HEALTH
The recommended superfood to protect your heart
Most of us are always on the lookout for ways to keep our vital organs healthy, and experts have pointed to one that is low in fat and helps balance blood sugar levels.
Listen to your heart, rocked Roxette in the ‘80s. My heart will go on, bellowed Celine Dion in the ‘90s. And more recently Demi Lovato chanted out some words about a Heartattack. No matter the tune, the ongoing beat of our blood-pumping organ has always been crucial to our existence.
Barley grass: a hearty superfood
And it’s for just that reason that you, yes you, should be taking good care of it. Fortunately with the arrival of springtime for many and an improvement in the weather, we see people begin to regain healthy habits with more frequent exercise, an active life and a healthy diet, one that allows us to lose a few extra pounds. So called ‘superfoods’ are an additional aid to achieve these objectives, because they have nutritional characteristics that, if combined with a change in habits, build on improvements in health.
One of these is barley grass, the young, green barley plant that later produces the grains we are more familiar with. This food is consumed as a liquid, in the form of juice, although it is also easy to find powdered barley grass extract.
Barley grass: characteristics
You can use it as an ingredient in your smoothie or fruit juice, or you can drink it on its own, but it won’t taste as good. It is similar in composition to green leafy vegetables, but with a much higher nutrient density.
As if this were not enough, another of the properties of barley grass is that it is also a perfect satiation agent -- that is something that suppresses your appetite -- which is why it is closely related to weight loss. And it doesn’t just take care of you ‘on the outside’, as the insoluble fiber (the type of fiber in this barley) feeds the intestinal flora helping to digest food more efficiently and keeping the intestines healthy. Approximately 100 grams contains about 350 calories and 2.3 grams of fat.
Barley grass: benefits
Studies have shown the multiple and varied benefits of barley grass:
- Helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels
- barley grass can help us maintain healthy blood sugar levels. The main cause of this effect is its insoluble fiber content, a type of fiber that does not dissolve in water.
- Low in fat
- barley grass can be taken in diets or slimming processes, since 100 grams contain only around 2.3 grams of fat.
- Takes care of the heart
- it can reduce levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol. In addition, the essence of barley leaves reduces total cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
- Better digestion
- the high fiber content is the reason why it is a very good digestive.
- Elastic and healthy skin
- it is rich in vitamins A and C, which act as antioxidants. These vitamins help fight free radicals that can damage your body.
So go, find some barley grass and avoid the Achy Breaky Heart that Billy Ray Cyrus warned us about...