Barley

Food · Grain · Food, Typed Supps

The same cholesterol-lowering fibre found in oats, in a chewier grain.

Stage by stage

Intake (Chewy, fibre-rich structure): Cooking softens the grain; its dense structure requires thorough chewing.
Stomach (Beta-glucan forms a gel): Its soluble fibre (beta-glucan) begins forming a gel, similar to oats.
Small intestine (Slows sugar & cholesterol absorption): The gel slows sugar and cholesterol-related compound absorption.
Liver (Cholesterol processing affected): Linked to modest reductions in LDL cholesterol over time, similar to oats.

Timing

Pearled barley cooks faster but has slightly less fibre than hulled barley.

Time to effect

Wks–mo: Cholesterol-related effects typically require weeks of regular intake.

Allergens

Contains: Gluten. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher.

Satiety

167 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Environmental footprint

1.2 kg CO2e and 132 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Barley (beer)" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £2 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 141
Protein: 4.1g
Carbohydrate: 25.1g
of which sugars: 0.4g
Fat: 1.3g
of which saturated: 0.2g
Fibre: 5.4g
Sodium: 10mg

Food vs. supplement

Barley contains the same type of cholesterol-lowering beta-glucan fibre as oats — a fibre supplement can replicate the mechanism, but not the accompanying minerals and protein barley provides.

Kitchen tip

Hulled barley keeps more of its bran and fibre intact than pearled barley, which has had that layer polished off.

Common myth

“Only oats have this cholesterol-lowering fibre.” In reality: Barley contains a very similar beta-glucan fibre with comparable cholesterol-related evidence.

Recipes that use it

In the glossary

Absorption