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Wheat vs. Barley — In-Depth Nutrition Comparison

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A recap on the differences between wheat and barley

  • Wheat is higher than barley in selenium, manganese, phosphorus, copper, zinc, magnesium, and iron.
  • Wheat covers your daily selenium needs 42% more than barley.
  • Wheat contains 11 times more sugar than barley. While wheat contains 3.07g of sugar, barley contains only 0.28g.
  • The glycemic index of barley is lower.

Food varieties used in this article are Wheat, KAMUT khorasan, cooked and Barley, pearled, cooked.

Infographic

Wheat vs Barley infographic
Infographic link

Mineral Comparison

Mineral comparison score is based on the number of minerals by which one or the other food is richer. The "coverage" charts below show how much of the daily needs can be covered by 300 grams of the food.
Wheat
Wheat
8
Magnesium Magnesium Calcium Calcium Potassium Potassium Iron Iron Copper Copper Zinc Zinc Phosphorus Phosphorus Sodium Sodium Manganese Manganese Selenium Selenium 34% 2.7% 14% 66% 69% 50% 63% 1% 134% 174%
Barley
Barley
2
Magnesium Magnesium Calcium Calcium Potassium Potassium Iron Iron Copper Copper Zinc Zinc Phosphorus Phosphorus Sodium Sodium Manganese Manganese Selenium Selenium 16% 3.3% 8.2% 50% 35% 22% 23% 0.39% 34% 47%
Contains more MagnesiumMagnesium +118.2%
Contains more PotassiumPotassium +76.3%
Contains more IronIron +32.3%
Contains more CopperCopper +97.1%
Contains more ZincZinc +124.4%
Contains more PhosphorusPhosphorus +172.2%
Contains more ManganeseManganese +297.7%
Contains more SeleniumSelenium +270.9%
Contains more CalciumCalcium +22.2%
Contains less SodiumSodium -62.5%

Vitamin Comparison

Vitamin comparison score is based on the number of vitamins by which one or the other food is richer. The "coverage" charts below show how much of the daily needs can be covered by 300 grams of the food.
Wheat
Wheat
3
Vitamin C Vit. C Vitamin D Vit. D Vitamin A Vit. A Vitamin E Vit. E Vitamin B1 Vit. B1 Vitamin B2 Vit. B2 Vitamin B3 Vit. B3 Vitamin B5 Vit. B5 Vitamin B6 Vit. B6 Vitamin B12 Vit. B12 Vitamin K Vit. K Folate Folate 0% 0% 0% 4.8% 24% 6.9% 43% 0% 16% 0% 0% 8.3%
Barley
Barley
5
Vitamin C Vit. C Vitamin D Vit. D Vitamin A Vit. A Vitamin E Vit. E Vitamin B1 Vit. B1 Vitamin B2 Vit. B2 Vitamin B3 Vit. B3 Vitamin B5 Vit. B5 Vitamin B6 Vit. B6 Vitamin B12 Vit. B12 Vitamin K Vit. K Folate Folate 0% 0% 0% 0.2% 21% 14% 39% 8.1% 27% 0% 2% 12%
Contains more Vitamin EVitamin E +2300%
Contains more Vitamin B1Vitamin B1 +14.5%
Contains more Vitamin B3Vitamin B3 +11.7%
Contains more Vitamin B2Vitamin B2 +106.7%
Contains more Vitamin B6Vitamin B6 +64.3%
Contains more FolateFolate +45.5%
~equal in Vitamin C ~0mg
~equal in Vitamin D ~0µg
~equal in Vitamin A ~0µg
~equal in Vitamin B12 ~0µg

All nutrients comparison - raw data values

Nutrient Wheat Barley DV% diff.
Selenium 31.9µg 8.6µg 42%
Manganese 1.03mg 0.259mg 34%
Phosphorus 147mg 54mg 13%
Copper 0.207mg 0.105mg 11%
Zinc 1.84mg 0.82mg 9%
Protein 5.71g 2.26g 7%
Magnesium 48mg 22mg 6%
Iron 1.76mg 1.33mg 5%
Vitamin B5 0.135mg 3%
Vitamin B6 0.07mg 0.115mg 3%
Potassium 164mg 93mg 2%
Fiber 4.3g 3.8g 2%
Vitamin E 0.24mg 0.01mg 2%
Vitamin B2 0.03mg 0.062mg 2%
Vitamin B3 2.305mg 2.063mg 2%
Choline 13.4mg 2%
Fats 0.83g 0.44g 1%
Vitamin B1 0.095mg 0.083mg 1%
Vitamin K 0.8µg 1%
Folate 11µg 16µg 1%
Calories 132kcal 123kcal 0%
Protein per 100 calories 4.3g 1.8g N/A
Calories per 10 g protein 231kcal 544kcal N/A
Weight per 100 calories 76g 81g N/A
Net carbs 23.3g 24.42g N/A
Carbs 27.6g 28.22g 0%
Calcium 9mg 11mg 0%
Sugar 3.07g 0.28g N/A
Sodium 8mg 3mg 0%
Trans fat 0.002g N/A
Saturated fat 0.077g 0.093g 0%
Monounsaturated fat 0.084g 0.057g 0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.243g 0.214g 0%
Tryptophan 0.051mg 0.038mg 0%
Threonine 0.172mg 0.077mg 0%
Isoleucine 0.22mg 0.083mg 0%
Leucine 0.432mg 0.154mg 0%
Lysine 0.161mg 0.084mg 0%
Methionine 0.097mg 0.043mg 0%
Phenylalanine 0.3mg 0.127mg 0%
Valine 0.267mg 0.111mg 0%
Histidine 0.147mg 0.051mg 0%

Macronutrient Comparison

Macronutrient breakdown side-by-side comparison
Wheat
Wheat
3
6% 28% 65%
Protein: 5.71 g
Fats: 0.83 g
Carbs: 27.6 g
Water: 65.18 g
Other: 0.68 g
Barley
Barley
2
2% 28% 69%
Protein: 2.26 g
Fats: 0.44 g
Carbs: 28.22 g
Water: 68.8 g
Other: 0.28 g
Contains more ProteinProtein +152.7%
Contains more FatsFats +88.6%
Contains more OtherOther +142.9%
~equal in Carbs ~28.22g
~equal in Water ~68.8g

Fat Type Comparison

Fat type breakdown side-by-side comparison
Wheat
Wheat
3
19% 21% 60%
Saturated fat: Sat. Fat 0.077 g
Monounsaturated fat: Mono. Fat 0.084 g
Polyunsaturated fat: Poly. Fat 0.243 g
Barley
Barley
0
26% 16% 59%
Saturated fat: Sat. Fat 0.093 g
Monounsaturated fat: Mono. Fat 0.057 g
Polyunsaturated fat: Poly. Fat 0.214 g
Contains less Sat. FatSaturated fat -17.2%
Contains more Mono. FatMonounsaturated fat +47.4%
Contains more Poly. FatPolyunsaturated fat +13.6%

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References

All the values for which the sources are not specified explicitly are taken from FDA’s Food Central. The exact link to the food presented on this page can be found below.

  1. Wheat - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169744/nutrients
  2. Barley - https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170285/nutrients

All the Daily Values are presented for males aged 31-50, for 2000-calorie diets.

Data provided by FoodStruct.com should be considered and used as information only. Please consult your physician before beginning any diet.