The regular consumption of barley helps control diabetes, lose weight, lower cholesterol, and assists in overall digestive health. This was stated by a team of doctors and nutritionists from India and Japan at a recent event in New Delhi.
It was led by Prof Dr Sanjeev Bagai, chairman and managing director, Nephron Clinics, New Delhi, and Dr Misako Matsumaru, a Japanese physician who works for the internal medicine department at Artemis Health Institute and Fortis Healthcare.
They said barley had thrice as much calcium, twice as much Vitamin B2, and 12 times as much beta-glucans as rice.
Published research on multi-centric trials stated that beta-glucans were particularly helpful in combating modern lifestyle diseases, since they improved the blood glucose metabolism, lowered blood cholesterol and serum lipid levels and decreased the risk of cardio-vascular diseases, gallstones and cancer.
They have also proved to be effective against diabetes mellitus, which often leads to various heart diseases. Beta-glucans are also known to promote wound healing and alleviate ischemic heart injury.
Oomugi launched
Oomugi Barley is a health supplement product from Hakubaku Inc, a Japanese firm engaged in cereal-based food staples. It was recently launched in India.
According to research conducted by Hakubaku and endorsed by the team of doctors, beta-glucan fibres, when taken with meals, markedly blunted post-meal elevations in the blood sugar and insulin levels.
Prof Dr Bagai said, “The high incidence of lifestyle and stress-related diseases are forcing many of us to alter our habits and move towards health-conscious diets. Integrating Oomugi Barley into our daily diet would be medically beneficial.”
He suggested that 30-50g Oomugi Barley could supply approximately 75 per cent of the total requirement of fibre by human body in a day.
Unlike normal barley, the product, with a distinctive technology unique to the company, comes without the distinctive dark lines in the grain.
Therefore, while Oomugi Barley retains all the health benefits of the super grain, one is unable to make out the presence of barley when cooked in a ratio of 1:3 with rice or mixed with wheat flour to bake chapatis.
It is believed the product would be particularly effective in India, which has earned the dubious epithet, ‘diabetic capital of the world’, in recent times.
Dr Misako Matsumaru, said, “Oomugi Barley is a household name in Japan for over 60 years now. Generations of Japanese, including my own, have derived immense health benefits from this product. I hope Indians quickly take to Oomugi Barley.”
Hakubaku has also partnered with Panasonic AP India and Maido Enterprises for the marketing of Oomugi Barley, which would be imported from Japan.
The product would be served across 50 hospitals in India and made available at retail stores soon.
