4 Great Health Benefits Of Barley Grass Powder

Barley grass is the leaf of the whole grain barley plant. It is harvested at the early state of germination, often around 200 days after germination when the shoots are around one foot tall.

This is the point when they are the most nutritious, because the young leaves can absorb nutrients very efficiently from the soil. These leaves are then made into powder form and can be used as a natural health food.

This leaf is sometimes referred to as “barley leaf” or “barley green” and it has many great health benefits due to its great vitamin and mineral content.

Rich mineral and vitamin content

Many of the health benefits of barley grass powder are down to the huge amount of nutrients available in this plant. Barley grass powder consists of, for example, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, copper, manganese, zinc, organic sodium, chlorophyll, beta-carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folic acid, pantothenic acid and many important enzymes. It also contains all nine essential amino acids – one of the only plants in the world to boast this distinction.

It has nearly five times the content of iron in spinach, plus almost 30 times more vitamin B1 and nearly 11 times the amount of calcium found in cow’s milk. It is a great source of many essential nutrients in a small powder package.

High levels of antioxidants

Barley grass powder has also been found to contain many potent antioxidants. A 2007 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reported that barley grass powder is a very rich source of antioxidants. These antioxidants are important in protecting the body against free radicals, which can cause cell damage. Free radicals come to the body from various food items and also environmental substances such as pollution and tobacco smoke. Barley grass’ high antioxidant content means that it helps us with heart health and can benefit conditions such as arthritis.

According to Natural News writing in 2012, barley grass powder has been found to scavenge the harmful free radicals in our body. They believe this is down to “an exchange of hydrogen ions which makes the free radicals weaker”.

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