Barley

What is Activated Barley?
Barley is a hardy grain that dates back to the Stone Age. Used in cereals, breads, and soups.

The OFO-Method™ and Activated Barley™ are named after the Swedish inventor Owe Forsberg. The OFO-Method is a unique patented natural treatment, (via the exact application of different levels of pressure, humidity and temperature), of organic Barley that increases the energy level of barley whilst activating nutrients and dormant enzymes. The result is Activated BarleyTM, a totally unique, low glycemic index super food that is rich in naturally occurring enzymes, vitamins, minerals, fibre, energy and protein

What Are The Benefits of Activated Barley?
In recent years, particular consideration has been devoted to products based on cereals. A great variety of such products have been marketed successfully with claims for health enhancement all around the world. One substance that has attracted particular notice is the Beta Glucane that appears in many of our commonest cereals, like oats and barley. But what exactly are Beta Glucanes and what effect do they have on the human organism?

Beta Glucane is a water-soluble fiber, a polysaccharide that repeated clinical studies have shown to be able to significantly reduce the LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) content in the blood. At the same time, Beta Glucane helps to stabilize the HDL cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) content and thus contribute to a balance that can radically reduce the risk of heart and vascular diseases and the need for cholesterol reducing drugs. We do not know exactly how Beta Glucanes work, but one theory scientists are exploring is that they have the ability to bind cholesterol and bile acids when they pass through the intestinal system.

More About Activated Barley
As increasing attention is being focused on diet related illnesses, both the food industries and the consumers' interest in functional foods - foodstuffs with documented health enhancing properties - has grown apace. Greater knowledge about what substances in our foods can have specific health promoting qualities provides the possibility of avoiding poor health through proper diet, rather than using various kinds of medicines, for example.

New research indicates that Beta Glucanes also have a number of other specific health effects in addition to being able to lower the blood cholesterol level. Among these are anti-inflammatory properties and boosting the immune response. There is also research indicating that Beta Glucanes may have a so-called prebiotic effect, i.e. stimulate the growth of helpful bacteria that can protect against pathogenes in the intestinal track.

Even in its natural state, barley has very good nutritional makeup - it is, for example, the only cereal that contains all of the E (antioxidant) vitamins. Among other things, the activating process has made a greater portion of barley's nutritive content available to the human organism. Because Activated Barley is made from the whole barley grain, it is also likely that it has a preventive effect on different kinds of cancer diseases, e.g. colon cancer, according to research results based on a newly published epidemiologic study of 500,000 Europeans (the EPIC study, published in the Lancet spring 2003). Also, so called health claims concerning the whole grain’s ability to protect against heart and vascular disease, have been accepted by both European and U.S. authorities.

Activated Barley has a very high molecular weight, which not only gives the product itself a very low glycaemic index (GI) - i.e. a slow increase of the blood sugar level over time and a lasting feeling of satisfaction, it also makes the product ideal as an ingredient in foods when it is advantageous for various reasons to regulate GI at a desired level. With Activated Barley, the food industry has access to a tool that will add new and healthy properties to a wide range of foodstuffs.

Usage Indications
Activated Barley is now being included in meal replacement powders and weight gain powders to replace the previously favoured maltodextrins. This provides a far superior slow release of energy and lesser ability for the body to store this as bodyfat.