✦ Ready-to-use cooked grain ✦ Beta-glucan fibre ✦ Selenium contributor ✦ Low glycaemic impact

Boiled pearled barley is a cooked whole grain ready to stir into soups, stews, salads, and grain bowls. Cooking roughly doubles its weight through water absorption, and it provides moderate beta-glucan, selenium, and B vitamins per serving.

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Preparation note

Already cooked; reheat briefly. Cold leftover barley develops more resistant starch overnight in the fridge, which feeds gut bacteria and moderates the glycaemic response.

Sources: CoFID 2021

Macronutrients per 100g

510
kJ
Energy
2.70
g
Protein
27.6
g
Carbs
0.60
g
Fat
0.00
g
Salt

How to read GI & GL

GI (Glycemic Index) rates how fast the carbohydrates in a food raise blood glucose compared to pure glucose (= 100). Low GI ≤ 55 means a slow, steady rise. But GI says nothing about how much carbohydrate you're actually eating.

GL (Glycemic Load) fixes that. It multiplies GI by the actual grams of carbohydrate per typical serving: GL = GI × carbs per serving ÷ 100. This makes it the more useful number for real-world blood sugar management.

Why they can disagree — a food with low GI can still carry a high GL if the serving is large and carb-dense. Conversely, watermelon has a high GI (72) but a low GL (4) because a normal portion contains very few carbs. Always read both together.

Low GL ≤ 10 Modest total glucose impact per serving.
Medium GL 11–19 Moderate impact — manageable for most.
High GL ≥ 20 Significant carb load per serving. Consider a smaller portion.

Source: Atkinson et al., International Tables of GI & GL Values 2021, Am J Clin Nutr.

Glycemic Index & Load

34
GI Score
🟢 Low GI
15
GL / Serving
Medium Load

Low GI food — causes a slow, steady rise in blood sugar. Ideal for sustained energy, blood glucose control, and reducing insulin demand.

Glycemic Load (GL = GI × carbs ÷ 100) accounts for portion size. A moderate GL — portion size matters here.

Source: Atkinson et al., International Tables of GI & GL Values 2021, Am J Clin Nutr

Vitamins & Minerals

Nutrient Per 100g % Daily Value* Level
Potassium 92.0 mg 5%
Phosphorus 71.0 mg 10%
Chloride 41.0 mg 5%
Magnesium 22.0 mg 6%
Calcium 7.00 mg 1%
Folate 3.00 µg 2%
Iron 1.00 mg 7%
Zinc 0.700 mg 7%
Niacin (B3) 0.500 mg 3%
Manganese 0.440 mg 22%
Copper 0.140 mg 14%
Vitamin E (alpha-TE) 0.100 mg 1%
Pantothenic Acid (B5) 0.100 mg 2%
Vitamin B6 0.040 mg 3%
Thiamin (B1) 0.020 mg 2%
Riboflavin (B2) 0.010 mg 1%
Vitamin C 0.000 mg 0%
Vitamin B12 0.000 µg 0%
Vitamin D 0.000 µg 0%
Vitamin A (RAE) 0.000 µg 0%

Phytochemicals

Bioactive plant compounds — not classified as essential nutrients but associated with a range of health benefits.

Catechin (+)
Flavanols (Flavan-3-ols)
2.39 mg
per 100g · tap to explore →
Sources: CoFID 2021
Grains & Cereals Barley & Rye Phytochemical data available 🇬🇧 CoFID 2021 · 11-003