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Seeds & Nuts
Barley
Hordeum vulgare
Barley was the grain people ate before wheat took over, and it is still the one carrying the most soluble fiber. That fiber is spread through the whole grain rather than sitting in the bran, which is why pearling costs barley less than it costs other grains.
Benefits
The harmful kind falls when barley is a regular part of what you eat rather than an occasional one.
What It Is Known For
A different part of the plant, harvested young. Whatever is said of it, it is not what the cholesterol work used.
An old and widespread drink. What it has behind it is tradition, and that is worth something, but it is not the same as the cholesterol finding.
It is not. Barley has gluten, and this catches people out.
Key Active Compounds
The soluble fiber, and the part that was measured.
Hulled or pearled, cooked as food.
Traditionally Used
A handful of grain simmered in a pot of water, strained, and drunk through the day.
How to Take It / Use It
Eat about eighty grams of barley flakes a day, or the same weight of grain cooked, and keep it up for a month before judging it.
Cautions
Barley contains gluten, which rules it out for anyone with celiac disease however whole the grain is.
A large jump in soluble fiber does this, and building up slowly avoids most of it.
Where It Comes From
Barley was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent and is one of the oldest grains under cultivation. It grows where wheat struggles — thin soil, short seasons, salt — which is why it spread as far as it did.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A barley only makes our list if:
- The grain, not a green powder. Barley grass is the young leaf and it is a different product with a different story.
- Hulled or pearled barley, and flakes. These are the forms that were eaten in the work behind this page.
- Not a beta-glucan capsule. The fiber pulled out and put in a capsule is a concentrate, and the food is what was measured.
- One ingredient. Barley, and nothing blended in with it.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources3
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the effect of barley beta-glucan on LDL-C, non-HDL-C and apoB. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016. Meta-analysis, 14 trials
- Guarneiri LL, et al. Viscous fiber from oats and barley: keep them in your cholesterol-lowering portfolio. Annals of Translational Medicine. Review — what a portion of flakes actually delivers
- The effects of barley-derived soluble fiber on serum lipids — quality-assessed review. Review, with its own caveats about study quality