The Life-Saving Fiber
A new study shows that one functional fiber helps protect us against the flu. Check it out.
A new study shows that beta glucan (β-glucan), a natural prebiotic fiber, reduces the lung damage caused by influenza and improves lung function. Mice were treated with beta glucan for a week and then given a big dose of the flu. Compared to the placebo group, the treated mice had a much greater chance of surviving a lethal dose.
This study sets the stage for future human research, which could be huge. Thousands of Americans die from the flu yearly – 52,000 in a recent flu season. Most of us survive, but long-term damage can occur, including lung scarring, prolonged brain fog, and the triggering of autoimmune conditions. And the flu shot is, at best, 38 to 60% effective depending on that year's strain.
Beta glucan has already proven to be a natural immunity booster, a fat fighter, and even an anti-aging treatment. Now, it looks like beta glucan may also help us survive the flu with less damage and more tolerable symptoms.
But How Does That Work?
First, you need to know a few terms:
- Host Resistance: This is your body's ability to fight off or kill an invader, like a virus.
- Innate Immunity: Your body's first line of defense. It responds quickly to pathogens in a general (non-specific) way. The innate immune system includes cells like neutrophils, which attack invaders quickly without really "knowing" who they are. It's fast but messy.
- Trained Immunity: This is where innate immune cells like neutrophils develop a kind of "memory" after exposure to certain stimuli (beta glucan in the study above). This leads to a stronger or more regulated immune response upon future infections.
- Disease Tolerance: This is a defense strategy where your body minimizes the damage caused by a pathogen. Instead of directly attacking the virus, the immune system modulates its response to reduce tissue damage and inflammation. It keeps you from getting too sick while the pathogen is still present.
Here's an Analogy
Imagine sitting in your house one night. You peek out the window and see a guy with a hatchet about to break in. You grab a gun and either scare him off or put a few holes in him. Problem solved. In this scenario, the bad guy is the flu. You are host resistance.
But sometimes, the flu bad guy gets into your house (your body). Sticking with the analogy, let's say you've hired a security guard. He's strong and enthusiastic, but kinda dumb. The guard wrestles with the bad guy and protects you, but during the fight, he manages to break all your lamps. The security guard is your innate immune system. The broken lamps are inflammation and lung damage.
Now, you decide to send your security guard away for more training. He goes off to boot camp and gets stronger and smarter. Now he's got jiu-jitsu moves and a taser: he can protect the house without wrecking it. Your security guard is now trained immunity. He remembers how to deal with invaders. The training he received is beta glucan. You, the homeowner, are disease tolerance.
In the study, beta glucan "reprogrammed" the neutrophils, making them churn out anti-inflammatory stuff (like interleukin-10) and stick around in the lungs longer. The study's author noted: "It's remarkable how beta glucan can reprogram certain immune cells, such as neutrophils, to control excessive inflammation in the lung."
Beta Glucan: Right Kind, Right Dose
While more studies are needed, the researchers think beta glucan will work the same on people with the flu. Related studies back that up.
Beta glucan is found naturally in oats, yeast, and certain mushrooms, but, in that form, it's hard for your body to use therapeutically. The cell walls are too thick, decreasing the bioavailability of the beta glucan those foods contain. The most bioavailable form is actually derived from algae, which contains more beta glucan and has thinner cellular walls.
This is the form Biotest uses in Beta Glucan Immune-Boosting Fiber. Each serving contains an effective therapeutic dose of 600 mg.
References
- Khan, Nargis, et al. "β-Glucan Reprograms Neutrophils to Promote Disease Tolerance Against Influenza A Virus." Nature Immunology, 2025.