Why eating barley is good for your health

Whether pearled, hulled or quick cooking, this under-appreciated cereal can help transform your diet.  Here are facts and suggestions to get more barley in your diet.

• Barley's is low, thanks to its significant stash of soluble fibre. In fact, eating barley instead of white rice slashes the effect on your blood sugar by almost 70 percent.
• Barley also helps you feel full on fewer calories because its insoluble fibre slows the rate at which food leaves the stomach.

• Hulled barley (barley groats): Only the outer hull of the grain is removed; the bran is left intact. This is the least processed, most nutritious type.
• Pot or Scotch barley: This is more processed than hulled barley but retains some of the bran layer.
• Pearled barley: This is much more processed, with the outer hull and bran removed. Because the soluble fibre runs all the way through the grain, however, this type is still a smart choice.
• Quick-cooking barley: Similar to pearled barley in taste and nutrition, this is pre-steamed, so it takes only about 10 minutes to cook compared to an hour for other types.
• Barley flour: This provides more than three times the fibre of refined white flour. For baking, combine it with wheat flour; otherwise, it won't rise.
• Barley flakes: Made from steam-rolled and dried barley, these are cooked for hot cereal.

While barley is a natural for soups, think outside the stockpot. Broaden your barley horizons and experiment.

• Instead of rice pilaf, make barley pilaf to serve with any main dish.
• Add barley to casseroles and use it in place of rice in rice salads.
• Serve barley and diced apples with rosemary baked chicken.
• Add cooked, chilled barley to a bean salad for a fantastic lunch.
• Try corn and barley relish. Add canned or frozen corn to cooked barley along with olive oil, wine vinegar, chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper and chopped tomatoes, peppers and onions.

Barley is not as common as rice, but for your health it would be wise to substitute more barley into your diet on a regular basis.