Barley tea is considered to be good for your health. Not only its refreshing taste, but it is also easy for children to drink.
In Japan, cold barley tea is a common summer drink as refreshing and quenching thirst, moreover, it helps to prevent heatstroke in the summertime and after hard activity.
However, drinking excess amounts will cause side effects on your body as various symptoms.
Here are four reasons why barley tea can harm your body when drinking it too much. Yet, it is nonsense to keep away from barley tea because of those.
Read this post, and follow the daily limit of amount, barley tea brings many benefits that I talk about in another post.
It Heals Swelling And Vice Versa
Barley tea contains potassium which will help to heal swelling of the body.
However, the excess amount of barley tea impact negatively to the balance of minerals in your body. In other words, excess potassium enhances swelling more.
Cool The Body
Also, barley, especially potassium contains in barley, has the effect of cooling the body.
It promotes diuretic action and disperses the body temperature together with urine, so it is good for cooling the body heat in the summertime or after hard activity.
Because of it, cold barley tea can work negatively on those who have cold sensitivity.
Be sure to drink cold barley tea with an appropriate amount and slowly. Drinking cold drinks all at once leads to extra use of your body’s energy can cause extra tiredness.
It’s better to make it warm or room temperature if you have cold sensitivity or before going to bed.
May Cause Indigestion
Barley tea has the effect of protecting and repairing the mucous membrane of the stomach, so drinking barley tea before and after meals can be expected to have the effect of preventing stomach upset.
However, your gastric juice will dilute and will cause indigestion when having barley tea during meal. Also, it may cause diarrhea and stomachache.
May Cause Low Sodium Level
Potassium contained in barley tea excretes not only urine but also sodium in your body which lowers blood pressure and has the effect of improving swelling.
Repeatedly, the excess Pottasium causes an imbalance of minerals. As low sodium levels due to drinking barley tea too much can cause headaches, nausea, and dizziness.
How Much Should I Take Barley Tea
Barley tea is a good drink for the proper amount. However, there are individual differences in this appropriate amount. Try to intake a maximum of 2 liters (a half of a gallon) of barley tea per day.
Barley tea is non-caffeine so it is a good drink to cools the body heat and hydration as long as you drink an appropriate amount, but barley tea does not contain sodium.
To replenish sodium that you lose as sweating, you need to intake sodium. If you want to take barley tea as a sports drink, adding a pinch of salt to barley tea is a good idea. It doesn’t affect the taste because of such a small amount and it will help to prevent heatstroke.
Avoid The Rich Barley Tea
Brewing barley tea at home is really relaxing and the taste is much better, but it may put a strain on your stomach when it steeped deeply. I like the rich taste (steep deeply) but it is better to avoid it steeped too long in a small amount of water when you feel stomach upset. Make it light taste or making Barley Latte is a good option. I am not sure about the result, but some people say that heartburn and headache are less likely to occur when roast whole kernels before brewing.
Another concern when you still don’t feel good after taking barley tea is that you may have an allergy to barley. If you think so, stop taking a barley tea.
Enjoy Barley Tea Properly
Not only about barley tea, it is not good to eat and drink exceed the limit as you know.
Barley tea is healthy tea because of caffeine-less, preventing heat stroke and heat shock protects the stomach, prevents dental disease.
Barley tea is most likely safe when consumed appropriately, yet it is important to know those side effects and I am hoping the post will help your barley tea life!
If you want to know the details of benefit and how to brew the tea, read next here.
I mentioned “heatstroke” which should be taken seriously when traveling to Japan in the summer season.
“Heat Shock” is also careful if you like taking long baths. It is recommended to have a glass of barley tea before and after bathing.