Common in juices, smoothies and powdered supplements, wheat grass refers to the young, tender leaves of the wheat plant. Along with boosting your menu with a spectrum of vitamins and minerals, wheat grass products are purported to help fight chronic diseases such as cancer. Although limited research exists to verify this claim, some evidence suggests wheat grass may have a beneficial effect during chemotherapy and for certain types of cancer.
Evidence
As the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center explains, there were as of 2011 no studies looking at the effects of wheat grass powder and cancer progression. However, wheat grass may offer benefits for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. A study published in "Nutrition and Cancer" by G. Bar-Sela and colleagues found that daily consumption of wheat grass juice reduced myelotoxicity, a dangerous immune-suppressing condition that sometimes occurs during chemotherapy. However, this study was small and preliminary, and more research is needed to determine the validity of these results.
Chlorophyll
Wheat grass contains large amounts of chlorophyll, the molecule that gives plants their green pigmentation. As the Linus Pauling Institute explains, chlorophyll and chlorophyll derivatives can reduce the potency of cancer-causing substances, may help reduce liver cancer in people exposed to the carcinogen aflatoxin and can induce cycle arrest in cancer cells. Although research on chlorophyll and cancer is promising, it's uncertain whether you can obtain these benefits from drinking wheat grass orally, or if chlorophyll must be directly administered onto cancer cells to have an effect.
Considerations
Despite potential benefits of wheat grass powder, this food may worsen some of the side effects of chemotherapy. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, some people report nausea after consuming wheat grass products, which may be a problem for cancer patients already struggling with nausea from chemotherapy drugs. Likewise, in the wheat grass study published in "Nutrition and Cancer," 20 percent of the chemotherapy patients dropped out of the study due to increasing nausea from wheat grass juice.
Warning
There is no evidence that wheat grass can completely cure or prevent cancer. Abandoning conventional cancer treatment in favor of wheat grass powder may have a detrimental effect on your prognosis. Consult your physician if you want to use wheat grass as a complementary or alternative cancer treatment.
References
- MayoClinic.com; What is Wheatgrass -- and Why Is It In My Drink?; Brent A. Bauer, M.D.; October 15, 2010
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Wheat Grass
- National Council Against Health Fraud; Wheatgrass Therapy; William T. Jarvis; 1998
- Linus Pauling Institute: Chlorophyll and Chlorophyllin
- "Nutrition and Cancer"; Wheat Grass Juice May Improve Hematological Toxicity Related to Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients: A Pilot Study; G. Bar-Sela, et al.; 2007
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