By the summer season, many people strive to put their body in order, so they torment themselves with all kinds of hunger strikes and over-exert themselves in training. An excellent alternative to all this is a simple diet, where pearl barley is the main ingredient. Reviews of pearl barley for weight loss come in both positive and negative. To personally verify whether such a diet is good, you need to learn about all its features. The article contains real results, photos and reviews about pearl barley for weight loss.
Varieties of pearl barley
Today, people can purchase several types of cereals that differ from each other in pre-processing technology:
- Common - groats made from whole barley and characterized by a removed shell.
- Barley is the smallest cereal that cooks quickly enough.
- "Dutch" - whole grain cereals, subjected to deeper processing.
Each variety is good in its own way, so not only girls, but also young men leave their reviews about pearl barley for weight loss, because any person can like such a diet.
Pearl barley, familiar to everyone, is quite rare in a person’s daily menu. In fact, people in vain build their diet in this way, because it is this porridge that has a considerable number of useful properties. Among them:
- vitamins B-B6, as well as B9 are well reflected in the functioning of the nervous system, normalize the level of hemoglobin and have a positive effect on the condition of the teeth;
- Vitamin A maintains a normal level of immunity and vision;
- Vitamin E is able to stimulate blood circulation;
- the presence of useful trace elements (iodine, zinc, chromium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and so on);
- a decoction of pearl barley works well in the fight against gastrointestinal diseases, providing an enveloping effect and softening the mucous membranes and walls of the stomach;
- the presence of plant fiber accelerates the intestines and instantly solves problems with constipation;
- Due to the large list of amino acids, the diet is tolerated quite easily and without attacks of hunger.
The benefits and harms of diet
The use of barley for weight loss, reviews about which there are different, is undeniable. Among the main advantages of cereals:
- the ability to cook not only second courses, but also the first, which have the same properties when dieting;
- low glycemic index (22 units);
- ready - made porridge tastes good;
- during the diet, the intestines work;
- simplicity in preparation;
- low cost;
- barley helps to reduce the volume of the hips and abdomen;
- during the diet, a person is charged with energy and feels a surge of strength;
- does not cause allergic reactions.
When the benefits of pearl barley for weight loss are clear, do not stop there. To determine for yourself whether this type of food is suitable for a diet, you need to consider not only its benefits, but also the harm. The disadvantages of cereals are:
- the diet is at least saturated with protein;
- there is no abundance of taste sensations, since the product is used without additional spices;
- gluten is present in the composition - a specific protein that is dangerous for people with celiac disease.
After finding out information about the benefits and harms of pearl barley for weight loss, reviews of people who have experienced this diet on themselves are no longer so interesting for beginners. But in fact, doctors and nutritionists still recommend asking what results other people managed to achieve.
Weight Loss Rules
Reviews about pearl barley for weight loss are provided at the end of the article, but first you need to understand the basic rules of weight loss. With intensive consumption of pearl barley, metabolism normalizes, since porridge contains a minimum amount of fat and salt. But despite this, in order to effectively reduce weight, it is necessary to remember some features of this type of food:
- In the process of cooking cereals increases 5-6 times.
- Porridge is cooked only on water and without the addition of any other ingredients.
- In the first couple of days, weight loss occurs due to the removal of fluid, slag and deposits from the body, and from the third day the process of active lipolysis starts.
- With a sedentary lifestyle, the result will not be as good as with regular training at home or in the gym.
- During the diet, you should drink high quality water, that is, without a high content of carbon dioxide and salt.
- Adhering to the diet, it is not required to additionally take vitamin-mineral complexes.
Allowed and Prohibited Products
If the chosen course is not a classic mono-diet, then the daily menu can be varied with such foods as:
- vegetables;
- dark chocolate (not more than 40 g per day);
- nuts
- fruits;
- dried fruits;
- seafood;
- low-fat cottage cheese.
The following ingredients are recommended to be completely excluded from the diet:
- pastries and flour products;
- smoked meats;
- sweets;
- Beans
- alcoholic drinks;
- fatty varieties of fish and meat;
- salinity.
Subject to these rules, the desired effect will be achieved quite quickly. The results and reviews of pearl barley for weight loss can be viewed below.
Contraindications
Barley, of course, is a useful product, but, despite this, it has a number of contraindications. Doctors are forbidden to adhere to such a diet in the presence of health problems such as:
- tendency to constipation;
- pregnancy;
- increased acidity of gastric juice;
- celiac disease;
- disturbances in the mechanism of calcium absorption.
Diet
A single diet or a combined type of food is based on pearl barley dishes. A person can independently choose his diet: a short and rigorous course or a long, but less rigid.
Weight loss with pearl barley reviews is not only positive, but also negative. Fortunately, people have more pros than cons. This can be seen by reading the real comments of losing weight girls and boys, provided at the end of the article.
5 days
The nutrition in the 5-day diet is built so that porridge is consumed in small portions 3 times (breakfast, lunch and dinner). The only introductory component is a glass of biokefir, which is required to drink a couple of hours before bedtime. Numerous reviews of pearl barley for weight loss indicate the fact that in just 5 days you can get rid of 1-2 kg without overworking yourself with physical activity.
The drinking regime in this case is more diverse. Throughout the day, it is allowed to drink ordinary water, infusions and teas from herbs, a boil from prunes.
There is another diet option for 5 days. In it, no more than two tablespoons of flaxseed are allowed to be added to the morning portion. Thanks to this, the diet becomes even more effective, since flax has a laxative effect and allows you to harmonize the composition of the intestinal microflora.
A week
A 7-day diet is tolerated much easier than the previous diet. Here the menu is expanded:
- breakfast - barley with steamed prunes or green apple;
- lunch - 150 g of boiled chicken or beef fillet and a salad of white cabbage and fresh cucumbers with cranberry juice dressing;
- dinner - 250 ml fat-free kefir and a small portion of cottage cheese.
10 days
This type of diet is called free nutrition, because it contains a fairly extensive list of products. In this case, the result will not be obtained so quickly, but will consist of losses of the subcutaneous fat layer.
For 10 days it is allowed to eat any dishes based on pearl barley, seasoning them with spices, onions and carrots. It is also permissible to consume salads from fresh vegetables with herbs.
Snacks and desserts should consist of fruits and dried fruits, sometimes it is allowed to eat nuts, but in minimal portions. Boiled mushrooms or lean meat and grilled fish can be a great lunch dish. In the evening, it is best to focus on dairy products.
The most important rule that should be clarified once and for all - do not eat fatty and fried foods. At the same time, the servings should be exactly two times smaller than with normal daily meals. After 7 pm, eating is strictly prohibited.
If the body tolerates such a diet well, and side effects from the gastrointestinal tract do not appear, then the diet can be slightly extended.
Two weeks
A diet designed for 14 days is divided into 4 periods, each of which consists of 3-4 days. Changing the sequence of periods is strictly forbidden, as this can slow down the pace of dumping extra pounds. You need to eat this way:
- from 1 to 3 days - a portion of porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner (one and a half hours before each meal, you must take a teaspoon of powder from the fruits of milk thistle);
- from 4 to 6 days - 3 doses of pearl barley with fresh vegetables, a glass of fat-free kefir;
- from 7 to 9 days - for breakfast and dinner porridge without additives, for lunch - barley with 200 g of boiled meat;
- from 10 to 14 days - 3 times porridge, any permitted fruit and a glass of biokefir.
During a two-week diet, you are allowed to eat:
- vegetables - bell pepper, leafy greens, carrots, beets, white cabbage;
- fruits - kiwi, citrus fruits, apples.
Pineapples, bananas and grapes should be completely excluded from the diet, since it is these fruits that have high calorie content.
Way out of diet
The probability of a sudden return of weight when the restriction of the diet stops depends on the number of kilograms lost during the weight loss period. Therefore, after any diet, where pearl barley is the basis, it is necessary to make the right way out of the diet.
This period lasts from 4 to 7 days and provides for the mandatory use of barley porridge for breakfast for weight loss. Oddly enough, reviews about leaving the diet are exceptionally positive. It is this period of time that will allow a person to return to normal food again and not get upset stomach or other problems with weight loss due to switching to food products, from which the body has already managed to break the habit.
When leaving the diet, food should be added gradually, starting only from the second day. It is allowed to drink natural fresh, coffee or teas.
Prohibited ingredients include smoked meats, fatty foods, and sweets. In addition, in the first 4 days it is strictly forbidden to eat flour. We should not forget about the control of portions, gradually increasing them every day.
In the transition period, the slow pace of chewing food, which makes it possible to quickly saturate the body, will become an indispensable assistant. The meal should end with a slight feeling of hunger.
The best recipes
Many people really like stew from vegetables and pearl barley. To prepare, you need to take:
- onion;
- carrot;
- 200 g of "Dutch";
- a couple of cloves of garlic;
- salt and ground pepper.
The first two ingredients need to be chopped and fried together in a pan until golden brown. Then this mass should be mixed with chopped garlic, pepper, cereal and salt. All this must be extinguished over low heat until the cereal itself is ready. With this dish, you can arrange a fasting day on barley for weight loss. Reviews of people say that in a day it will turn out to lose up to 1.5 kg.
The second wonderful dish is cabbage rolls. For them you need to take:
- 100 g of pearl barley;
- clove of garlic;
- 2 carrots;
- 300 g of mushrooms;
- sheets of cabbage;
- onion;
- greens.
The cereals need to be cooked until cooked, then add the remaining components in crushed form. Cabbage leaves should be boiled for 5 minutes and wrapped in minced meat, forming cabbage rolls.
These recipes pearl barley for weight loss reviews are positive. Low-calorie dishes of this type can be safely cooked and eaten not only during the diet, but just like that, if you want to try something unusual.
Barley for weight loss: results and reviews
Most people chose a 5 or 7-day diet, as it seemed to them the most profitable. During this time, they were able to get rid of 2-4 kg. Of course, those who regularly went in for sports were able to achieve better results. Some individuals were able to withstand both a 10-day and two-week diet, getting rid of 5-7 kg.
In general, losing weight note the following benefits of a pearl diet:
- does not require spending a lot of money on products;
- weight disappears pretty quickly.
In addition to advantages, people talk about the disadvantages:
- monotony;
- hard to give up sweets.
Girls and boys who managed to say goodbye to folds of fat thanks to pearl barley recommend this diet to everyone who decides to change their body and lead a healthy lifestyle.