Healthy Tuesday - Barley

I am sure you have heard that a healthy diet should be high in fiber. Fiber not only keeps "things moving" but it also can cling to some of the bad things in your gut and take it with it when it "moves out".

This reminds me of when I moved out of my parents home. I was clinging onto some things that might not have been 100% mine and took them with me when I moved out. :)

The liver produces bile acids when breaking down the cholesterol (fat) that we eat. Barley (the healthy food we will be discussing) clings to the bile acids as it moves through your digestive tract. Therefore, the liver works to produce more bile acid and in doing so, uses more cholesterol.

The more cholesterol used  means less cholesterol that is saved in our bodies.

Barley is also a good source of niacin, a B vitamin that provides numerous protective actions against cardiovascular risk factors.

Barley is also good for people who have Diabetes 2, women who are postmenopausal, helps to prevent gallstones and colon cancer (contains selenium).

Barley is a super food!

You can cook and eat barley the same way that you would enjoy a bowl of oatmeal. You can also just add it to soups and stews (think of the little grain puffs floating around in a can of Campbell's vegetable beef soup).

I used this last week in pot of Stuffed Pepper soup (inspired by the recipe posted on Peak 313 Fitness). It was wonderful!

The differences between the soup I made and the one on Peak 313 fitness was:

• I omitted the brown sugar
• I omitted the bouillon.
• I used a jar of homemade canned tomatoes (which contained some additional peppers and onions)
• I used cubed venison instead of ground beef (since I am fortunate enough to have that on hand thanks to my hunter hubby).
• I added a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce.
• I added about a teaspoon of minced garlic and teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

It was healthy and tasted fantastic!! Perfect on these cool Fall days!


Health benefits referenced and additional ones can be found on WHFoods website.