Wheatgrass Juice – Nature’s Finest Medicine?

Today’s blog post comes from Dr. Britt Cordi from Live Wheatgrass Limited, talking on Wheatgrass juice and its many, many benefits. 

Wheatgrass juice has become more and more popular over the past years with many juice bars and raw food cafes now serving it in smoothies and various juices.

But what is it that makes wheatgrass juice so popular? And why is it that nutritionists think so highly of it as an immune and energy booster, as a healer of digestive problems and as a blood cleanser?

Where does Wheatgrass come from?

Wheatgrass was first discovered in the 1940s by Dr. Charles Franklin Schnabel in the US, who gave dried wheatgrass to various animals and found astonishing health results. He found, for example, that the egg production of chicken went up by 300% and that animals had increased survival rate, healthier fur and were generally healthier when given wheatgrass. 

In the 1950s Ann Wigmore discovered how to juice fresh wheatgrass and through this cured herself of gangrene and very poor health. She later became the founder of the world renowned Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston Centre, which has helped improve the health of tens of thousands of people.

What’s so good about wheatgrass?

Wheatgrass Juice has been highly regarded for its nutritional properties for many years amongst health professionals and is known as the number One Superfood as it contains such a wide range of nutrients. It contains all vitamins (apart of Vitamin D from the sun), 91 minerals (out of a possible 102), 21 amino acids (out of a possible 24) and over 80 beneficial enzymes. On top of all these, it also has one of the highest levels of the life-giving chlorophyll of any plant and is particularly rich in Vitamin A, B5, B12, E and magnesium. PHEW! That’s a lot of goodness...

So lets make all of that information a bit more manageable...

100g of wheatgrass contains weight for weight:

• 1600% RDA of B12 – that is almost as much as in shellfish
• 17 times more Vitamin B5 than banana
• 7.5 times the amount of chlorophyll than broccoli

So in lay terms, it’s pretty good...

There are many descriptions of the heath benefits of wheatgrass juice, but in some cases there is a lack of scientific evidence. However, it is possible to find research that supports the many positive examples of what wheatgrass juice can do for our health. The actual benefits to our bodies can include:

• Nourishing the body
• Supporting physical and mental performance
• Encouraging a healthy immune system
• Supporting healthy skin, hair and nails
• Contributing to red blood cells development
• Increasing vitality to healthy levels, providing a tangible energy boost

In a study by Bar-Sela et al (2007), 60 patients with breast cancer who were receiving chemotherapy were given 60cc (app 6 oz) of wheatgrass juice daily during the first three cycles of chemotherapy, while those in the control arm received only regular supportive therapy. The researchers found that the wheatgrass juice taken during chemotherapy may of reduced the side effects of chemotherapy (know as myelotoxicity), helped reduce the treatment dose and reduced the need for extra drugs to combat the side effects of the treatment (know as GCSF support), all without diminishing efficacy of chemotherapy. 

So, which type of Wheatgrass should you be using?

Wheatgrass is available as a powder, as indoor grown grass in small trays, or as fresh outdoor grown wheatgrass juice. 

Fresh Wheatgrass Juice compared to powder grasses is a very similar comparison to a fresh apple compared to a dried, powdered apple! The dried, powdered apple is not ‘a live food’, meaning it has lost the beneficial ‘zest’ and enzymes. Similarly, dried powdered wheatgrass has lost the ‘zest’ and the enzymes. 

Outdoor grown wheatgrass contains up to 48% higher chlorophyll and up to 28% more antioxidants compared to tray grown wheatgrass juice. This is because, when it is grown outdoors in real organic soil over a 2 to 3 month period it has plenty of time to grow very deep roots. This allows for great mineral uptake and lots of soaking up the sun which explains the very high chlorophyll levels.

Convinced? We are. So here’s a delicious juice for you to try. Freshly squeezed green juices are highly beneficial and help give you a healthy alkaline balance in your body... Pass the jug!

For 2 people

Ingredients

• 4 apples
• Stalk of broccoli
• 2  pears
• 1 handful of spinach or kale
• 2 cups of frozen wheatgrass juice

Method:

• Add all ingredients, leaving out the frozen wheatgrass juice, into your juicer.
• Once juiced, transfer this to your blender and add the frozen wheatgrass juice. 
• Give it a good wiz for 10 seconds, or until the juice is soft
• Enjoy!

To read more about the benefits and evidence relating to wheatgrass please go to the Live Wheatgrass Website or  www.wheatgrassevidence.com