Wheatgrass vs Barley Grass: Which One Is Actually Better?

Put a shot of wheatgrass juice next to a shot of barley grass juice and most people can't tell them apart. Same bright green. Same fresh-cut-lawn smell. Same promises printed on the bag.

So which one should you pick? I get asked this more than almost anything else about our blend, usually by someone who has just read two websites that say opposite things. The real answer is less exciting than either website, but it's a lot more useful.

Cousins, harvested young

Wheatgrass is the young leaf of the common wheat plant, Triticum aestivum. Barley grass is the young leaf of barley, Hordeum vulgare. Both are cut early, after the plant has put out leaves but before it starts building a stalk and a seed head.

That timing matters for two reasons. Young leaves are where the plant is busiest photosynthesizing, so that's where the chlorophyll, vitamins and enzymes sit. And gluten lives in the seed, not the leaf. More on that in a minute.

What's actually in them

Nutritionally, they're closer than the marketing suggests. Both bring chlorophyll, vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, folate, potassium, iron and a bit of fiber. A 2025 review of wheatgrass juice lists much the same profile you'll find in barley grass write-ups.

Where barley grass stands out is a handful of compounds researchers have paid special attention to:

• Saponarin, a flavonoid that's unusually concentrated in young barley leaves and the main antioxidant studied in them.
• GABA, an amino acid that also shows up in sprouted and young cereal grains.
• Superoxide dismutase (SOD), one of the enzymes plants use to protect themselves from sun stress.

A 2018 review in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity pulls these together and is very enthusiastic about barley grass. Read it closely, though, and most of the work behind that enthusiasm is lab and animal research, not long human trials.

The taste test

This is where people actually notice a difference. Wheatgrass is sweeter and grassier, and some find it a little harsh on an empty stomach. Barley grass is milder and slightly nutty, which is one reason it blends into a drink without taking over.

If you've ever had a straight wheatgrass shot at a juice bar and decided "never again", barley grass is the gentler place to start.

Is wheatgrass gluten-free?

Usually, yes, as long as it's harvested before the seed forms. Gluten is a storage protein in the grain, not the leaf. When researchers tested wheatgrass leaf tissue with two different gluten tests (R5 and G12 ELISA), the levels came in below what the tests could even measure, and below Codex limits.

The catch is cross-contamination. If seeds end up in the harvest, gluten can too. Beyond Celiac's advice is sensible: if you have celiac disease, look for products tested gluten-free, and if you have a wheat allergy, skip wheatgrass entirely. The same logic applies to barley grass.

What the research can and can't tell you

Here's the part most greens marketing skips. One review is literally titled "The Medical Use of Wheatgrass: Review of the Gap Between Basic and Clinical Applications". Plenty of promising lab work, a handful of small human studies, and not much in between. The authors conclude that the effects seen so far need confirming in larger trials before anyone makes firm recommendations.

The 2025 wheatgrass juice review lands in the same place. Most of the evidence comes from limited studies, and preparation methods vary so much that results are hard to compare.

That doesn't make either grass pointless. It means the solid reason to drink them is the boring one: they're an easy way to get more leafy-green nutrition into a day that probably doesn't have enough of it. Anything beyond that is still being worked out.

So which is better?

Neither wins outright. If you only have room for one:

• Barley grass if you want the milder taste and you're curious about saponarin.
• Wheatgrass if you like the sweeter, grassier flavor of the classic.
• Whatever is tested gluten-free if you're celiac, whichever grass it is.

We didn't choose. Both go into Primaldew alongside kale, spinach, broccoli and alfalfa (full ingredient list here), because the most honest takeaway from the research is that variety in greens beats betting everything on one "super" one. If you want the longer version of that argument, I wrote about separating greens powder research from marketing.

Whatever you drink, the best greens are the ones you'll actually have every day.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, taking medication or managing a health condition, check with your doctor before adding a new supplement.