I know many of you will be regular users of wheatgrass while some of you more than likely have never heard of it. Well wheatgrass is classed as a superfood because it has so much goodness in it.
Here is a glimpse of what Wheatgrass actually contains:
- 20 x amino acids, including the Essential amino acids and the other non essential amino acids that are made by the body. Amino acids are the building blocks of the body and are so important for the repair of tissue and building of new cells, they also carry oxygen around the blood and lots more. They make up your muscles, your hair, nails, muscles, ligaments, tendons etc
- 92 out of 102 possible minerals needed by the human body
- all of the vitamins needed for human maintenance
Wheatgrass contains chlorophyll, a powerful blood builder. Wheatgrass juice has been shown to build red blood cells quickly after ingestion and is successfully used by cancer patients to re-build their blood platelet count after chemotherapy.
Wheatgrass juice is a potent source of enzymes. When you are young you have a natural inheritance of enzyme concentration in all of your cells. As you get older the high demand for enzymes needed to digest cooked foods and deal with pathogenic microbes and viruses, leads to more and more depletion. Tests have shown that a 70 year old has about half the enzymes of the 20 year old. The cells of the elderly have lost over 90% of the enzyme concentration as found in infants. The quicker you age the more exhausted your enzyme levels.
The pancreas, which produces our digestive enzymes, becomes less efficient as we get older due to reduced enzyme availability. This means two things: poor digestion and reduced absorption of nutrients from food. You might eat a balanced diet yet be lacking the enzymes to extract the nutrients from the food, which can result in nutritional deficiency. People dealing with obesity are usually extremely malnourished. Further, this imbalance causes premature ageing and vulnerability to most forms of disease.
Wheatgrass has been found to: cleanse and build the blood – detox and regenerate the liver, help oxygenate the blood, improve skin and hair, reduce high blood pressure , build muscle and endurance, fight infections, dissolve tumors and act as an appetite suppressant
On a daily basis you can add freeze dried (powder) wheatgrass to your juices or smoothies, yoghurts etc or just add to water and drink on its own, you can buy already freshly extracted wheatgrass juice in frozen form, you can grow your own or you can buy it freshly cut. The best of all is to grow your own but it doesn’t suit everyone’s lifestyle.
Caution: Anything above a 2 oz shot can act as a laxative and some people are very sensitive to the potency of wheatgrass and its powerful detoxifying effect. Wheatgrass should always be taken on an empty stomach for proper absorption. Start off slowly under supervision by your doctor or health professional.
Hi Gertrude, thanks for this post. One question please.. Is freeze dried (powder) wheatgrass as good as freshly juiced wheatgrass juice, or is there much of a difference?