Barley Sugar in Diet Reduces Diabetes Risk, Study Shows

01 Mar 2016 --- A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition reveals that incorporating barley into the diet lowers blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of diabetes.

The researchers – led by Professor Anne Nilsson at the Food for Health Science Centre at Lund University in Sweden – say that previously, certain indigestible carbohydrates, including inulin, "have been shown to stimulate gut–derived hormones involved in glycemic regulation and appetite regulation."

However, they note that less is understood about the properties of indigestible carbohydrates.

As such, the team carried out a study with 20 healthy, middle–aged participants, some of whom ate barley kernel bread at breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days. The other participants ate white wheat bread during the 3 days as a control.

Between 11–14 hours after their dinner each day, the team assessed the participants for risk indicators of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Results showed that the participants who ate the barley kernel bread had improved metabolisms for up to 14 hours, and they also experienced decreased blood sugar and insulin levels, as well as improved appetite control and increases in insulin sensitivity.

"It is surprising yet promising that choosing the right blend of dietary fibers can – in a short period of time – generate such remarkable health benefits," says Professor Nilsson.

"We have investigated barley kernels repeatedly during the last years and we always find beneficial effects regarding to cardiometabolic risk markers, e.g. on blood glucose regulation and appetite variables. In some studies we have provided test subjects just with a single dose barley kernel based bread (based on approximately 85 g uncooked barley kernels) in the evening, and the following morning they have improved risk markers," she told NutritionInsight.

"In this study, the subjects consumed barley kernel based bead for 3 days, and the portions per day were double amounts (approximately 55 g uncooked barley/meal, 3 times a day). However, in our studies we have to 'maximise' the portions not to miss any effect and that’s why the amounts gets a bit large. Probably it is not necessary to consume such big portions."

Barley 'increased gut hormones that regulate metabolism and appetite'

According to the researchers, the positive health effects come about when the dietary fibers in the barley kernel reach the gut, where they increase good bacteria and instigate the release of specific hormones.

"After eating the bread made out of barley kernel, we saw an increase in gut hormones that regulate metabolism and appetite, and an increase in a hormone that helps reduce chronic low–grade inflammation, among the participants," Professor Nilsson explained.

"In time, this could help prevent the occurrence of both cardiovascular disease and diabetes."

The study has proved to be timely as the EU is recording significant increases in obesity and Type 2 diabetes diagnoses in recent years. The research, it is hoped, will pioneer a route to further knowledge concerning specific dietary fibers and their effects on health and wellbeing. 

"The message must be to try to consume barley kernels as a natural part of the diet, e.g. to replace rice, potatoes, pasta, included in soups, and stews etc., and if you put barley kernels into a bread, try to make the kernels take up a considerable amounts of the ingredients; not just for 'decoration' but instead at least half of the dry matter," Nilsson added.

"I don’t know how the research findings will affect the bread making industry, but with increasing knowledge regarding beneficial effects of whole grain products like barley I hope that people will start to request these kind of products in the shops and supermarkets;  an increased demand probably will help to get the industry to start to produce such products" she concluded.

by Kerina Tull