Superfoods part 24
Welcome to our health & self help blog.
In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today’s post: Thursday, 5-18-2006
Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 24
Barley.
In my earlier posts this week, although they covered animal protein foods, I said that eating a majority of your protein from plant sources was desirable & health enhancing.
Barley is one such plant food -- & with extra health benefits added.
In fact, what initially attracted my attention to it was a study I read of once that said it found that those eating barley tended to be leaner on the same number of calories as those eating other foods.
I’ve since found out part of the reason for this.
I went to my local, regular, supermarket & bought a box of barley; brought it home & cooked it according to the directions; & ate it.
Between its chewy texture if not overcooked, its mild but distinct flavor, & its high level of fiber, it is filling & satisfying enough with few enough calories -- to make it clear why eating it can help keep you lean.
In addition, Barley, like oatmeal, is high in soluble fiber -- which helps keep your levels of dangerous LDL cholesterol low.
And, it’s a decent source of tocotrienols which also help keep your levels of dangerous LDL cholesterol low, but do so in a different way than eating soluble fiber.
In fact, I found that there are published clinical studies showing that not only did eating Barley lower LDL cholesterol levels successfully, it did so WITHOUT lowering the HDL levels of the people in the study who ate the barley.
So, between helping keep you lean & keeping your heart healthy, Barley is a superfood.
Eating whole grain foods also helps keep your blood glucose under control while eating refined grains tends to do the opposite. And this is true using barley as the whole grain.
A Canadian study compared type II diabetics eating barley with those eating white bread made with refined wheat flour; & those eating the barley had better blood glucose readings. To be fair to whole wheat, they didn’t test the barley against whole wheat as far as I know.
Because Barley has a chewy texture if not overcooked & a mild but distinct flavor, you can combine cooked barley with other superfoods to make a wide variety of combination dishes -- & get good results.
For example, you could cook chopped mushrooms & diced onions in extra virgin olive oil & add that, plus your favorite savory food spices to cooked barley & cooked lentils to make a vegetarian protein dish.
In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today’s post: Thursday, 5-18-2006
Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 24
Barley.
In my earlier posts this week, although they covered animal protein foods, I said that eating a majority of your protein from plant sources was desirable & health enhancing.
Barley is one such plant food -- & with extra health benefits added.
In fact, what initially attracted my attention to it was a study I read of once that said it found that those eating barley tended to be leaner on the same number of calories as those eating other foods.
I’ve since found out part of the reason for this.
I went to my local, regular, supermarket & bought a box of barley; brought it home & cooked it according to the directions; & ate it.
Between its chewy texture if not overcooked, its mild but distinct flavor, & its high level of fiber, it is filling & satisfying enough with few enough calories -- to make it clear why eating it can help keep you lean.
In addition, Barley, like oatmeal, is high in soluble fiber -- which helps keep your levels of dangerous LDL cholesterol low.
And, it’s a decent source of tocotrienols which also help keep your levels of dangerous LDL cholesterol low, but do so in a different way than eating soluble fiber.
In fact, I found that there are published clinical studies showing that not only did eating Barley lower LDL cholesterol levels successfully, it did so WITHOUT lowering the HDL levels of the people in the study who ate the barley.
So, between helping keep you lean & keeping your heart healthy, Barley is a superfood.
Eating whole grain foods also helps keep your blood glucose under control while eating refined grains tends to do the opposite. And this is true using barley as the whole grain.
A Canadian study compared type II diabetics eating barley with those eating white bread made with refined wheat flour; & those eating the barley had better blood glucose readings. To be fair to whole wheat, they didn’t test the barley against whole wheat as far as I know.
Because Barley has a chewy texture if not overcooked & a mild but distinct flavor, you can combine cooked barley with other superfoods to make a wide variety of combination dishes -- & get good results.
For example, you could cook chopped mushrooms & diced onions in extra virgin olive oil & add that, plus your favorite savory food spices to cooked barley & cooked lentils to make a vegetarian protein dish.
posted by David at 1:44 PM
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