Wheatgrass, sometimes called couch grass, is a member of the Poacae family. Although wheatgrass is commonly found growing in the warmer regions of the United States and Europe, it can be grown indoors or outdoors. The roots and leaves of the plant are often used for their nutritional and health benefits.
Forms of Wheatgrass
Wheatgrass can be grown from a seed kit in small trays on your kitchen counter, or in a warm spot outside. The tough grass can be juiced and taken in its concentrated form, added to water or smoothies, or made into a hot or iced tea. In its dried form, wheatgrass is available as tablets, which may be taken daily, or as fine powder, which may be added to drinks or food.
Fresh Juice
Fresh wheatgrass usually may be grown within 10 days. If you do not have the time or the space to grow wheatgrass at home, fresh wheatgrass juice is available at some health food stores and juice bars. Like many raw juices, one of its disadvantages over dehydrated wheatgrass is that you must drink it as soon as it has been juiced, because its nutritional content begins to deteriorate very quickly. Fresh wheatgrass juice has a strong grassy taste due to the chlorophyll content and you may find it unpleasant. You can overcome this by adding the fresh juice to a fruit smoothie.
Wheatgrass health Claims
Wheat grass proponents claim that wheatgrass is rich in nutrients. Ann Wigmore, the first proponent of wheat grass for health, claimed that 140 g of fresh wheatgrass juice contains the nutritional value of more than 3 kg of fresh vegetables. Wheatgrass growers also claim that wheatgrass offers a number of health benefits that include removing toxins form the body, healing the lymphatic system, boosting the immune system, preventing and curing disease and protecting the body from carcinogens.
Few studies have been performed on wheatgrass. To date, there is no evidence to support these claims for either fresh juice or wheatgrass powder. Some manufacturers claim that dehydrated wheatgrass is superior to fresh juice because it contains more concentrated nutrients. There is no evidence to support this claim.
Misconceptions
The Institute for Natural Resources has analyzed dehydrated wheatgrass and found that seven 3.5-g tablets contain 860 mg of protein, 1,668 IU of beta carotene, 0.05 mcg of vitamin B12, 15 mg of calcium, 3.9 mg of magnesium, 3.9 mg of phosphorus and 0.87 mg of iron. To put this into perspective, you can obtain more than twice as much protein and more than 10 times as much magnesium from a half cup of cooked broccoli and more than eight times as much beta carotene from one carrot. There is no evidence to suggest that either fresh or dried wheatgrass are a means to obtain more nutrients that you can obtain from a healthy diet.
References
- Energies For Life: Wheatgrass Juice Health Resources
- Energise For Life: Wheatgrass Juice
- American Cancer Society: Wheatgrass
- National Council Against Health Fraud; Wheatgrass Therapy; William T. Jarvis; January 2001
- "The Wheatgrass Book: How to Grow and Use Wheatgrass to Maximize Your Health and Vitality"; Ann Wigmore; 1985
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