Barley grass is one of the best green superfoods for improving gut health
03/31/2019 / By Michelle Simmons
If you want to add more greens to your diet, aside from the usual lettuce and kale, try barley grass. Barley grass, a member of the grass family, is the young leaf of the barley plant scientifically known as Hordeum vulgare.
Adding barley grass to your diet will be beneficial for your gut, as it has the ability to reduce inflammation. It is also known to support a healthy gut microbe population. Drinking barley grass juice also helps prevent ulcerative colitis, a bowel disease caused by an inflammation in the digestive tract. This condition often results in the formation of ulcers that affect the innermost layer of the large intestine and rectum.
Barley is also good for the digestive system because it is a great source of organic sodium, which is needed by the lining of the stomach to make hydrochloric acid. This acid is needed in digesting food. In addition, barley grass is rich in digestive enzymes, which are substances that can help eliminate toxic and indigestible materials in food.
Barley grass provides many nutrients
Adding barley grass to your diet will also boost your nutrient intake as the leaves contain many vitamins and minerals. These include beta-carotene, vitamins B1, B2, B6, C, E, and K, calcium, copper, folic acid, iron, magnesium, manganese, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.
This green food has 39 times more vitamin B1 and 11 times more calcium in cow’s milk. Compared to spinach, it contains about five times more iron. It also offers about seven times more vitamin C than oranges, four times the vitamin B1 than whole wheat flour, and 80 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B12 per 100 grams (g) of dried barley plant juice.
Barley grass detoxifies and rejuvenates the body
Barley grass can also serve as a natural cleansing and detoxifying food for your body. It is rich in antioxidants, helping to get rid of toxins from the body. It also rejuvenates the whole body. Its powerful antioxidant content is also known to protect against radiation and damage at a cellular level, restoring damaged cells and tissues. Barley grass is also extremely rich in chlorophyll — the natural pigment that gives barley grass and other green plants their green color. Chlorophyll is a natural cleanser to the body that will help counter the effects of eating unhealthy foods. When you consume it, chlorophyll releases a flow of oxygen into the bloodstream, getting rid of the harmful toxins and impurities in the body. It does this by binding to and flushing out toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Chlorophyll also gives the body an overall energy boost.
Green vegetables like barley grass also contain high amounts of superoxide dismutase. Together with antioxidants, superoxide dismutase helps prevent oxidative stress. It also helps neutralize the effects of free radicals produced during the metabolism of energy. In addition, this makes barley grass a great natural medicine in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Barley grass enzymes help suppress the development of cancer cells by decomposing and neutralizing the effects of toxic hydrogen peroxide, which is produced during respiration.
All the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, and enzymes in barley grass help to strengthen the immune system, preventing various diseases. This green food can also promote optimal acid-alkali balance, lower high cholesterol levels, regulate hormone balance, maintain normal bone metabolism, and fight skin aging. It also contributes to mental health improvement and stability by helping the body deal with stress and preserving cognitive function. (Related: Barley grass improves health in type 2 diabetics and reduces cholesterol.)
You can add barley grass to your diet by using it as an ingredient to your green juice or smoothies or make it into juice itself. It is also available in the forms of powder, capsules, and tablets.
Visit Superfoods.news to learn more about the many health benefits of barley grass.
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