There are many barley products such as Vita-Barley in the marketplace, and they range from very cheap to very expensive.

Here are some things to look for:

Barley juice vs. barley grass
The very inexpensive barley products available are not barley juice products at all.  They are made from barley grass which is dried and then chopped fine.  There may well be value in these products but they cannot be compared to barley juice products.  When barley grass is juiced, the cellulose in the grass is eliminated.  Cellulose is indigestible fiber and makes up the vast majority of any plant.  If you are taking a barley grass product with the cellulose still in it, you would have to consume much much more of it--perhaps up to 10 times more if you want to get the same amount of nutrition as a barley juice product.

Growing methods
Studies show that the growing conditions impact nutrition in barley grass dramatically.  In fact, wheat and barley grown in the same field look fairly similar nutritionally.  However, there is a big difference in the nutrition from different barley grasses that are grown in different conditions.  As a result, the farming is very important and should be consistent so that the final product will be consistent.  Obviously, organic growing methods that preserve high levels of nutrition in the soil are preferable.

Organic
Most top brands of barley juice powder at least use certified organic barley (sometimes the other ingredients are not organic).   While being organic does not mean that the product is nutritious, it does represent a commitment to quality.

Manufacturing
Optimally, the manufacturing process should juice the barley grass and convert it to powder without a lot of heat in order to preserve as much nutritional value as possible.  This process should take place as soon as possible after harvesting the grass.

Pure product
Some barley juice products have additives to them such as maltodextrin.  Read this for our opinion on using additives.  Sometimes, products have other ingredients added that are quite good for you such as other grass extracts or fruit extracts.  That is fine, but you have to remember that every additive means more barley juice is removed from the final product.  If you want barley juice, use a 100% barley juice product. 

Cost
We owe a debt to MLM (multi-level marketing) companies who introduced barley juice products to the world about 30 years ago.  However, MLM products are almost always too expensive because so many distributors have to be paid on sales.  Don't overpay for a product--equivalent products exist outside MLM and are much less expensive.

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