If you had kidney stones once in the past then your risk of getting them again is higher than if you did not have any before. Diet plays a significant role in development and prevention of kidney stones. Depending on what you eat you may get calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric acid or cystine kidney stone. Irrespective of the type of stone barley water will help in getting rid of it. But what to eat and what to avoid will still depend on the type of kidney stone.
Table of Contents
- What is Barley Water and How to Make It?/a>
- Nutritional Facts of Barley Water
- How does Barley Water Treat Kidney Stones
- How to Use Barley Water for Kidney Stones
- Side Effects of Barley Water
- Other Tips and Precautions
What is Barley Water and How to Make It?
Barley water is a drink made out of cooking Barley in water.
Barley has been in use for centuries in different societies around the globe as a healthy drink. It is rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients to give many health benefits. They include lowering risks of heart diseases and diabetes, treating UTI and kidney stones, promoting weight loss and lowering cholesterol.
It's easy to make this healthy drink.
There are two types of baley. Hulled Barley is more nutritious than commonly available pearled barley. Pearl Barley is polished barley so it loses out on some of the nutrients.
- Soak 1 cup of hulled barley water overnight or at least 4 hours during the day. Keep the water level about a centimeter above the barley.
- Strain the water and discard it
- Put the barley in a saucepan
- Add 4 cups of water and put it to boil until the grains are completely cooked.
- You now have following two choices and both are good to get rid of kidney stones.
- Strain the water and drink it when cooks a bit and ready to drink or
- Don't strain the water churn it in a blender and drink.
Nutritional Facts of Barley Water
When you strain barley water, the remaining 100 grams of of cooked hull barley will have approximately following nutritions according to USDA (1).
Proximates
- Water 9.44 grams
- Energy kcal 354 651 kcl
- Protein 12.48 grams
- Total lipid (fat) 2.30 grams
- Carbohydrate 73.48 grams
- Fiber 17.3 grams
- Sugars, total 0.80 grams
Minerals
- Calcium 33 61 mg
- Iron 3.60 mg
- Magnesium 133 245 mg
- Phosphorus 264 486 mg
- Potassium 452 832 mg
- Sodium 12 22 mg
- Zinc 2.77 mg
Vitamins
- Thiamin 0.646 mg
- Riboflavin 0.285 mg
- Niacin 4.604 mg
- Vitamin B-6 0.318 mg
- Folate 19 35 µg
- Vitamin A 1 µg
- Vitamin E 0.57 mg
- Vitamin K 2.2 µg 2.2
* Ref: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Legacy Release April, 2018
How does Barley Water Treat Kidney Stones
Barley water prevents as well as dissolves kidney stones.
- Helps in cleansing the kidneys by flushing out toxins through urine.
- Provides vitamin b6 and magnesium which help in breaking down calcium oxalate
- Acts as diuretic for quick flushing of kidneys prevention stone formation.
How to Use Barley Water for Kidney Stones
You can use barley water in the following 3 different ways to get rid of your kidney stones.
1. Strained Barley Water
- Make barley water as above
- Strain it with fine mashed strainer you will get roughly 3 cups
- Drink a cup of strained barley water
- keep the rest in refrigerator
- Do it 3 times daily
If you prefer, make less quantity of barley water and drink it fresh everytime.
2. Unstrained Barley Water
- Make the barley as above
- Put it in a blender mixer and blend
- Drink it. It is like a full meal in calories turms
- Skip a meal
- Drink lots of water during the day
3. Barley Water with Lemon
- Make the barley water as explained above
- Strain it with fine mashed strainer
- Add juice of 1/2 lemon to the strained water
- Divide the water in 3 portions and store in refrigerator
- Drink each portion with a gap of 3-4 hours during the day.
If you prefer, make less quantity of barley water and drink it fresh everytime.
Side Effects of Barley Water
Barley water in limited quantities is generally very safe and beneficial to health in many different ways.
But, too much of anything good can be bad. This rule applies to everything including barley water.
You need to be aware of the following side effects.
- Barley water contains gluten so if you have gluten intolerance or celiac disease then you should avoid it.
- Unstrained barley water is high in calories but low in fat. taking more than two portion at the can cause diarrhoea or constipation.
- Packaged barley water contains preservatives and sugar. High consumption can increase risks of diabetes and heart disease.
Other Tips and Precautions
In order to reduce the risks of kidney stone, you can take following precautions
- Drink lots of water. If you do not have kidney stones then drink 2 litres of water everyday. If you have kidney stone then increase this quantity to 3-4 litres gradually
- Add other healthy fluids such as fruits and vegetable juices to compensate for some of the water if you do not prefer too much water.
- Avoid package fruit juices and other sugary and caffeinated drinks.
- Reduce your salt intake as it increases with retention in the body.
- Eat more Potassium rich foods
- Limit the amount of animal proteins sea foods and poultry.
There is not enough scientific research on barley water to prove its usefulness or otherwise in removal of kidney stones. Yet this is touted as one of the best remedies for kidney stones from centuries. Use it but stay in touch with your doctor to ensure that kidney stone gets dissolved, if not with barley water then with some other method or medicine.