Evidence of the beginning of cultivated barley
goes back to the Middle East, 6,000 years ago. The fifth largest
cultivated cereal crop in the world still bears some relations with the wild
variety Hordeum spontaneum still grown in Iran and Iraq today (Wikipedia.com
p.1). Considered to be the most drought and saline tolerant of cereals, its
wide-ranged geographical distribution has led to many varieties (CGIAR p.1).
While
an international consortium of scientists focus a multimillion-dollar effort
into gathering local Afghanistan seeds to revamp their agriculture, many
Afghani’s can be found eating ‘grass bread’. The ancient grass
barley is no longer available due to environmental conditions making food a
scarce commodity. The consortium will re-introduce barley and other cereals
including genetically ‘improved’ seeds, but it is the hardy barley that
would provide the most benefit right now (ICARDA p.1, 2).
Barley
in Islamic Literature
Viewed
as the only vegetation on earth that can become a sole source of nutrition from
birth to old age, scholars of hadiths (prophetic sayings) have understood barley
to be very nutritious, beneficial in coughs and inflammation of the stomach, and
to have the ability to expel toxins from the body and act as a good diuretic.
At least twenty-one hadiths recommend sattoo (powdered barley). Talbina is
a meal made from satoo, formed by adding milk and honey to the dried barley
powder. The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) recommended talbina for
the sick and grieving (Khan p.1). He is quoted as saying, “At-talbina gives
rest to the heart of the patient and makes it active and relieves some of his
sorrow and grief” (Bukhari 7:71#593).
According
to ibn al-Qayyim, barley water using five times the amount of water as barley,
should be boiled until the contents reduce to three-quarters. This milky
mixture is a thirst quencher. According to Firdous Al-Hikmat, a suspension
prepared from one part barley and 15 parts water until the volume is reduced to
two-thirds after boiling is beneficial (Khan p.1-3). The Japanese drank
the pure juice from young barley leaves in powdered form for a number of years
(Hagiwara p.4). Science has proven the benefits of all of this and more.
Rediscovering
Barley in Modern Research
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Barley
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Like
most major crops grown today in the U.S., barley originated from the Middle
East; and like most Western countries, barley is grown for animal feed with the
high quality barley reserved for the production of beer and other alcoholic
beverages (Levin p.1). Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest feed barley
importer (Lee p.3). As a food, barley’s long list of benefits include:
18 amino acids of which eight are the essential amino acids that the human body
can not produce, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium antioxidants, glucan,
iron, copper, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, beta carotene, vitamins B1, B2, B6,
C, folic acid and pantothenic acid. It also contains amylase, dextrin,
phospholipids, maltose, glucose, sulfur, niacin and protein (herbsrainbear.com
p.1).
Dr.
Howard Lutz of the Institute of Preventative Medicine in Washington is amazed at
the properties of this grass. He referred to it as “…the most
incredible product of this decade. It improves stamina, sexual energy,
clarity of thought and reduces addiction to things that are bad for you.”
Now
maybe one can better understand why the Prophet (peace be upon him) advised its
consumption for the sick and grieving. After all, it is at these times
that one’s poor appetite can encourage further illness or even cause one to
seek satisfaction from harmful substances. If one’s mind is clear, one
is also better able to respect the cycle of life.
Dr.
Yoshihide Hagiwara, a plant geneticist who became disillusioned with the side
effects of modern drugs, researched 150 types of barley over a 15-year period.
Hagiwara, working at the Office of Science and Technology and Japan Food
Analysis Center, discovered that the high organic sodium content of barley keeps
calcium in solution form in the bloodstream and it actually dissolves calcium
deposits in the joints.
Barley
also replaces the organic sodium of the stomach lining, which assists digestion
by improving the hydrochloric acid in the stomach. The enzyme
superoxide dismutase, SOD, was isolated from barley and has been found to be a
powerful antioxidant that protects the cells against the disease-causing free
radicals that destroy healthy cells (Wheatgrass.com p.1, 2).
With
no known contraindications, barley has been a remedy for indigestion, diarrhea,
and inflammatory conditions of the stomach and bowels. The soothing effect on
the digestive tract originates from the grain itself when the husk is removed
(Yahoo p.1).
Fresh
Barley, Powdered Barley, Barley Juice and Barley Soup!
Hazim
asked Sahl, “Did you use white flour during the lifetime of the Prophet?”
Sahl replied, “No.” Hazim asked, “Did you used to sift
barley flour?” He said, “No, but we used to blow off the husk
(of the barley)” (Bukhari 7:65 #321). This shows knowledge of how best to
get the benefits from barley. As a slow digesting food, it is recommended during
the fasts of Ramadan when one’s diet should differ from one’s normal diet in
simplicity.
In
traditional Chinese herbal medicine, the dried or germinated shoots of the
common variety, Hordeum vulgare, are used to improve poor digestion as
the result of a weak spleen and abdomen, anorexia and abdominal distension.
Combined with hawthorn fruit, it stops milk secretions and painful breasts and
is thus not recommended for lactating women. It is also ill advised for pregnant
women as it promotes contractions. It is of benefit, however, during the process
of childbirth (Reid p.136).
Barley
water using 3 tablespoons of barley boiled in 3 cups of water for one hour and
then strained and cooled is placed on the face as a skin freshener, meanwhile
cleansing and softening normal skin. After rinsing, any left over water
can be refrigerated. Drinking barley water clears the skin. Honey
and orange juice can be added to make it more palatable (herbsrainbear p.1, 2).
Added to diluted cow’s milk, it becomes a nutritional drink for young children
(Yahoop.1).
Biologist
Yasno Hotta of the University of California identified P4D1 in barley, which has
a strong action on human DNA. PD41 suppresses and cures cell death and
delays aging as well as curing pancreatitis, stomatitis (inflammation of the
oral cavity), dermatitis, lacerations of the stomach and duodenum. He also
found barley water or juice to be stronger than steroid drugs with fewer side
effects. Dr. Hagiwara found damaged DNA repaired itself quickly when
barley juice was added. The high chlorophyll content in barley neutralizes
and removes toxins from the body. Experiments show chlorophyll to be
similar to human hemoglobin and when given to anemic animals, the red blood cell
count returned to normal within 4 -5 days of administration (Hagiwara p.5, 6).
Today, the US Department of Agriculture’s Plant Genome Research Program is
trying to map 40 countries. It’s sub-project, the North American Barley
Genome Mapping Project using 50 scientists and 26 universities and federal
laboratories in the US and Canada, means to identify the genes of barley as it
is viewed as an economically important crop (ehpnet p.1, 2). In terms of
crop improvements, plant scientist Dr. A. Rafiq Islam of Australia has produced
a hybrid of wheat and barley in wheat cytoplasm. His stocks have been
utilized in 200 laboratories around the world for the mapping of protein and
isozyme genes and he is currently researching into the water and saline tolerant
genes found in the wild variety only found in the Middle East in order to
improve wheat (adelaide p.1).
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Barley
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The
variety ‘Rihane 03’ is produced by ICARDA and is grown over 200,000 hectares
in Iraq due to increased yield. This could contradict the aim to collect
the wild variety as opposed to the ‘pedigree’ varieties grown in developed
countries (CGIAR p.2). Would it not be more profitable to look at improved
means of sustainable farming practices? Otherwise it would seem that we
stand to lose the heritage of Hordeum spontaneum. With famine
and war everywhere, this provides the immediate answer to appropriate food aid
preventing disease and malnutrition. In addition, as an introduced crop
where food is scarce, barley could act as an important source of food providing
an economic base beneficial to both humans and animals. It is only global
food politics that prevents the best use of the world’s natural resources and
the world’s most nutritional plant.
Barley
Soup – Yemen.
1
cup dried barley, ½ cup dried lentils, 6 cups of water, 3 small diced onions, 2
tablespoons olive oil, 1 tsp. tumeric, ½ tsp. ground black pepper, 1 cup of
cooked chickpeas.
Fry
onions in hot olive oil until golden. Combine in a saucepan with all the
other ingredients except for the chickpeas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat
and simmer for 1 - 1½ hours stirring occasionally. Add chickpeas near the end
of cooking time. Bon appetite!
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