Barley Green Diet

BarleyGreen is a nutritional supplement manufactured by a company called YH International. You are supposed to take it in addition to your regular daily meals to boost health. Product information promises BarleyGreen will help to increase your energy levels, promote improved skin, hair and nails, enhance digestion, and protect your body from toxins and free radicals. Always consult a doctor before trying a new supplement.

Identification

The BarleyGreen diet supplement is supposed to help to fortify your health, note the experts at the Diet Spotlight website. This supplement is purported to be made from organically harvested fresh barley grass. The benefits are supposed to derive from a variety of enzymes and nutrients in the grass. According to product information, you gain vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes, chlorophyll, proteins, carotenoids, flavonoids and other phytochemicals meant to support every system in your body. The products are available online. They are certified vegan, non genetically modified, organic and gluten free.

History

BarleyGreen supplements are formulated by Japanese pharmacological researcher and medical doctor Yoshihide Hagiwara, who was inspired to develop a line of natural products after suffering health issues that he attributed to chemicals used in modern medicine, according to the YK International website. His research led him to believe that young barley grass is one of nature's nutritionally balanced foods. Thus, he developed a juice extraction and spray-dry process to harvest these health benefits. He was awarded Japan's Science and Technology Agency Award for developing this process in 1987, according to the Bloomberg Businessweek website. Hagiwara founded the Green Foods Corp. in 1980, and established YH Products Corp. in 1988 to manufacture in the United States. In 1991 he formed a research partnership with the University of California at Davis Environmental Toxicology Department. In 1993 he also established the Hagiwara Institute of Health in Kobe, Japan, as of 2010 that country's largest privately funded cancer research facility, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. YH International is located in Walnut, California.

Potential

The BarleyGreen formulation is advertised as a highly alkaline powder that can help to balance your body pH. Having a good body pH --- ideally 7.35 --- can boost your immunity and health, says Brendan Brazier, author of "Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide." If you have low-grade metabolic acidosis because you eat too many acid forming foods, such as meats, your body is affected at the cellular level. You experience an increase in cell-damaging free radicals, which in turn boosts risk for a health conditions such as cancer, Brazier says. Consuming more alkaline-forming foods also improves your energy levels, say Christopher Vasey and Jon Graham, authors of "The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health." Staying in a constant state of acidosis makes you more likely to be constantly fatigued and makes it harder to recover your strength after physical or mental effort, Vasey and Graham say.

Benefits

Barley is purported to have a host of health benefits, say Deborah Mitchell and Winifred Conkling, authors of "The Complete Book of Nutritional Healing." Among them, barley helps to reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, thanks to its high copper content. Copper works with enzymes in your body to destroy cell-damaging free radicals. It also supports joint, bone and blood vessel health, the authors say. Barley also contains manganese, niacin, selenium and thiamine.

Considerations

With BarleyGreen, you miss the benefits of barley attributed to its fiber because the formulation removes the insoluble fiber. However, YH International claims this fiber "locks in" many of the barley's important nutrients, preventing them from being absorbed in your body. Benefits attributed to the fiber include lowered cholesterol, prevention of constipation and improved colon health, note Mitchell and Conkling.