Good For You - Barley Water...

Brady and I are both on a specialized food program of our own making for the next month...til our annual New Orleans vacation, that is.  Then I'm putting a Doberge cake in my mouth!  Since we work a lot and tend to make some, um, comfort motivated choices in our food (read: junky or just nomnomnom all the time) we've let ourselves slip a bit and now we're paying the price.  We feel a bit tired.  A bit bleh.  So we've been doing a very strict vegan diet paired with absolutely no booze and as little sugar/bread as possible.  It isn't easy except for the no meat/booze part because that's a cinch for me.  But no pizza?  Argh!  Pizza is my jam!  I miss it so much!

In reading up on some great ways to nurture and cleanse the body from the inside, I stumbled across a number of articles touting barley water.  It's been served to us at numerous places but I didn't realize just how great the stuff is for you!

Barley water can:

• quench your thirst
• help cure a UTI
• help with indigestion and digestion
• flush the kidneys
• fight constipation (ugh) and nausea
• provide much needed fiber
• provide antioxidants to fight a number of diseases
• help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes
• provide selenium which helps with skin elasticity and to fight a variety of cancers
• provide zinc which heals the skin
• improve hair growth and can help stop hair loss
• lower cholesterol
• help protect red blood cells to abate anemia
• boost immunity
• help reduce the chance of gallstones
• help prevent osteoporosis

Info found here and here.

I made a big batch of it, blending a number of recipes I found on line, and I really like drinking it first thing in the morning when I wake up.  It hydrates and refreshes, for sure.  Here's my easy recipe...

• 1 cup pearled barley
• 10 cups water
• juice from 1 lemon and 4 oranges with a splash of (fresh, unfiltered) apple juice
• 1/4 cup honey

Boil water, add barley and then reduce to simmer.  Simmer for 45 minutes then turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes more.  Remove from heat, allow to cool and then strain into large pitcher.  Add honey and juice.  Pour mix into small cups/jars to store in fridge.  Drink within 5 days for best taste and benefits, and be sure to shake the mixture before you sip.

Prep time is less than 10 minutes but the benefits are enormous.  I highly recommend you give this a try if you are interested in giving your body a healing boost.  It's just what I've needed...and it really does make my skin glow...