
chart above documents the test results of the top five Beta Glucan
products. Sealed samples for these comparisons were purchased
through ordinary retail channels. They were delivered to an
FDA-certified laboratory and were all subjected to the same tests.
The John Hopkins University & R-Tech Laboratories did
multiple tests on multiple lots of these company's products over a
period of more than one year. R-Tech is ISO 17025 and ISO 9002
certified using methods approved by the FDA and the USDA.
Transfer
Point is the cleanest and purest WGP (Whole Glucan Particulant) Beta
Glucan commercially available.
89%
active 1,3/1,6 linkage and 3% or less fat.
How
much Beta Glucan to take?
Any
amount of clean Beta Glucan will do some good.
A few milligrams (mg) of Beta Glucan will activate a few
macrophages. If you are attempting to activate the billions of macrophages
in your body, you need to take a material dose of it each day.
The
FDA does not allow retailers to "advertise" dosing information
for specific medical conditions. We are allowed to provide dosing
information if you request it.
.
Like the
bacteria in this picture, you need to flood your body with the physical
Beta Glucan linkage so that all of your immune system will respond to
something. Since you have billions of Macrophages and Natural Killer
cells, a small dose of Beta Glucan can only give a few of the
Macrophages and Natural Killer cells something to work on. Larger
amounts of Beta Glucan will make more of your immune system respond.
Price:
Unless you
pay close attention to product specifications, you can easily purchase a
product with a low percentage of active 1,3/1,6 linkage and a high
percentage of fat. This combination will result in a product not
doing much, if anything, for your immune system.
Trust no
one if you have a health issue and are researching Beta Glucan.
Anyone can reference an impressive list of links to the research on Beta
Glucan or reference mis-quote research in such a way to make you think
the research was done on their product.
A number
of retailers are selling Beta Glucan, in a variety of doses (3 mg to 500
mg) and purporting to all have the same immune system benefits of
the research they reference, regardless of milligram dose.
The missing link is the absence of published clinical testing on their
part and the lack of any scientifically acceptable peer-reviewed
evidence.
The featured article/research in the April 25th, 2002 issue of the peer
reviewed journal JANA (Journal of the American Nutraceutical
Association) titled Yeast Beta 1,3-glucan and Its Use Against Anthrax
Infection and in the Treatment of Cancer. The JANA article
addresses the effects of WGP (Whole Glucan Particulat) Beta Glucan, in
laboratory tests, on cancer and lethal doses of Anthrax. The Beta
Glucan (oral dosed) used in the JANA research articles was specifically
the same product being sold on this web site.
Transfer
Point Beta Glucan is the purest and most effective Beta Glucan you can
buy in the supplement industry today. 89% active 1,3/1,6 linkage and 3%
or less fat. Its specifications are clearly superior, it is priced
reasonably, and it is sold, not in micro dose, but high doses that
produce real immune system benefits.
You will
not find a better value, safer, or more effective product than
Transfer Point's Beta Glucan. If you don't know the differences
between Beta Glucan products, your immune system will.
$69.95 -
500 mg - 60 count bottle. (total 30,000 mgs)
$29.95 -
100 mg - 60 count bottle. (total 6,000 mgs)
Ingredients: Beta Glucan, Methylcellulose (anticaking).
Healthy
people normally do not research Beta Glucan; people with health
problems do. Take
the time to understand the differences in Beta Glucan products.
Beta Glucan Dosage Page
Critical Care Therapy:
