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Barley Water For Weight Loss And Other Health Benefits

By Sakhi Pandey

Weight loss, weight loss, weight loss. It's all that people are either thinking about or relentlessly being told is right. However, there are some things that we need to start accepting ourselves.

Our health is a priority and, therefore, if someone is overweight or obese, it is time they start considering losing body fat and becoming fitter and healthier.

barley water for weight loss

There are a lot of ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle; most of them one must have heard over and over again from friends, family, Internet personalities and blogs.

First is to maintain a healthy diet, including all kinds of nutrients in varying quantities. Second is to exercise, whether it's yoga, joining a nearby gym or even playing any kind of sport. Third is to make homemade drinks and juices to fill you up and help you lose weight and body fat faster and quicker.

One such homemade drink that helps burning body fat immensely is the barley water concoction. Now, you must be wondering how does it help in weight loss? How to make this concoction? How effective is it? We are here to give you all the answers relating to the queries you have for this drink. Let's get right into it.

Barley is a whole grain that has been gaining popularity in recent times because of the numerous health benefits it has and the nutrients it constitutes of. Barley contains dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals that are not found in grains that have been refined.

Considering the number of nutrients whole grains (barley in particular) contain as compared to their refined counterparts, it is not a surprise that barley helps reduce the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, blood pressure, obesity, and many other chronic health problems.

However, barley's rise to fame as a whole grain and edible food is mainly because of the health benefits it has on one's weight. As mentioned before, barley contains dietary fibre which acts as a 'bulking agent' in the digestive system and is extremely helpful in the process of weight loss.

Moreover, dietary fibre also increases satiation and reduces appetite and thus reducing the overall calorie intake of a person.

You can consume barley in a lot of ways; you can cook it and put it in your soup or vegetable, make a casserole, but it's best if you put it in water and drink barley water. It aids weight loss like nothing else.

Barley water flushes out the toxins from our body, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure within our body and even helps digestion-related problems making it one of the best drinks for weight loss and one of the easiest and amazing ways to consume barley.

How To Prepare Barley Water?

First of all, it's best if one prepares barley water at home, from scratch. When bought from outside, the drink might be full of sugar and preservatives, which would not help in weight reduction. Therefore, here's the simplest way one can prepare barley water at home:

1. Boil 1 kg of barley pearls until they are soft. Make sure that you add 3:1, water:barley ratio.
2. After the water has been boiled, you strain and collect the extract. This is your barley water and is best consumed without adding any sugar.
3. However, if you cannot take the taste at all then you can go for the healthier option by adding home made orange or lemon juice.
4. You can also add a little bit of brown sugar to sweeten it, but avoid if you can.
5. Let it cool in the refrigerator and then drink it.

Barley does not need preservatives to last long. Barley water can last for a long time, while barley pods on their own can last for a year in the refrigerator easily.

For barley water to effectively aid in weight loss, one should have it at least three times a day, preferably an hour before breakfast, lunch and dinner as it reduces appetite and therefore we end up eating lesser while feeling full, limiting our calorie intake.

It also has other health benefits that we have discussed above making barley water one of the drinks one must consume even if their ultimate goal isn't to lose weight.

Apart from being great for weight loss it also lowers the blood pressure and helps to maintain it as it contains potassium, magnesium and calcium which not only helps in lowering the sodium levels in the body but also has been proven to be good for lowering one's blood pressure.

Considering it contains calcium and magnesium along with iron, manganese, phosphorus and zinc, it helps in the formation of bones and maintaining the bone structure.

It also takes care of our heart and reduces risks to it as it contains dietary fibre, negligible cholesterol, potassium and folate all of which are nutrients which help in keeping one's heart healthy, especially fibre which is highly present in barley and it reduces the cholesterol levels in the body and blood, therefore taking care of our heart.

Now that it has been discussed, barley contains dietary fibre which reduces cholesterol levels, most of you must know that reduced cholesterol does not mean just a healthier heart, it also means a healthier body and therefore weight loss.

Moreover, barley water tends to flush out toxins from our body and is known for bettering our digestion. One of the most well-known ways to reduce weight is to flush out toxins from our body and that's exactly what barley is known for.

Moreover, as mentioned above it keeps one satiated and reduces hunger pangs, therefore, reducing calorie intake, cholesterol levels and flushes out toxins. It's an all in one kind of deal, making barley water much better than any other drink as it constitutes of all the three major things required for weight loss without adding any other edible item to it.

Therefore, barley water is probably better than any other juice or drink because:

1. It doesn't require adding anything other than barley and water
2. It helps with more than just weight loss. It is great for diabetics, people at risk for heart diseases, blood pressure and even cancer.
3. It also cures urinary tract infection.
4. It flushes out toxins from our kidneys and aids our digestive process.
5. It is probably the best and easiest drink for weight loss.
6. It is full of all kinds of nutrients.

Barley water, therefore, seems to be an all in one health beneficiary package. Thus, barley water seems to be the best solution for most of our problems and a go-to, to take care of our health.

We suggest, include barley water in your diet every day for a happier and healthier life!