The Nutritional Benefits of Barley

The growing interest in barley as a food and food ingredient is primarily due to it being a rich source of dietary fibre. Consumers are increasingly aware that their diets are deficient in fibre, and that diets high in fibre have numerous health benefits.

Benefits of eating fibre include:

• promotes bowel health and prevents constipation
• helps to lower cholesterol
• helps to prevent diabetes and heart disease
• helps maintain weight
• may prevent high blood pressure
• functions as a prebiotic increasing the number of beneficial microflora in the gut enhancing the gastrointestinal and immune systems

There are two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble, and both are needed in a healthy diet.