This study was designed to determine whether dietary glutinous barley (GB) affects lipid metabolism in middle-aged rats previously fed a high-fat diet. To induce obesity, 20 male 9-month-old Sprague Dawley rats were raised for 1 month on a diet containing 20%(w/w) lipid. The rats were allocated to 1 of 2 groups of 10 rats each and for the subsequent 2 months were fed an 8%(w/w) lipid diet containing well-milled rice (WMR) or GB powder. Rats fed the GB diet had significantly lower concentrations of plasma triglyceride, plasma total cholesterol, and liver cholesterol than rats fed the WMR diet. Fecal excretions of triglyceride and bile acids were significantly greater for the GB group than for the WMR group. In conclusion, dietary GB has positive effects on lipid metabolism: it decreases plasma cholesterol concentration by increasing fecal excretion of bile acids.