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IMMUNE MODULATOR
It has been repeatedly shown in a multitude of studies concerning
the activity of beta glucan as an immune stimulator - or perhaps
more descriptively, a "biological defense modifier", for the immune
system. The aging process has been defined as "the sum total of
life's physical embarrassment due to adverse conditions." Beta-1,3-glucan
may well be the first true anti-aging nutritional supplement. It
is a defense against negative events such as infection, tumors and
radiation damage, and adjunctive to the positive effects of antioxidants,
lipid balance enhancers, antibiotics and other therapeutics. The
result can be improved general health which means greater enjoyment
of life, fewer infirmities, less time and money required for medical
needs and potentially dramatic savings in health-related expenditures
over time.
ANTIOXIDANT EFFECTS
Free radical scavenging assays were repeated in different models
which confirmed the antioxidant effect. In light of what is known
about the potential of free radicals to accelerate aging, cause
cancer and other diseases, this particular effect of Beta-1,3-glucan
is especially important.
AN EFFECTIVE ORAL IMMUNOSTIMULANT
Recent independent experiments completed at Baylor College of Medicine
in the laboratory of Professor Phil Wyde, Ph.D., also indicate the
oral effectiveness of Beta-1,3-glucan in stimulating non-specific
immunity. Peritoneal macrophages doubled their phagocyte activity
in mice fed with Beta-1,3-glucan. This systemic effect of oral application
is comparable to that achieved by injection, which makes this material
a unique and very valuable oral immunostimulant.
FIGHTS CANDIDA
Beta-1,3-glucan also has an antifungal effect, shown in experiments
with Candida albicans. Such a broad anti-infective spectrum of Beta-1,3-glucan
can be explained only by the fact that the immunostimulation produced
by this unique material is non-specific.
"Glucan (Beta-1,3) has been shown to enhance
macrophage function dramatically, and to increase nonspecific host
resistance to a variety of bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic
infections." M.L. Patchen, Ph.D., Dept. of Experimental Hematology
and Radiation Sciences, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute
"Beta-1,3-glucan, is a potent macrophage stimulant
and is beneficial in the therapy of experimental bacterial, viral,
and fungal diseases." William Browder, M.D., Dept. of Surgery
and Physiology, Tulane University School of Medicine
"These studies show, unequivocally, that glucan
(Beta-1,3) has an action not only on macrophages, as was originally
thought, but also on B lymphocytes and on suppressor T cells."
P. Mansell, M.D., McGill University Cancer Research Unit, Victoria
Hospital, Montreal, Canada
"A cascade of interactions and reactions initiated
by macrophage regulatory factors can be envisioned to occur and
to eventuate in conversion of the glucan treated host to an arsenal
of defense." Joyce K. Czop, Ph.D., Dept. of Rheumatology
and Immunology, Harvard Medical School
"Beta-1,3-glucan is at least 100 times more active
than mannan." Joyce K. Czop, Ph.D., Dept. of Rheumatology
and Immunology, Harvard Medical School
*Most of this material attributed to: A.J. Lanigan
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