Weak spleen, indigestion treated with TCM barley malt

What is barley malt(Mai Ya)? 
It refers to the dried mature sprouted fruit of Hordeum vulgare L., which is member in the family Gramineae. And other names include malted barley, malting barley, malt barley, Barley Sprout, Fructus Hordei Germinatus, Fructus Hordei Vulgaris Germinatus, Germinated Barley, Hordeum vulgare sprout, and so on. Medicinally the processing steps are to wash barley, soak them for 4 to 6 hours, fish out, keep them in appropriate temperature and humidity until sprouts grow to about 0.5cm, and dry in the sun or in low temperature. It is usually used raw, fried yellow, or stir-baked to brown.

Barley malt benefits
Is barley malt good for you? Apparently its health benefits are enormous. To begin with, it is high in fiber and protein, which is one of the reasons why it is considered a healthy food. It is easy to be added into cereals and other fortified foods. More importantly most people can easily digest malt. But adding it slowly is preferable since it is rich in fiber. Then, malt contains vitamins and minerals that are important to health. According to lab reports, every 28.5 grams of it are with nearly 10% of recommended day intake of iron. It is also the ideal source of vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. And every 28.5 grams of it still contain 4 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein, but luckily they do not increase too much extra calories. Furthermore, many dieters are interested in and concerned about the calories of malt.

As a matter of fact, the unsaturated fatty acid content in every 28.5 grams of malt is 3 grams, which provide only about 100 grams of calories. That’s to say, the malt is an integral part of a healthy diet that is low in fat and you don’t need to worry about the calorie thing. And since it contains no cholesterol but high fiber content, which is thus easy to make people feel full and suitable as a snack to resist hunger. Finally, there are many ways to use malt. It can be added to sauces but without affecting the original flavor. It is the ideal substitute for a lot of bakery flour and replacing part of the flour can add more nutrition in making bread, cookies, and more. Actually it is available in more forms nowadays, such as barley malt syrup, extract, powder, drink, tea, etc.