When you think of a tea, you’d assume that it’s a herb drink made from tea leaves. And even with many different medical herb teas, they still use the plants’ leaves for the tea.
But unlike them, barley tea is not entirely a ‘tea,’ but still healthy nonetheless. There are 10 incredible barley tea benefits you definitely shouldn’t miss from this unique delicacy.
But what is barley tea exactly?
Barley isn’t exactly popular as a tea in Western countries because they use it more as a bear or other drinks. However, barley is commonly consumed as a tea in Asia, particularly in China, Korea, and Japan.
Korean barley tea is known as boricua, the Japanese ones called mugicha, and the Chinese ones called damai cha.
And as mentioned before, it’s not a tea because instead of brewing the plant’s leaves, you’re brewing the roasted seeds. But then, is barley tea healthy?
Well, locals believe that barley tea benefits are legitimate instead of being a placebo, and scientists have confirmed some of them. Here are 10 of those benefits:
1. Barley tea is good for pregnant women
One unique advantage of barley tea that no other herbal tea has is that it’s good for pregnant women.
This is because barley tea has calcium, potassium, iron, folic acid, and niacin, among other nutrients that are essential for pregnancy.
Furthermore, it helps prevent excessive bleeding and birth defects, making these barley tea benefits a must-have for them.
2. It balances the amount of blood sugar and insulin
Is barley tea healthy for diabetes patients? The answer is big YES because it balances the amount of insulin and blood sugar rates despite being sweet in flavor.
Because the truth is, barley tea is a recommended sweet drink for them to satiate their craving for sweet stuff. And even if you don’t have diabetes, it’s still a healthy drink to reduce the risk of diabetes.
3. It supports your weight-loss program
One of the best barley tea benefits for people who are on a diet is that it helps you lose weight.
The reason for that is because vitamins, minerals, and fibers within the tea can keep you full for a long time. They also increase your metabolism, which can burn your body fat even more.
4. It improves your digestive system
Two barley tea benefits can improve your digestive system. One, it balances your gut’s acidity rate because barley is naturally an antacid.
Two, barley tea’s fiber-rich nature reduces constipation and keeps your digestive system active even without consuming foods.
5. It’s rich in antioxidants
As with other herbal teas, barley tea is rich in antioxidant properties. Coupled with minerals such as selenium, it can prevent free radicals and future chronic diseases.
6. It improves your immunity system
Barley tea contains a large amount of vitamin C to support your immunity system. As a result, it boosts your white blood cells production and acts as an antioxidant with the aforementioned benefits.
7. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases
Barley tea’s also a natural blood stimulator that can balance the blood flow. This, in addition to it being an anticoagulant, can reduce the risk of getting cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke.
8. It can reduce the risk of prostate cancer
The antioxidant properties mentioned in other barley tea benefits here can also reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
This is further supported by a report that concludes the level of selenium mineral in barley tea has an inverse relation with prostate cancer.
And speaking of selenium, this mineral can also increase male fertility, certainly beneficial if you wish to have a healthy offspring.
9. It helps your sleeping cycle
Are you having insomnia, and medicines can’t put you to sleep? Here’s your natural cure: A barley tea, packed with melatonin and tryptophan substances.
These two will trigger neurotransmitters inside your brain, prompting you to sleep with ease. Once you fall asleep, you’ll wake up with a refreshing look and mind.
10. It makes your skin healthy and beautiful
The last of the barley tea benefits here is that it can improve your skin condition. Thanks to its antioxidant properties, barley tea can reduce the causes of premature aging such as fine lines, spots, and wrinkles.
Additionally, it improves your skin elasticity as well, making your skin young and full of energy for the long term.
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However, what is barley tea’s side effect?
Compared to beer or other barley drinks from flour, barley tea doesn’t have heavy side effects. Regardless, extra care is still necessary before you consume barley tea.
For example, even with one of the barley tea benefits mentioning its advantage for pregnant women, they still need to be careful.
This is because barley tea can cause complications and prevent lactation, so please consult before drinking it.
Another warning is for those with Celiac disease. Because several barley tea blends have corn, they can trigger grains allergy.
With that being said, here’s the barley tea recipe
Korean barley tea, Japanese, or Chinese has the same rule of thumb regarding the barley tea recipe.
And that is, the barley seeds will have to be roasted firsthand, then ground to make a fine barley powder. Of course, if you can buy a barley tea bag from your local store, you can skip that process.
Without further ado, here is the barley tea recipe:
- Bring 2 liters of water to a boil.
- Add 6 tablespoons of roasted barley (3-4 barley tea bags in equivalent) to the hot water.
- Bring the water to simmer and stir occasionally, continue the process for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let it cool down for 5 minutes, then strain the tea.
- Store the tea in a large container. Serve it hot or put it in the refrigerator and serve it cold.
And the conclusion of the barley tea benefits is… Another thing that makes barley tea unique is that it can be served hot or cold without damaging the barley tea benefits.
You can also add lemon or honey for more flavor profiles to the tea. All in all, barley tea is both exciting and healthy for your body and your life, so make sure to make one at home!
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