Mushroom beta-glucans

Fermentable fibers

Fiber from the cell wall of mushrooms, much studied for its dialogue with the immune cells of the gut.

No plant provides it: it is the only substrate that mushrooms alone carry.

Effects and benefits

Mushrooms speak directly to your immune system. Their walls are made of beta-glucans that the defense cells of the gut recognize through a dedicated receptor. In one trial, a little shiitake every day made some lymphocytes more active in four weeks.

This dialogue is no accident: yeasts and molds are among the microbes our defenses must spot, and their signature is precisely this beta-glucan. Immune cells carry a receptor that recognizes it, dectin-1 (Brown and Gordon, 2001). Eating mushrooms shows them this signature without the slightest danger.

The effect has been measured in humans. In a four-week trial, 5 to 10 g of dried shiitake a day increased the proliferation of certain lymphocytes and lowered CRP, a marker of inflammation (Dai et al., 2015).

They do not form the same gel as oat beta-glucans: their chains branch differently, and the cholesterol effect of oat beta-glucans does not apply to them. Their interest lies in this dialogue with immunity, still widely studied. Cooking does not destroy them, which is lucky: most mushrooms are eaten cooked.

Sources: Brown and Gordon, Nature, 2001 · Dai et al., J Am Coll Nutr, 2015

Where to find it (130)

Also, in smaller amounts (2)

Its category: Mushrooms