When it comes to naturally boosting the immune system by optimizing its response to diseases and infections, beta glucans are crucial weapons in the fight to stay healthy. But because the body doesn’t produce beta glucans naturally, the only way to get the compound is through outside sources—namely, baker’s yeast, shiitake mushrooms, and cereal grains, like barley, oats, rye, and wheat.

After a century and a half of research,1 studies have shown that beta glucans act as immunomodulator agents, meaning they trigger a cascade of events that help regulate the immune system, making it more efficient. Specifically, beta glucans stimulate the activity of macrophages, which are versatile immune cells that ingest and demolish invading pathogens and stimulate other immune cells to attack.2 Macrophages also release cytokines, chemicals that when secreted enable the immune cells to communicate with one another. In addition, beta…