Barley vs Buckwheat: Which Is Less Inflammatory?
Barley
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is less inflammatory than barley, but only just: both are anti-inflammatory, one point apart on the inflammation scale. Both cook in a pot of water until the grain turns chewy, and both go into the soups, salads and bowls where rice would otherwise sit.
Barley leans on beta-glucan, a fibre that feeds the bacteria in your large intestine. Well-fed bacteria help keep the gut lining sound, and a sound gut lining is one of the things that stops inflammation building. The same fibre lowers cholesterol, measured again and again in feeding trials. Barley gives the point away on gluten: in coeliac disease, gluten inflames and damages the lining of the small intestine.
Buckwheat is not a cereal at all. It is a seed, with no gluten in it and no relation to wheat, so the problem barley has does not arise. It also carries rutin, a flavonoid that protects cells from the damage that keeps inflammation running, and almost no other everyday food supplies rutin in useful amounts. The rutin sits in the outer layer, so buy whole buckwheat groats rather than pale buckwheat flour, and cook a pot of them this week in place of your usual grain.
Side by side
| Barley | Buckwheat | |
|---|---|---|
| Inflammation Score | Low · 3/10 | Low · 2/10 |
| Category | Grains | Grains |
| Serving size | 1/4 cup dry pearl barley (50 g) | 1 cup cooked groats (168 g) |
| Key nutrients | Beta-glucan, Tocotrienols (vitamin E), Manganese, Selenium | Rutin, Magnesium, Lysine, Resistant starch |
| How often | A few times a week, a quarter cup dry in soup or as a side | Two or three times a week, a cup cooked, in place of white rice |
On the AIP diet
Barley
Barley is not allowed on the AIP diet. The elimination phase takes out every grain, and barley carries gluten on top of that. The combination puts it late in the queue for reintroduction, and many people who follow AIP leave gluten grains out for good. For a similar chew in a soup or a salad, cauliflower rice or diced cooked squash stands in well.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is not allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol, though not for the reason the name suggests. It has no gluten and no link to wheat. It is out because the elimination phase clears seeds as well as grains, and buckwheat is a seed. Reintroduction usually puts it with the other seeds, which come back before bread does. Cooked squash does the same job on the plate meanwhile.
What each one brings
Barley
- Beta-glucan feeds the bacteria in your large intestine, which helps keep the gut lining sound
- The same fibre lowers cholesterol, an effect measured again and again in feeding trials
- It thickens in the gut and slows the starch down, so blood sugar rises gently
- Unusually for a grain, polishing off the bran still leaves most of the beta-glucan in place
Buckwheat
- Carries rutin, a flavonoid almost no other everyday food supplies in useful amounts
- Eaten as whole groats, so the outer layer holding the rutin stays in
- No gluten in the seed itself, unlike every true cereal
- Its protein is high in lysine, the amino acid cereals are short of
Watch out for
Barley
- Contains gluten, so it is off limits with coeliac disease or a gluten sensitivity
- Malt syrup and malt extract are made from barley, and they arrive as sugar without the fibre
- Pearl barley has had its bran polished off, so it carries less fibre than hulled barley
- Barley is starchy, so the portion matters more here than with a vegetable
Buckwheat
- Soba noodles are usually mostly wheat flour, gluten included, despite the name
- Buckwheat allergy is uncommon but can be severe, unlike most grain reactions
- Pale buckwheat flour has lost the layer where most of the rutin sits
- Still starchy, so a heaped bowl undoes much of the point
Get the inflammation score of any meal
Just snap a photo or describe your food to get its inflammation score and uncover hidden patterns that may be affecting your well-being.
