Beta glucans are sugars that are found in the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae, lichens, and plants, such as oats and barley. They are sometimes used as medicine. People apply beta glucans to the skin for dermatitis, eczema, wrinkles, bedsores, wounds, burns, diabetic ulcers, and radiation burns. ** (FROM WebMD) Beta glucan is a soluble fibre derived from the cell walls of plants like oat, barley, and reishi mushrooms or from yeast. Beta glucan is claimed to be anti-inflammatory, a promoter of collagen, a treatment for fine lines and wrinkles, and a great wound and care care helper. Its thought that beta glucan works to stimulate and activate macrophages in our skin as well as promoting the protective qualities of our keratinocytes, which will help with wound healing. And beta glucan can soothe and calm skin through reinforcement of these macrophages, which reduce irritation of our skin. Including beta glucan in our products can also reduce irritation of those products, especially surfactants.* Susan Barclay Nichols (swiftcraftymonkey/BlogSpot,com) INCI Name: Water (and) Avena sativa (oat) Extract (and) Glycerin Name on Aluna bottles: * FORMULATING FACIAL PRODUCTS BY Susan BarclayNichols If youre REALLY interested, Heres more info..... What about the claims about collagen promotion and treatment for fine lines and wrinkles? Beta glucan is a very large molecule, and normally it wouldnt be thought to penetrate skin, but one study (that has been quoted everywhere it seems) on non-living human skin showed that it could penetrate our skin. They used a 0.5% solution of beta glucan and found by using a tracking chemical that it did penetrate our skin, but not through the cells. It penetrates through the intercellular matrix of lipids between the skin cells (if you think of our cells as bricks, the intercellular matrix of lipids would be the mortar between the bricks). This same company conducted a study on the claims that beta glucan can help with fine lines and wrinkles. They used a gel with 0.1% beta glucan on 27 subjects over 8 weeks. They reported a reduction of fine lines and wrinkles, but the effects went away if the subjects stopped using the gel. (If youd like to know more about why this ingredient might work for this purpose, click on the study link and read the conclusions. Too much to write here.) This is a small study from 2005, and I havent been able to find another study replicating the results, so take this information with a grain of salt. So we have confirmation that beta glucan is a good anti-inflammatory and wound healer, and information that could lead us to believe that it might be effective as a fine line and wrinkle reducer.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:19:00 +0000
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