The fiber in barley might lower cholesterol in people with high cholesterol. Barley may also reduce blood sugar and insulin levels. Barley seems to slow stomach emptying.
Beta-Glucans May Help Lower Cholesterol Barley may also lower your cholesterol levels. The beta-glucans found in barley have been shown to reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol by binding to bile acids. Your body removes these bile acids — which your liver produces from cholesterol — via the feces.
LDL cholesterol is known as the “bad” kind because it builds up in your arteries. Triglycerides were lowered by 6% to 16%. These are the most common type of fat found in the body. HDL was not affected as much by barley intake in most studies. HDL cholesterol is the “good” cholesterol because it helps to remove some of the other bad cholesterol.
However, to try to lower cholesterol, people have used one of these daily doses: 3 grams of barley oil extract. 30 grams of barley bran flour. 0.4 to 6 grams of soluble barley fiber.
Does barley grass help lower blood sugar?
Over the past decade numerous medical studies have shown that barley grass can help lower cholesterol, improve insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels. However, many in the scientific community still believe there is little objective evidence to support these findings.
A frequent query we ran across in our research was “Can I eat barley if I have diabetes?”.
Diabetes: Barley might lower blood sugar levels. Your diabetes medications might need to be adjusted by your healthcare provider. Surgery: Barley might lower blood sugar levels. There is a concern that it might interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery.
What are the health benefits of barley for weight loss?
People also take barley to try to promote weight loss or help prevent some types of cancer. Barley is probably effective at reducing total cholesterol and LDL “bad” cholesterol. It may also lower triglycerides and increase HDL “good” cholesterol levels, but the research has been mixed.