Skip to content
Herbs & Cultures

Greco-Roman medicine →

Ptisan, Hippocrates' barley water

Long-boiled barley, strained: the drink Hippocrates preferred above all for the sick.

Traditional use

Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Makes
About 1 litre
Barley

In his book on regimen in acute diseases, Hippocrates writes that ptisan is justly preferred above all other preparations from grain: its mucilage is smooth, pleasant and soothing, it quenches thirst and does not bind. He distinguishes the whole ptisan, with the grains, from its ‘juice’, strained. A bowl of warm barley water is still a gentle drink for anyone who is ill and can eat little.

Ingredients

  • 100 g pearl barley
  • 1.5 litres water
  • A pinch of salt
  • Optional: a little honey or lemon juice

Step by step

  1. Rinse the barley in a sieve.
  2. Bring it to the boil with the water and simmer for an hour, until the grains burst and the water is slightly slimy.
  3. Strain for the ‘juice’, or leave the grains in for the whole ptisan.
  4. Season with salt, honey or lemon and drink warm or lukewarm.

Tips

  • Boiled with a strip of lemon peel, it is the English ‘barley water’.

Registry

Herbs in this recipe

Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.

  • Caution

    Asia · Food · № 269

    Barley

    Hordeum vulgare

    Traditionally attributed effects: astringent, light; good for skin and hair.

    Ayurveda+4Folklore

Cultures and traditions

Where the herbs come from

The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.