Recipes · Sick-Day Food
Lemon Barley Water
Reader ratingsPearl barley simmered in water with a strip of lemon zest, strained, then sweetened with a little honey and brightened with fresh lemon juice. A cloudy, mildly sweet old-fashioned nursery drink that is easy to sip warm or chilled.
Barley water has been a British nursery and sickroom drink for generations, and similar barley drinks are made in South Asia and the Middle East.
Safety
- Barley contains gluten, so this drink is not safe with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity and there is no direct swap. Make the Warm Honey and Lemon Drink instead.
- Never give honey, raw or cooked, to a baby under 12 months, because it can carry Clostridium botulinum spores that can cause infant botulism. This drink is not a substitute for milk, formula or oral rehydration solution for a baby, so ask the pediatrician about any baby who is unwell.
- Lemon juice is acidic. It can sting a raw throat or mouth sores and can worsen heartburn, and acid softens tooth enamel, so sip through a straw if you can and rinse your mouth with water afterward.
- This drink contains almost no salt, so it is not a rehydration solution. With vomiting or diarrhea, sip an oral rehydration solution first (see the Oral Rehydration Solution recipe). Seek care for signs of dehydration (very dark urine or none for 8 hours, no wet diaper for 3 hours in a baby or toddler, no tears, sunken eyes, dizziness, unusual drowsiness), trouble breathing, a stiff neck, a fever that lasts more than 3 days, or any fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or more in a baby under 3 months.
- If a clinician has limited how much you may drink, for example because of heart or kidney disease, ask before drinking extra fluids. Each cup holds roughly 9 to 13 g of sugar from the honey, so count it if you have diabetes. Barley contains fructans, which can cause gas and bloating in people with irritable bowel syndrome. Starchy water spoils quickly, so refrigerate it and throw it away after 3 days or if it smells sour.
Why it’s good for you
Simmering barley releases a little starch and soluble fiber into the water, and fresh lemon with a spoonful of honey makes a mild, lightly sweet drink that is easy to sip when you cannot face much else.
Evidence
Traditional use
Long history of use; little or no direct research on this preparation.
No study has tested barley water. Hot drinks have a little support: in 30 people with colds or flu, a hot fruit drink relieved more symptoms than the same drink at room temperature, though the authors raised a placebo effect as one explanation, so serve this one warm if your throat is sore. A Cochrane review found no randomized trials of advising people with respiratory infections to drink more fluids, so there is no evidence for or against it, and the lemon adds flavor more than vitamin C: in another Cochrane review, regular vitamin C supplements of 0.2 g a day or more did not reduce how many colds people in the general community caught (risk ratio 0.97) and shortened them by about 8% in adults, while a tablespoon of lemon juice supplies only about 6 mg.
General information from research and traditional use — not medical advice, and not a treatment for any condition. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition, check with your clinician first, and seek care for symptoms that are severe or do not improve.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Rinse the barley in a fine sieve under cold running water for about 30 seconds, until the water runs mostly clear.
- Scrub one lemon well under running water, then peel 2 wide strips of zest from it with a vegetable peeler, taking as little of the white pith as you can, since the pith is bitter.
- Combine the barley, zest and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off any foam.
- Lower the heat, partly cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the barley is tender and the water has turned cloudy and slightly thick.
- Strain through a fine sieve into a pitcher, pressing lightly on the barley, and discard the zest. Keep the cooked barley for soup or porridge.
- Squeeze the lemons. While the liquid is still warm, stir in the honey until dissolved, then add the lemon juice a little at a time, tasting as you go. Add a splash of water if it is too strong or too sweet.
- Serve warm in mugs for a scratchy throat, or chill and serve over ice.
Tips
- Go easy on the honey. A lightly sweetened drink is more refreshing, and more honey simply adds sugar.
- The starch settles as it sits, so stir or shake before pouring. It keeps 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Do not throw the barley away: stir it into the Classic Chicken Soup, or eat it as a soft porridge with a little butter and salt.
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