{"id":55,"date":"2015-06-09T17:18:28","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T17:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/?p=55"},"modified":"2017-05-24T13:09:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T17:09:25","slug":"the-beta-glucans-of-barley-and-oats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/the-beta-glucans-of-barley-and-oats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beta-Glucans of Barley and Oats"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sue Becker<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cwhat\u201d?<\/p>\n

Ok, I\u2019m writing a book on home flour milling which has lead me to do more research on the health benefits of whole grains. In my 20+ years of teaching I would have to say that I have acquired a good bit of information that I love to share with others.\u00a0 In the past weeks, however, I have been devouring every bit of information I can get my hands on, and I must say I am more than excited.\u00a0 Beta-glucans are just one of my most recent \u201cdiscoveries\u201d.<\/p>\n

Beta-glucans are a polysaccharide found in the soluble fiber of most whole grains but have particularly high concentrations in both barley and oats. There has been an increased interest in the past 20 years of the nutritional benefits of beta-glucans.\u00a0 Of all the components of fiber studied for their function and contribution to health, beta-glucans have been the most extensively documented.<\/p>\n

Nutritionally beta-glucans trigger a cascade of events in the human body that help regulate the immune system, making it more efficient.\u00a0 Beta-glucans stimulate activity of macrophages.\u00a0 Macrophages ingest and demolish invading pathogens and stimulate other immune cells to attack invaders.\u00a0 Macrophages also release cytokines, which enable immune cells to communicate with each other.\u00a0 Beta-glucans also stimulate white blood cells that bind to tumor cells and viruses and release chemicals to destroy these cells.\u00a0 Studies also show that beta-glucans reduced the incidence of infection in patients with high risk surgeries, as well as shortened intensive care unit stay and improved survival rate.\u00a0 Bottom line \u2013 of all the polysaccharides studied that act as immunostimulants, beta-glucans were found to be the most effective against infectious disease and cancer.<\/p>\n

Beta-glucans form a viscous solution in the gut which slows digestion and absorption giving a feeling of fullness for much longer and is the basis for many of the health benefits.\u00a0 Beta-glucans have also been found to improve insulin response, lower cholesterol levels, and to restore the activity of gut organisms.<\/p>\n

So maybe all of this information doesn\u2019t excite you as much as me.\u00a0 However, it may at least inspire you to eat more barley and oats.\u00a0 For most of us oats are easy.\u00a0 A bowl of oatmeal or granola, and who doesn\u2019t love an oatmeal cookie.\u00a0 Barley on the other hand may be a little more challenging to incorporate.<\/p>\n

Barley is sold in two forms, hulled and pearled.\u00a0 Hulled barley is more nutritious than pearled barley.\u00a0 Pearled barley has some of the bran polished off, diminishing both the fiber and nutrient content.\u00a0 Hulled barley can easily be substituted in any recipe calling for pearled barley.<\/p>\n

I typically use soft wheat flour for my pastries and cookies, but I recently discovered that barley flour not only works well in cookies but actually adds a wonderful depth of flavor.\u00a0 Here is a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe using barley flour<\/a>. \u00a0You will notice it is really just a basic cookie recipe.\u00a0 So feel free to experiment with some of your favorite recipes substituting barley flour for soft wheat flour.\u00a0 A cupful of rolled oats could be added as well to increase the beta-glucans even more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sue Becker The \u201cwhat\u201d? Ok, I\u2019m writing a book on home flour milling which has lead me to do more research on the health benefits of whole grains. In my 20+ years of teaching I<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,28],"tags":[22,24,23,8],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-grains","tag-barley","tag-bets-glaucans","tag-oats","tag-recipe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}