Wheatgrass is often found sprouting in trays in health food stores or smoothie bars, where people down a quick shot to prevent and cure all sorts of ills. Most people use wheatgrass to supplement their diet, but some people are full-fledged devotees of the product---believing that it can cure a number of ills and even help cure cancer. No harm comes from consuming wheatgrass, and if you can stand the potent taste, it may do your health some good.
Detoxification
The Hippocrates Institute, a wellness center founded by one of the most adament promoters of wheat grass---Anne Wigmore---calls wheat grass a "blood purifier, cleanser and detoxifier." Wheatgrass contains high levels of chlorophyll, which some believe acts like hemoglobin in the blood to help carry more oxygen to the cells of the body, resulting in greater energy and overall feelings of health.
Treatment of Illness and Disease
Devotees of wheatgrass consumption believe it can help alleviate multiple health woes, such as the common cold, bronchitis, unexplained coughs and fevers, infections and inflammation of the mouth and throat. Folk medicine practitioners treat cystitis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, skin disorders and constipation with wheat grass. Followers of the "Wheatgrass Diet," a primarily raw diet featuring regular consumption of wheatgrass, claim that wheatgrass also treats cancer by shrinking tumors. The American Cancer Society says there is no scientific evidence to support this assertion.
Vegetable Intake
An ounce of wheat grass counts toward the Center for Disease Control's recommended five (or more) servings per day of fruits and vegetables. Some advocates of wheatgrass' healing properties maintain that just one shot provides the value of multiple servings of vegetables. If your schedule or tastes do not agree with multiple vegetable servings, a shot of wheat grass may be an easy option.
Nutrients for Few Calories
Wheat grass juice is usually taken as a "shot" in 1 or 2 oz. servings. An ounce of wheat grass contains just 7 calories, and, according to nutritiondata.com, is a good source of vitamin C and iron.
Improved Digestion
A study on wheat grass published in the "Scandavian Journal of Gastroenterology" in 2002 suggests wheatgrass may be a palliative treatment for some forms of ulcerative colitis---a painful and chronic inflammation of the colon. Lead researcher E. Ben-Arye notes that when used in conjunction with other accepted therapies, wheat grass juice ingestion seemed to reduce overall disease activity.
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