Nutrition Articles

Dietary beta glucans (β-glucans) are a type of soluble fibre found in the cell walls of certain mushrooms (eg reishi, shiitake, maitake), cereals (e.g. oats, barley) yeasts, seaweed and algae.

Researchers are particularly interested in β-glucans because more and more studies are identifying their significant impact on health, such as lowering insulin resistance, blood cholesterol, obesity prevention and immune boosting properties including fighting cancer. 

We hear alot about low GI eating in the media but what does it really mean? What does a low GI meal plan actually look like and is it just for diabetics or can we all benefit? To answer this we must first understand what a Low GI is. 

There’s a reason why mushrooms have been used for thousands of years in natural therapies, that’s because they are loaded with powerful nutrients that not only improve our health, but also have been shown to fight disease. Mushrooms are not technically a vegetable, but rather part of the fungi family, and are surprisingly more closely related to animals than plants (they digest their own food, lack roots, leaves and stems) and have some pretty impressive health benefits.

If you want to be healthy, you not only need to eat a balanced, varied diet, but you also need to have a digestive system that is functioning optimally. This means absorbing as many nutrients as possible whilst protecting us from substances that may be harmful. Our bodies then have to repeat this 24 hours per day, seven days per week! There are some simple habits (and foods) we can utilise to give our guts a helping hand.