Job's tears can be consumed this way to expel dampness.

Introduction: The invasion of dampness can lead to symptoms such as loss of appetite. If not removed in time, it has a significant impact on both physical and mental health. This is especially true in the south, where during spring and summer, the humid "huinan" days occur, and many people get dampness during this time. The most important method to remove dampness is through diet therapy, as many foods in daily life have the effect of removing dampness. So, can barley remove dampness? The following will provide a detailed introduction on this topic.

Lemon Barley Water

Can barley remove dampness?

Barley enters the spleen and can strengthen the spleen to remove dampness. According to the nature and flavor of medicinal materials, dampness-removing herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine are either pungent, aromatic, warm, and drying, or sweet, bland, and diuretic. Pungent, aromatic, warm, and drying herbs, like dried tangerine peel, can dry dampness and transform phlegm, which is like using a torch to evaporate water. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that dampness is removed quickly, but the disadvantage is that if the "fire" is too strong, it could burn the pot dry.

Barley, on the other hand, has a sweet and bland flavor. Its diuretic action means it promotes urination to drain dampness, like dredging a waterway to remove water. It is generally considered cool in nature and, as a seed and a heavy substance, it is a descending herb. Descending action enables it to drain dampness. Barley is cool, descending, and a commonly used herb to promote urination and drain dampness. As stated in "Ben Cao Zheng": "Job's tears, sweet and bland in flavor, slightly cool in nature, and slightly descending with a draining effect, thus it can remove dampness and promote urination." Compared to drying dampness, barley's characteristic is its draining action and safety. Most importantly, the manifestations of dampness vary, and the methods to address them are not the same, but barley is more widely used for removing and draining dampness.

Winter Melon and Barley Stewed with Duck

The best way for barley to remove dampness is to use toasted barley to make water or to drink it in soup. Toasted barley is made by taking clean barley and stir-frying it over low heat until it turns slightly yellow and puffs up, then removing it to cool. It will have slight scorched spots and a light aroma. Another method in Chinese herbal preparation is to stir-fry the herb with bran, which is called bran-toasted barley. Heat the wok, first sprinkle in one-tenth the amount of bran (compared to the barley), heat until it smokes, then add the clean barley. Stir-fry until the surface is yellow and puffed up, remove, sieve off the bran, and let it cool. It will have a light aroma. To briefly explain this aroma: depending on the degree of toasting in Chinese herbal preparation, it is generally divided into yellowing, charring, and carbonizing. Yellowing refers to stir-frying over low heat until the herb's inherent aroma is released, or until it puffs up and bursts. Yellowing can moderate the extreme properties of the herb, and the released aroma also has the effect of regulating qi and relieving depression.

Can barley remove dampness? I believe that through the above introduction, everyone has already gained some understanding. From the above content, it can be seen that barley has a relatively good effect in removing dampness. In summer, if you experience symptoms like loss of appetite, drooling while sleeping at night, or loose stools, you can eat barley to remove dampness.

Barley and Pumpkin Porridge