If you’ve been looking for ways to stay one step ahead of an unhealthy body, the chances are you’ve already heard of wheatgrass and its potency. But just incase you haven’t, wheatgrass has been rumoured to be better at helping us sustain a healthier lifestyle than every other vegetable. It’s been documented that wheatgrass has a high nutritional content, helps to build and strengthen red blood cells, whilst at the same time improving circulation and protecting against inflammation. Indeed, the only thing it can’t do is grant us immortality.
The problem is that the so-called benefits of wheatgrass have occasionally been churned out by a well-oiled PR machine, with people questioning what is truth and what is fiction. Moreover, studies into its positive effects on our body continue to this day. But what is true is that wheatgrass is derived from the common wheat plant, and is consumed by people as a juice or as a powder concentrate because of its very potent health benefits. Full of amino acids, minerals chlorophyll and enzymes, many people use it as a supplement, whilst it is also available as a gel and a spray. Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at some of this superfood’s benefits.
The True Health Benefits of Wheatgrass
It Is Filled With Amino Acids
Wheatgrass doesn’t contain just one, two, or even three amino acids, but seventeen amino acids. Just incase you didn’t know, amino acids are essential whenever we work out; they basically prevent our muscle tissue from breaking down. For anyone looking to strengthen their muscles, amino acids are a vital part of their daily supplemental regimes. For this reason, wheatgrass is a fantastic healer.
Wheatgrass Also Has Lots of Chlorophyll
Wheatgrass is also rich in chlorophyll, several green pigments that help to slow down ageing due to arresting the growth of nasty bacteria. The first product of light, chlorophyll is known to contain an abundance of light which makes it the most energetic food element there is. It’s basically the light of the world, and by drinking wheatgrass juice, you’ll be making use of its energy.
Curious about the various health benefits of chlorophyll?
Reduces Inflammation
Inflammation can be a nasty thing at the best of the times, but inflammation of the colon? That’s just downright upsetting. Back in 2002, sufferers of the degenerative illness ulcerative colitis were given 100ml of wheatgrass juice each day for a whole month – and saw their condition improve.
It Is A Natural Source of Antioxidants
We love antioxidant vitamins, and if you’re serious about getting healthy, you should too. Wheatgrass is high in vitamins A, C and E, all of which help us to develop and sustain healthier bodies.
It Is High In Oxygen
Sure, we can get our oxygen from elsewhere, and we’ve been doing pretty well these last few years without finding extra sources for our oxygen fix, but did you know that by drinking wheatgrass juice, which is high in oxygen, your brain and body will reap major benefits? You might not be aware of it, but a highly-oxygenated environment means a better performing brain and body. The more oxygen you have, the smarter you might become.
Moreover, because wheatgrass can release more oxygen into our blood, it’s great at stimulating circulation. A shot of wheatgrass can really get your blood flowing.
It Can Help To Maintain Red Blood Cells In Times Of Crisis
When our body is under stress from a debilitating illness, such as cancer, it can take its toll on the maintenance of our red blood cells. A few years ago, a number of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer were given 60ml glasses of wheatgrass juice each day for a month, with their bodies showing an improvement in red blood cell production. Awesome.
Improves Digestion
Many of us suffer from crippling indigestion, and sometimes it just feels as though there is no cure. Thanks to wheatgrass’s excellent amount of minerals, it can help to relieve indigestion and heartburn. Moreover, wheatgrass can also cleanse or bowels, freeing them of mucous that we really don’t want hanging around for too long.
It Can Relieve The Symptoms of Arthritis
Arthritis is one of those debilitating illnesses that never feels like it’s going to go away. Thanks to wheatgrass’s high concentration of chlorophyll (which is thought to relieve arthritis), wheatgrass can have a positive effect on the illness.
How To Juice Wheatgrass
If you’re convinced that wheatgrass is the nutritional supplement you need to help you lead a healthier life, you might be interested in finding out more about how to juice it. Whilst you can buy it in health food stores, juice it yourself is cheaper, fairly easy, and kinda fun at the same time! Let’s take a look.
Collect Your Ingredients
You’ll need about 113.4 grams of wheatgrass – cut and chopped – 750mm of water, and one whole lemon. This should be enough for 2 servings.
Prepare Your Wheatgrass
You can either grow your own wheatgrass, or you can buy it in a health food store. Either way, you’ll need to chop the wheatgrass into small pieces with a sharp knife, and bunch together 113 grams worth.
Run Your Wheatgrass Through a Juice (Or a Blender if You Must)
The easiest and best way (for maximum nutrient extraction) to make wheatgrass juice is with a wheatgrass juicer. The best thing about having a wheatgrass juicer is that they’re really quite affordable – less than $100 – and they can juice quite an array of other fruits, veggies and leafy greens (and herbs!) as well. To add to that, most of these wheatgrass juicers are manual, hand-crank juicers so you never have to worry about heating up your juice and destroying its vital nutrients and enzymes.
If you’re not ecstatic about the idea of hand-cranking wheatgrass juice day in and day out, another option is to go for one of the best juicers for greens. These juicers do a great job with wheatgrass as well as pretty much every other type of leafy green and are really multi-functional on top of that (mochi balls, anyone)? Of course, the downside is that these tend to be a bit pricier, ‘though your juice quality is just as great as with the manual juicers and you won’t have to work so hard.
If you really, really don’t want to get a juicer just yet – you can use a blender in a pinch. The only drawback to doing this is that it takes longer and you don’t get the maximum nutrient content contained in wheatgrass. Still, something is better than nothing so here’s how to do it if you’re using a blender:
- Along with your wheatgrass, you’ll need to pour in around 750mm of water into a blender, which roughly equates to 2 cups worth. Wheatgrass has a strong taste, so you might want to add 3 cups of water to help dilute the taste.
- Blend at high speed. You can then blend your wheatgrass and water for about a minute, or until the juice turns to an emerald green with pulp at the surface.
- Pour the mixture into a strainer. The next step is to pour the contents of the blender into a strainer with fine gaps over a container. The strainer will be left with chunks of pulp, which you should press down with a spatula to ensure you’re really getting all the juice – you don’t want to miss out on any of those minerals!
- Add in some lemon juice. You can now squeeze juice from a lemon into your container. It isn’t essential, but we prefer it for added taste! After this, you can easily pour the contents of your container into a glass before drinking. Lovely!
How To Grow Wheatgrass
To get the most benefits from wheatgrass, you’ll want to drink this stuff quite often (read: regularly) so it helps to have access to your very own stash. To grow your own wheatgrass, you’ll need some organic wheatgrass seeds, which should be rinsed, drained and soaked in a container for 10 hours with triple the amount of chilled water. The water should then be drained before you soak the again for a further 8 hours. Then, drain again, before soaking once more for 8 more hours.
You then need to line a tray (with holes in for the seeds) with unbleached paper towels. Fill to just over one inch of the tray depth with pre-moistened soil, before laying out the seeds evenly in the tray. Then you need to place the tray near a window (or any position of indirect sunlight).
To maintain your shoots, and to make sure everything is going as planned, you need to water them twice a day – at least. The last thing you want is dry soul that will kill off the young shoots. Once the shoots have grown to an inch, you can water once a day.
Your wheatgrass is ready to harvest once it has grown to 6 inches. Cut just above the seeds, as well as the mold if there is any, but only cut just before you’re about to juice. And now you’re ready to juice your wheatgrass!
