Health Benefits of Barley Grass...

Green Barley as “Medicine” in Cancer and Other Diseases

Barley

One of the seven sacred cereals, barley comes from the eastern Balkans. From an esoteric point of view, barley is considered a mild nourishing force which stimulates the heart and is used for easing the emotional tension of a person.

Description

Barley is a type of cereal which can reach heights of around 0.7 to 1.2 meters. The plant's fruit is ear shaped. This way there are a number of types of barley, depending on the number of granules on the ear: summer and winter barley. The winter barley is used for feeding animals because of the inferior quality of its granules.

Nutritional Values

When it reaches a height of 20 - 30 cm, barley contains the most nutritive resources necessary for the human body. Thus, barley leafs contain vitamins B (B1, B2, B6, and B12), vitamins E and C, a great amount of iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, germanium, zinc, copper, lithium, bioflavonoid, polysaccharides, and polypeptides.                                  

The green stem of barley, apart from containing vitamins, minerals and enzymes, also contains natural hormones and chlorophyll. These nutritive substances give barley antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and antiviral properties. Unlike most plants, barley grass provides all nine essential amino acids (those which your body can't produce).

Healing Claims

Barley grass is a powerful antioxidant that is believed to help the body kill cancer cells and overcome a variety of ailments, including acne and ulcers.

An antioxidant called alpha-tocopherol succinate - a potent relative of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) may be responsible for much of the plant's anti-tumor action, according to Allan L. Goldstein, Ph.D., head of the biochemistry department at George Washington University's School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., who has studied barley grass. Though its mechanism is unknown, alpha-tocopherol succinate seems to inhibit several types of cancer, including leukemia, brain tumors, and prostate cancer.

Barley helps improve memory, bringing clarity in thought. Also, it eases stomach pains, heals ulcers, and lessens arthritic pains and inflammations. In obesity it helps eliminate weight excess. Green barley juice has an anti-inflammatory effect, revitalizing the tegument and curing it of its dryness. The plant shows visible results in the fight against collagen and leukemia, also neutralizing the toxic effects of tobacco.

Other diseases in which the treatment with barley is utilized: anorexia, anemia, stomatitis, pancreatitis, miocardic arrest, bronchic asthma, arthritis, and epilepsy. Barley stimulates the drainage and regeneration of the liver, activates the immune system helping in the fight against the hepatic virus.

Barley can fights Diabetes

Barley is an excellent food choice for those concerned about type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes because the grain contains essential vitamins and minerals and is an excellent source of dietary fiber, particularly beta-glucan soluble fiber.  Research shows that barley beta-glucan soluble fiber promotes healthy blood sugar by slowing glucose absorption.

A long-term study published in the August 2007 edition of the Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice journal reported a 30-percent decrease in HbA1c (average blood glucose level) in type 2 diabetics who consumed a healthy diet including pearl barley that supplied 18 grams of soluble fiber a day. Regardless of the form of the grain, there is always a ready source of beta-glucan soluble fiber in barley.

Is barley a good fiber choice?

Yes! Barley is an excellent choice when it comes to adding both soluble and insoluble fiber to the diet. Our favorite grain compares favorably to other grains in total dietary fiber content. For example, a ½-cup serving of cooked pearl barley contains 3 grams of dietary fiber. In comparison, a ½-cup serving of long-grain brown rice contains 1.75 grams dietary fiber. One-half-cup serving of white long-grain rice contains less than 1 gram of dietary fiber.

NUTRIENT PROFILE

BY WEIGHT, dehydrated barley grass has 11 times the calcium of cow's milk, 5 times the iron of spinach, and more protein than sirloin steak. About 2 teaspoons (6 g) of barley grass powder contains the following:

CALORIES 17

PROTEIN 1.4g

CALCIUM 30mg

IRON 3mg

POTASSIUM 170mg

VITAMIN A 3,120 IU

VITAMIN B1 15 mcg

VITAMIN B2 140 mcg

FOLIC ACID 52 mcg

VITAMIN B12 1.7 mcg

VITAMIN C 19 mg

CHLOROPHYLL 32.6 mg

"[Barley Grass is] one of the most incredible products of this decade. It improves stamina, sexual energy, clarity of thought, and reduces addiction to things that are bad for you. It also improves the texture of the skin and heals the dryness associated with aging."