“Superfood” is a buzzword I can’t resist. I know it’s a marketing gimmick, and still I succumb to believing things like forbidden rice is far more nutritious than ordinary brown rice, when truthfully both contain arsenic that raises the risk of skin and other cancers. Quinoa is a super grain that rivals legumes and beans as an excellent protein source. But it’s covered in an acrid, toxic coating that requires rinsing and soaking before cooking, plus it’s expensive. Other super grains, like amaranth and millet, can be hard to find in ordinary markets. For these reasons, barley has become my go-to grain.

Why eat grains

Carbs, including grains, have been slandered for decades now as a primary culprit in metabolic problems, weight gain, bloating, type 2 diabetes, sluggishness, and a host of other ills. Years ago, long before becoming fully plant-based, I told my physician I needed a food plan that eliminated carbs. She sighed and said, “That would leave you very little to eat, and it’s extremely unhealthy. Grains, fruits, and vegetables are our primary sources of nutrition.”

Still, since I first heard of the Zone diet in the early 90s, I’ve been brainwashed into thinking the only way to be lean is to adopt a high-protein, low-carb diet. Thankfully, once I embraced a 100 percent whole-food diet, I learned that not all carbs are created equally. Healthy carbs, for the most part, are unprocessed and contain high amounts of fiber, protein, and even fat.

Most pastas, for example, are not particularly healthy because the fiber and other nutrients have been stripped out, turning them into pasty lumps of calories with little nutritional value. Whole, unprocessed grains, on the other hand, are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber that provide health benefits.

Fiber deficiency is bad for your health

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a mere seven percent of Americans get enough fiber in their diets. While a fiber-restrictive diet may be prescribed for certain health conditions, including Crohn’s disease and bowel-ulcerative colitis, a high-fiber diet helps most people lower their risk of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, constipation, some types of chronic diarrhea, and certain cancers, especially colorectal cancer.

Further, fiber itself provides health benefits, including:

• Gut health and microbiome balance

• Improved digestion and elimination

• Lower cholesterol

• Controlled blood sugar

• Increased satiety, which could help you eat less

• Improved immune responses

Barley: the egalitarian food

Barley, an inexpensive, readily available grain, is high in fiber (1/2 cup cooked barley contains four grams, or 14 percent of the daily recommended 28 grams for most adults). Barley is also rich in manganese, selenium, B vitamins, magnesium, and phosphorus.

First cultivated 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, barley has been a staple in civilizations throughout the world. You know how in the Bible, Methuselah, Noah, and Adam lived over 900 years? It’s probably because they ate barley. [Interesting side note: the oldest women in the Bible only lived to be 130.] Kidding aside, all ancient grains are considered nutritionally superior to modern grains (corn, processed wheat, white and brown rice).

One of barley’s outstanding traits is its heartiness. It thrives in virtually all climate conditions, able to withstand the intense heat of the Middle and Near East and the high-altitude cold of the Himalayas. It tolerates drought and frost. It’s possibly the least fussy food on the planet.

Barley is usually available either hulled or pearl. Hulled barley is less processed and, therefore, more nutritious, but harder to find except in health food markets. Most grocers stock pearl barley, and you can usually find it next to rice in the grain aisle.

I favor barley over other grains because of its availability, relative cheapness, and heartiness. Barley is dense and chewy, which for me, as someone who loves to eat, is more satisfying than airier grains like millet and quinoa. Barley is also extremely versatile. You can swap barley for rice, quinoa, pasta, buckwheat, and even lentils.

Recipe

Barley is one of my favorite foods. Another is butternut squash. In honor of the quickly approaching gourd season, here is my go-to barley butternut squash recipe, adapted from The Simple Veganista.

Ingredients

• 1 cup pearl barley

• 2-3/4 cups water (or veggie broth)

• 2 TB olive oil

• 1 butternut squash, cubed (approximately 2-1/2 cups)

• 1 small onion, sliced

• 15 oz. garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

• 3 oz baby spinach

• 1 TSP minced garlic (or garlic powder to taste)

• 1 avocado

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

• Soak garbanzo beans overnight to reduce cooking time.

• Rinse barley and cook according to package directions. I use an Instant Pot for all grains, beans, and legumes.

• Rinse and cook soaked garbanzo beans 14 minutes in an Instant Pot.

• Cube the squash and toss with 1 TB olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add optional herbs (thyme, rosemary, or sage, but not all three). Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Use a fork to check for tenderness before removing from oven.

• Sauté the veggies in 1 TB olive oil and toss in the garbanzo beans.

Serve

Plate in individual bowls, one portion of barley, beans, and butternut squash. Add 1/4 sliced avocado.

YUM.

Walking my dog Timothy a few days ago, I happened upon a small, very beautiful crow. He was squawking up a storm as he teetered toward me. His wings looked odd, and he was unable to fly. I watched him struggle into a yard, but as I walked away, I couldn’t shake the thought that the poor little guy was injured. I decided that …

Read more

In some of my earliest summer memories, I am about four years old. My mom has just washed my brown hair and shooed me outside so the sun could lighten it. The many things wrong with that scenario — and how the message I internalized followed me through my teen years, many bottles of Sun In®, and decades of hair color appointments — …

Read more

Last week, we discussed a 12-minute yoga routine that can reverse osteoporosis through consistent practice. In this week’s videos, we are looking at multiple versions of vriksasana (tree pose) and props for modifying other poses.

Read more

A few years ago, I saw a TV interview where the host asked Gwyneth Paltrow, who was then 50, how tall she was. I don’t remember the number she gave, but I do remember her saying she suspected she had lost some of her height since the last time she’d been measured. She shrugged and added, “I’m old now.”

We all know that 50 is not ol…

Read more

PROVOKED magazine published my essay on what it’s like to be a creative training large language machines — AI — to mimic human creativity. Read it here.

Read more

Improving flexibility, balance, breathing, and stamina — what is there not to love about practicing yoga? For me, fitting an hour-long practice into a day already hyper-scheduled because of work and family obligations. Also, the older I get, the less self-motivated I am to exercise, but getting to a yoga studio when I’m already crunche…

Read more

I operate my life on a Spartan spending plan. Don’t feel sorry for me. Sensible people work hard when they’re young so they can put away money for retirement. I spent my prime earning years spending, not saving, money. I’m paying for it now, and that’s okay. My work gigs are almost as pleasurable as the things I spent all the mo…

Read more

Twenty years ago, I traveled to India for the first time. I had become a yoga practitioner and instructor, and traveling to yoga’s birthplace is de rigeuer for anyone who considers themselves a yogi. Many of my friends had already made their pilgrimages and gave me the full, realistic lowdown. I arrived in Delhi knowing what to expect and having a plan.…

Read more

I teach an “Evening Reset and Restore” yoga class at the University of Scranton. Sitting at the front of the room, facing the students, I begin each class by asking them to close their eyes and practice a simple breathing exercise (please see below for two beginner-friendly yoga breathing techniques). I close my eyes too while cuin…

Read more

Recent research on how the human body ages is both comforting and alarming. Your body may not age much at all from one year to another. Your heart, skin, muscles, bones, and kidneys may function at the same level with no discernible changes for years at a time. Then, out of nowhere, you wake up one day with deep lines across y…

Read more

It took me five takes to get this video. On the first take, my feet slammed into the wall. On the second, I held the handstand for over a minute, but my body was arched the entire time. Bad form is verboten. Takes three and four would have been great if my shirt hadn’t slid down, exposing my belly popping out over my jeans.

Take fiv…

Read more

Full disclosure: Since JuJu, my beloved dog, passed away on October 29th, I’ve done very little exercise. I never realized how dependent I was on him to get me moving. The early-morning walks led to my wanting to get on my exercise bike, or roll out my yoga mat, or head out for a jog. Without JuJu, I’ve been content lying on the s…

Read more

I’m wearing a workout fit in this video, but it was totally unnecessary. We are not sweating in this timeless workout.

Stand with your feet wide. Point your toes away from each other (second position in ballet). Bend (plié) and straighten your knees while moving your arms with your pliés. After a few rounds, add pulses. Finish w…

Read more

I’ve been writing about health topics since 1994. And, honestly, despite advances in every aspect of diagnosing and treating disease symptoms, no one has figured out a way for humans to maintain long-term wellness without exercise.

We’ve all heard stories about the mythical woman (or man) who ate red meat, chain-smoked, put away a bot…

Read more

Recently, I was looking at yoga studio schedules to see if I might want to take a class. Everything was hot. Hot Yoga, Hot Yoga Vinyasa, Hot Yin Yoga, Hot Yoga Boot Camp. Hot Pilates, Hot HIIT Pilates, Hot Barre. Ugh, I thought, I’m just not in the mood to do all that sweating.

A few weeks later, much to my delight, the University of…

Read more

January is Veganuary. Whether you want to practice a more compassionate approach to eating, reduce your environmental impact, increase your health, or lose weight without having to join a gym that blasts horrible music at a debilitating decibel, Veganuary is the perfect time to introduce more plants into your diet while reducing your animal product cons…

Read more

Meltdown: Scene 1

Sunday, I walked into my 90-year-old mother’s apartment to reset the iPhone she’s had for five years, which she had just inexplicably secured with a passcode that she promptly forgot. I had a severe cold, and Northeast Pennsylvania was being hit with a snowstorm…

Read more

If you’re waking up multiple times a night to use the toilet or avoiding social plans because you’re worried about finding a bathroom, you may feel like your body is starting to rebel against you. For post-menopausal women, over-active bladder (OAB) affects up to 60 percent of us. The dramatic drop in estrogen thins the urethral and bladder…

Read more

Earlier this week, my doctor called me a young woman.

“Young?” I laughed. “I’m sixty-five.”

She smiled. “Your age is sixty-five. Your body’s much younger than that.”

That stuck with me — no…

Read more