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Also known as- Hordeum vulgare, green grass, mai ya in Chinese markets. The term mai ya could refer to either barley or wheat grass, but barley is preferred to wheat in traditional Chinese medicine. Gu ya, or rice shoots, are eaten as a food rather than taken as a medicine.
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Introduction
NUTRITIONAL VALUE - A concentrated source of nearly three dozen vitamins and minerals, barley grass is particularly rich in vitamins A, C, B1, B2, folic acid, and B12; calcium; iron; potassium; and chlorophyll. Unlike most plants, barley grass provides all nine essential amino acids (those which your body can't produce).
HEALING CLAIMS - Barley grass is a powerful antioxidant that is believed to help the body kill cancer cells and overcome a variety of ailments, including acne and ulcers.
HOW IT WORKS - An antioxidant called alpha-tocopherol succinate - a potent relative of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) may be responsible for much of the plant's anti-tumor action, according to Allan L. Goldstein, Ph.D., head of the biochemistry department at George Washington University's School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., who has studied barley grass. Though its mechanism is unknown, alpha-tocopherol succinate seems to inhibit several types of cancer, including leukemia, brain tumors, and prostate cancer.
According to Yoshihide Hagiwara, M.D., a researcher in Japan and author of the book "Green Barley Essence" (Keats, 1985), barley grass helps cure skin diseases and ulcers by promoting the growth of new cells. It is not known exactly how this happens, although barley grass is high in chlorophyll, an antibacterial green pigment.
Barley grass has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for at least 1800 years. The tender young shoots of freshly sprouted barley seed were used to treat diseases of the "spleen," or poor digestion, but also "stagnation of the liver," conditions characterized by an inability to respond to the emotional environment, usually depression after chronic anger or disappointment. Barley grass is grown by soaking the seeds in clean water until they sprout and grow shoots approximately 2 inches (5 cm) long.
Constituents
Barley grass is an extraordinarily rich source of many vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, although it does not, as sometimes claimed, contain absolutely all the nutrients needed for human health.
The dried shoot is approximately 4% glutamic acid (needed for recharging antioxidants), 4% methionine (needed for the production of natural SAM-e), 3% vitamin C, 1% valine, and 1% calcium. A single tablespoon contains a dayÍs supply of beta-carotene, betaine, biotin, boron, copper, iron, lutein, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamine. It also contains nutritionally significant amounts of alpha-linoleic acid, oryzanol, potassium, selenium, zinc, and the tocopherols that make up vitamin E. Barley grass doesnÍt contain every nutrient, but it comes closer than any other food.
The medicinal action of the dried shoot is due to its content of hordenine, not to be confused with a plant chemical with a similar name that is implicated in celiac disease.
Parts Used
The dried shoots, powdered. In traditional Chinese medicine, the barley grass may be "massed" or fermented before drying.
Typical Preparations
A level tablespoon (3-4 grams) of barley grass powder added to teas, smoothies, cereals, or other foods daily. As a capsule or in extract form.
Summary
The ancients used barley grass to treat galactorrhea, that is, excessive or untimely lactation. In modern complementary medicine, barley grass is appropriate whenever diet fails to provide a full range of nutrients. Research published as recently as September 2005 notes that one of the principal growth factors in the barley shoot is melatonin. This finding may explain the calming effect of the herb.
Precautions
Barley grass may stop lactation in nursing mothers. Not recommended while nursing or pregnant.
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