A few years in the past scientists searched to determine the compound in barley, wheat, rye, and oat grasses that boosted development of lab animals that couldn’t get replaced with any identified nutritional vitamins or minerals. They known as it “the grass juice issue.” Scientists have recognized a flavone in barley grass juice powder that appears to be key for enhancing blood sugar management, reducing irritation, and defending lab animals from the problems of diabetes. Clearly these results aren’t from the nutritional vitamins and minerals within the powder. Our outcomes with barley grass juice powder have proven that you just don’t want a big dose of this potent superfood to see well being enhancements. Perhaps this flavone performs an bigger-than-life function in making barley grass juice powder a potent superfood for overcoming well being challenges in lab animals. Perhaps this flavone is the elusive grass juice issue?
Meet 3′-benzyloxy-5,6,7,4′-tetramethoxyflavone, (we’ll name it Bz-TMF) a tongue-twister of a reputation for a compound present in barley grass powder and barley grass juice powder that made fairly a splash in a latest set of animal research. Let’s dive into the science whereas making this straightforward to grasp, and discover why this little molecule could be value your consideration.
Discovered within the vigorous younger shoots of barley (the supply of barley grass juice powders like BarleyMax), Bz-TMF is a kind of flavone, a plant compound filled with health-boosting potential. Consider it as a supercharged nutrient that fights off dangerous molecules in your physique, like a tiny superhero. In a 2021 examine out of Cairo College, researchers discovered it makes up about 49% of the pure phytochemicals from barley grass powder (as analyzed by GC-MS/MS approach), suggesting it’s a serious participant of their well being results. Whereas Bz-TMF not a family title (but!), its early leads to animal research are getting observed.
Within the fascinating examine from 2021, which we mentioned in a latest weblog article, scientists fed barley microgreens, wealthy on this flavone, to rats with experimentally-induced diabetes. Some rats had been additionally uncovered to aflatoxin, a poisonous mildew compound that compounds the consequences of diabetes. Right here’s what they discovered:
- Blood Sugar Management: The extract, pushed by this flavone, lowered blood sugar ranges.
- Antioxidant Energy: It decreased oxidative stress (consider this as mobile rust) by boosting pure antioxidants like glutathione and enzymes that defend cells.
- Coronary heart and Kidney Well being: The flavone helped normalize ldl cholesterol and triglycerides, defending the center, and decreased injury to kidneys and the liver, as noticed beneath the microscope.
- Reproductive Safety: In diabetic male rats, it improved sperm well being and decreased testicular injury, a lesser-known diabetes complication.
- Toxin Protection: Aflatoxin is a potent liver toxin, and the flavone-rich extract preserved organ perform and decreased irritation in uncovered animals.
Whereas barley grass juice powder does have a broad array of vitamins, these spectacular outcomes will not be due to the vitamin C, vitamin E, or carotenoids within the powder. It isn’t the chlorophyll. We already know that the “grass juice issue” is answerable for these outcomes. May this flavone be the elusive grass juice issue?
So, what makes this flavone so particular? Its construction—a flavonoid with methoxy and benzyloxy teams—offers it distinctive skills.
Whereas we don’t have research isolating this precise flavone, related compounds to Bz-TMF, different tri-, tetra- and penta- methoxyflavones, additionally helps scale back irritation and defend cartilage, decreased multidrug resistance and enhanced anti-tumor immunity. Listed below are 5 research which you could discover to see extra of what these flavones can do:
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5,7,3′,4′-Tetramethoxyflavone Reveals Chondroprotective Exercise by Concentrating on β-Catenin Signaling In Vivo and In Vitro
This examine exhibits TMF protects cartilage in rat fashions of osteoarthritis. -
5,7,3′,4′-Tetramethoxyflavone Protects Chondrocytes from ER Stress-Induced Apoptosis Via Regulation of the IRE1α Pathway
TMF prevents cartilage cell demise in osteoarthritis fashions. -
5,7,3′,4′-Tetramethoxyflavone suppresses TGF-β1-induced activation of murine fibroblasts in vitro and ameliorates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice
TMF inhibits fibroblast activation and reduces lung scarring in mice with pulmonary fibrosis, a severe lung situation. -
Reversal of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance by 5,6,7,3′,4′-pentamethoxyflavone (Sinensetin)
Multidrug resistance (MDR) cells had been sensitized to anticancer medicine by remedy with this pentamethoxyflavone. -
5,7,4′-Trimethoxyflavone triggers most cancers cell PD-L1 ubiquitin-proteasome degradation and facilitates antitumor immunity by focusing on HRD1
TMF reduces PD-L1 expression in most cancers cells, enhancing immune responses towards tumors.
Right here’s the catch: these thrilling outcomes come from lab animal research, not folks. Animal research are an amazing place to begin, however people are totally different—our our bodies won’t reply the identical means. And Bz-TMF was not remoted by itself. It’s only a main part of barley grass juice powder, so it makes you suppose that it could be an essential compound. Research with individuals are wanted to substantiate if it may possibly decrease blood sugar, defend organs, or combat irritation in folks with diabetes. For now, it’s a promising lead, not a confirmed remedy.
My guess is that it’s useful, primarily based on what we find out about folks utilizing BarleyMax, however that the outcomes received’t be as dramatic as they’re in lab rats. (For instance, scientists have cured most cancers in lab rats with many issues that don’t work in folks.) However Bz-TMF is more likely to be useful, and particularly so once you mix it with a health-promoting food regimen and life-style.
You may’t go and purchase capsules of this flavone. It’s only present in meals, not remoted by itself at this level. You’ll find Bz-TMF in barley grass juice powder like BarleyMax, obtainable proper right here at Hallelujah Food plan. Right here’s a number of methods so as to add them to your routine:
- Smoothie Increase: Mix a teaspoon of barley grass juice powder right into a smoothie with berries, spinach, and almond milk.
- Combine with Water: Simply stir a teaspoon of BarleyMax right into a glass of water for an vitality increase earlier than any meal.
- Begin Small: Start with a small quantity to see how your physique reacts, and verify together with your trusted naturally-minded well being care practitioner, particularly in the event you’re on diabetes meds.
Pair this with a diabetes-friendly life-style (plant-based, complete meals food regimen, common train, glorious restorative sleep, and stress administration) —for the perfect shot at higher well being. See our different weblog about easy tricks to fight sort 2 diabetes, like ingesting water earlier than meals and taking walks after meals.
The science on Bz-TMF is simply getting began. Whereas the 2021 examine is a robust first step, there’s a lot to search out out about this flavone. Right here is an thought of what ought to come subsequent:
- An intervention in folks to see if barley grass juice powder does reduce the burden of diabetes.
- A lab evaluation to isolate the flavone after which check it by itself to see if it really works as nicely by itself because it does in barley grass juice powder.
- Discover the flavone’s potential for different situations, like irritation or coronary heart illness.
For now, it’s a hidden gem on the earth of pure well being, with early proof suggesting it could possibly be a strong ally for managing diabetes. Perhaps some day they are going to isolate it and present that it certainly is the grass juice issue. However it’s more likely to work greatest proper within the context of the remainder of the barley grass juice powder components. So, don’t anticipate the scientific proof. You don’t have anything to lose, and all the things to achieve. There isn’t any well being danger in attempting it. So, go forward and get some BarleyMax at present.