With the link between blood sugar management and heart health well established, Dr Stephan Theis (pictured), Head of Nutrition Science and Communication at BENEO, discusses consumer demand for products that support cardiovascular health and the potential for food producers to incorporate blood glucose response-lowering ingredients such as beta-glucans to meet their needs.
Getting to the heart of the matter
Cardiovascular disease is the number one non-communicable disease (NCD) globally.1 As a result, with 82% worldwide now recognising the link between cardiovascular wellness and their overall health, cardiac function is moving centre stage for consumers.2
As well as making this link, many are looking to nutrition to promote their vascular health, with four out of five consumers saying that a healthy diet is key to maintaining their heart health.3
Even when they are not suffering from any specific health problems, seven in 10 (69%) consumers across the globe say that they are interested in products that promote healthy heart function.
In indulgent categories, as well, according to Innova Market Insights, heart health is the number one fastest-growing active health claim.
One of the ways that heart health can be promoted is through the management of blood sugar.4
Although the role of high blood sugar in the context of diabetes and the increased risk of cardiovascular disease is well charted, research is also showing that raised blood sugar levels also increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 30–50%, even in those whose levels are below the threshold for diabetes.5
The connection is also being made between heart health and improved blood sugar management amongst consumers, with “supporting heart health” being the number two benefit being cited by consumers interested in blood sugar management (after improved weight management).3
So, with a growing demand for nutrition that supports heart health from consumers and data supporting the benefit of blood sugar management for heart health in those both with and without diabetes, there is an opportunity for food producers wanting to create products that support cardiovascular health.
Ingredients to promote heart health
One way to satisfy consumer demand is by including beta-glucans from barley in recipe development. These soluble dietary fibres have been scientifically proven to reduce blood cholesterol concentration and lower the blood glucose response.
This is because the addition of beta-glucans to food increases the viscosity of the ingested food in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, forming a viscous gel-like structure.
A physical barrier for the absorption of glucose from food and the body’s bile acids is created.
As bile acid is required for fat absorption and less is available from reabsorption, the body forms more of it in the liver from cholesterol, resulting in reduced LDL cholesterol levels in the blood.
The addition of beta-glucans therefore helps to lower the risk of coronary heart disease; plus, their beneficial effect can be claimed on-pack with a daily intake of 3 g of barley beta-glucans, depending on the regional regulatory situation.
Beta-glucans backed by science
The health effects of cereal beta-glucans have been demonstrated in more than 130 scientific studies and have been recognised by official bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada and other national authorities — with the approval of corresponding health claims.6
Looking at barley beta-glucans in particular, their lowering effects on blood glucose response and, in both the short and long-term, on blood cholesterol levels, have been confirmed by systematic reviews with meta-analyses providing the strongest available scientific evidence.7,8
A study by Prof. Dr Christiani Jeyakumar Henry and his team shows the potential of beta-glucans to lower the blood glucose profile.9
It features the consumption of a cookie with an already low glycaemic index (GI) that has further been reduced by combining beta-glucans and BENEO’s low glycaemic smart carbohydrate: Palatinose.
A sample of adults ate this or the regular low-GI cookie as a breakfast and afternoon snack and their blood glucose levels were monitored.
The cookie containing beta-glucans and Palatinose lowered blood glucose profiles by 56% at breakfast, compared with the other cookie, and by 24% as an afternoon snack … and even reduced the blood glucose response to dinner (the second meal effect).
Barley beta-glucans in practice
BENEO’s Orafti β-fit barley beta-glucan ingredient is a natural and clean-label wholegrain barley flour that includes 20% beta-glucans and has a total fibre content of 40%.
As it can be labelled as barley flour, it offers manufacturers consumer-friendly labelling options.
With its neutral taste, it can be used in a wide range of applications, including baked goods (such as cakes, muffins, bread and biscuits), pasta and cereals, as well as meal replacements, and can also positively impact texture by increasing viscosity in dairy alternatives.
Being able to use Orafti β-fit in a wide range of applications is important; consumers around the world want their heart health-promoting ingredients to be delivered in mainstream products such as biscuits, yoghurt, muffins, pasta or tortillas.3
So, to help producers create such products, the experts at the BENEO-Technology Center have developed a range of new recipes that contain Orafti β-fit. Depending on the amount used in the recipes and the region that the product is sold in, a selection of on-pack fibre and health claims is possible.
Functional ingredients that support heart health are increasingly becoming an important purchase driver.
The proven effects of beta-glucans to lower blood glucose response and cholesterol levels enable producers to meet growing consumer demand for food and beverages that will promote health and keep them coming back for more.
References
- www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases.
- https://fmcggurus.com/blog/fmcg-gurus-addressing-heart-health-in-2021/.
- BENEO Global Healthy Ageing Survey 2024 (N = 9009 consumers).
- P.E.H. Schwarz, et al., “Blood Sugar Regulation for Cardiovascular Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: JACC Health Promotion Series,” J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 72(15), 1829–1844 (2018).
- C.T. Rentsch, et al., “Sex-Specific Risks for Cardiovascular Disease Across the Glycaemic Spectrum: A Population-Based Cohort Study Using the UK Biobank,” THE LANCET Regional Health Europe 32, 100693 (2023).
- 21 CFR §101.81 (US); Summary of Health Canada’s Assessment of a Health Claim about Barley Products and Blood Cholesterol Lowering (CAN); Commission Regulation No. 432/2012/Commission Regulation No. 1048/2012 (EU).
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2016.08.057.
- https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.178.
- www.nature.com/articles/s41387-020-0118-5.pdf.
