|  Habitat:
Its origins are in Asia. It was cultivated
since the beginnings of human history,
possibly before wheat, and still remains
a fundamental food in human nutrition. It
is widely cultivated in Italy.
It was chosen
as an ingredient of Wonderup because:
It is also known traditionally for its galactogogue
property, ie. for stimulating the
production of mother's milk in nursing
women. In all other women this hormonal
action simply affects the body's
natural hormonal balance and production
of estrogens, which feed the healthy development
of the breast, the main receptor for
estrogens in women.
Other
characteristics and properties:
 A fundamental
plant in human nutrition, barley
associates its nutrititional function
with health and medicinal properties
of great value. It is indeed:
* nutritive and tonic -
affects digestive system and nutrition
due to its ability to provide nutrients
and promote nourishing. The decoction and
barley malt used in soups have refreshing
and highly nutritive properties which
render them precious in the nutrition of
weak, convalescent people, elderly people
and children. It also promotes the
absorption of starch by the organism.
Barley contains good quantities of phosphorus,
and is therefore useful for coping with
intellecual efforts and for nervous
conditions.
The active components are:
ordein (an alkaloid), maltine, starch,
phosphorus, calcium, iron, potassium,
magnesium.
* anti-inflammatory - affects
immune system and reactivity due to its
ability to counteract inflammation. The
decoction used as mouthwash helps in
cases of angina and inflammations of the
oral cavity.
* emollient - in cases of inflammations
of the digestive organs (pancreas and
biliar ailments) and urinary and in
infective processes of the intestinal
mucous membrane.
* regulates intestinal function
History and
curiosities:
 The history of
barley has its roots in the origins of
man. In cooking barley is a very
used food. In the cosmetic field
the decoction is used on reddened skin as
a decongestant. From the seeds, bran
and flakes are obtained, while
from the toasted and ground caryopses (a
caryopse is a small one-seeded dry
indehiscent fruit - as of Indian corn or
wheat - in which the fruit and seed fuse
in a single grain, Webster dictionary)
a coffee with nutritive properties
and with no exciting qualities is
obtained.
Barley, known for more than twelve
millennia, is native to Western Asia
and Western Africa, and spread
rapidly in the Mediterranean area,
as Plinius narrates, as a special food
for gladiators, who were, indeed,
called "hordearii", ie.
barley-eaters.
It was one of the remedies most used
by Hyppocrate, the father of
Western medicine, who praised it in the
treatment for acute illnesses: "It
seems therefore that the barley decoction
has been correctly chosen among cereal
foods for these diseases and I praise
those who chose it. Its gluten is indeed
smooth, consistent and comforting, fluid
and measuredly humid, thirst-quenching
and easily excretable, if needed; it
doesn't entail astringence or bad
agitation, nor does it bloat the
abdomen."
French pharmacopoeia quotes barley as
a component of the Tisane des Hopitaux
"Bonne à tout". The decoction
of barley is still today known as
"Hyppocrate's tea". Recent
clinical experiences confirm that the
mucilage fraction of barley concentrates
and amplifies the therapeutic properties
of the decoction. When taking natural
remedies, the barley mucilage facilitates
and improves their action.
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