Home

Crunchy Coach Blog

Eat to Live

Go Green

Crunchy Parenting

Healthy Home

Happy Mind

Fit and Beautiful

Natural Healing

Article Index

About

Contact

What About Wheatgrass Juice?

When you enter the world of health nuts, wheatgrass juice is one of the hot topics. Juicing, in general, is popular among the crunchy crowd, especially those who label themselves Raw Food Vegans.

I read about juicing early on in my quest for healthy eating, and actually did it for a time. I would have more energy and better health, the books said. In order to get all the nutrients my body needed, I had to consume fifteen pounds of fruits and vegetables per day, and juicing was the only way I could I manage that.

Like the good health nut that I am, I bought a juicer and tons of vegetables. A couple months later, disgusted with the time, expense, and cleanup involved, I quit.

grass

Years later, I read about the benefits of wheatgrass juice. Wow, I thought. All those nutrients in just a couple ounces of juice. And if I grew my own grass, it would just cost pennies a glass. I decided to give it a whirl.

My husband wasn't very appreciative of the fact that I waited until we got married to try that experiment, but he was a good sport and drank it every morning while the experiment lasted. ("It's a cheap supplement," I would say while trying not to gag on the bright green drink.)

What's so great about this juice?

This particular juice gained a following when Ann Wigmore, back in the middle of the twentieth century, performed an experiment. She found several people with varying maladies--all moderate to severe, including cancer--and brought them fresh wheatgrass juice every day.

All her test subjects were healed within a matter of months.

During the years that ensued, Wigmore had the grass tested for nutrients, proclaimed it to be one of the most nutritious foods on earth, and opened an institute that taught people how to heal themselves by switching to a diet of raw foods.

Wheatgrass juice was, of course, the star of the show.

But is it the miracle that it's fans declare it to be? Let's examine some of the claims made about it.

It's loaded with chlorophyll, which improves the cardiovascular, digestive, and respiratory functions. Lettuce and spinach are also loaded with cholorphyll, and are much more enjoyable to consume.

Chlorophyll neutralizes toxins in the body. Assuming that is a scientific fact, again, the leafy greens contain chlorophyll.

The juice purifies the blood. So does eating a diet full of raw fruits and vegetables.

It boosts your spirituality.WHAT?!!

And cleanses your skin. I've never tried it myself, but I don't doubt it. However, water and a dry skin brush work fine for me.

It disinfects. In one of her books, Wigmore reminisces how her legal guardian would apply grass poultices to wounds, and healing would accelerate. This one I can buy, as herbal poultices bring similar results.

It gives energy to sex hormones. One of the many claims I doubt has much scientific backing.

And is a natural source of vitamins A and C.

I need to hang out here for a minute. Natural? Really? Picture this: your great-to-the-twentieth-power grandparents are walking along in the woods, and decide they are hungry.

"Look, honey," your grandmother says, "Wheatgrass growing over there in the clearing." woman lying in a meadow

Stomachs growling, your ancestors run toward the meadow, and leap right into the middle of a patch of the grass. Then your grandfather reaches into his Jansport backpack and pulls out hand-crank juicer.

If that scenario looks utterly ridiculous to you, how natural is it for people to consume wheatgrass? Anything that has to be juiced to make it beneficial for you is not natural. Grass is natural for cows, not for you. You want a natural source of vitamins A and C? Try carrots and oranges.

And speaking of cows: Dried wheatgrass has three times as much protein concentration as beef. Do you have any idea how much grass you would have to juice to even come near the 7 grams of protein in an ounce of beef? Way more than you would want to drink in one day. Please pass the grass-fed steak.

Wheatgrass juice re-visited

Am I saying that wheatgrass juice is completely worthless as a food? Not completely. It is a good source of many vitamins and minerals. But not all, and not in the quantity your body requires. Unless you want to drink several glasses a day.

And if you've ever tried to choke down just one ounce of the potion, you know how difficult that would be. Besides, if you've ever witnessed the juicing of the grass, you have an idea of the amount you would need to get more than just a couple of ounces of juice.

It may be more than what grows in your backyard.

What about all the people who got healed drinking Wigmore's green tonic?, you might ask. Good question.

What about those people who were eating the Standard American Diet and got sick as a consequence, and then got better because they improved their nutritional intake?

I believe their health improved not because they drank this juice per se, but because they consumed something that eliminated their nutritional deficiencies and helped clean out their bodies. Ann Wigmore could have had them consume two large raw vegetable salads every day instead, and they would have had the same results.

I have heard of people eating "healthy" and a lot of raw food, and feeling even better after starting to drink wheatgrass juice. However, these people were vegetarians, probably vegan, and most certainly deficient in several vitamins and minerals that are more easily assimilated by our bodies when they come from meat.

May I coach you? If you insist on eating a vegan diet, you might seriously consider drinking the green concoction and taking some B₁₂ and iron supplements.

If you're not vegan, however, the next time you're at the juice bar, save yourself a couple of dollars and skip the overpriced wheatgrass. If you're going to splurge on juice, you might as well drink something that tastes good.

Discover the secrets t a vibrant, disease-free life. Click here.

Looking for resources and products to help you "green" your life and enhance your health? Visit
The Crunchy Coach Store.

From positive parenting to healthy eating to organic gardening, these e-books will enhance your natural living journey.

You can find healing and dramatically improved health by what you put in your mouth...but it doesn't have to be wheatgrass juice. Check out the "Eat Well, Live Well" online wellness course here (comes after free video).