Special Diabetic Barley Soup

Ingredients
1 cup pearl barley
5 cloves whole garlic, roasted
2 litres chicken stock, steeped from 1 ½ chicken breasts
simmered in three litres water
2 tbsps vegetable oil
2 large onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
150g turkey ham, cut up
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 ½ tsps sea salt or to taste
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method

1. Wash barley and soak it in a bowl of water for three hours. Drain.
2. Heat oil in pan and fry onions.
Add carrots and celery, then the barley and fry for three minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, pepper and roasted garlic and simmer over low heat for at least an
hour, or until barley is soft.
4. Add salt to taste and serve the soup garnished with chopped parsley.

Hot Pick

Maybe my blood sugar will start to fall too!

Lowering blood glucose levels with Barley

Barley, whose Latin name is “Hordeum vulgare”, has been cultivated for more than 10, 000 years.

Since ancient times, barley has been used for healing purposes and has been known to the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Athletes in Greece and Rome in those days were known to eat barley bread to give them strength.

Eating barley regularly is a preventive measure against diabetes. Evidently this is true because barley is high in fibre which prevents blood sugar levels from rising too high.

Tips

15. Walk whenever you can. Walk the stairs, walk if you don't need to drive, park as far as you can and walk to your destination.

16. If you have been sedentary for a long time, gently ease into the active lifestyle.Take a couple of weeks to slowly condition your body until you are able to exercise for 30 minutes each time at a reasonable intensity.

17. Help out at home by washing the car or doing the gardening. Keep active.

Tips: Continued

11.Take insulin or medications as prescribed.
12. Take good care of your feet as diabetes may damage nerves and reduce the blood flow to your feet.
13. Get regular eye exams. Diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness. Early detection and treatment can slow the process and save your sight.
14. Have regular medical checkups.