Wheatgrass is everywhere but what actually is it? In fact it's one of few things that really is as simple as it sounds! Wheatgrass is the young shoots of the common wheat plant (or Triticum aestivum). So that lovely golden stuff you see waving about in the fields is the same thing but further along in its developmental journey.
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Wheatgrass might seem like a new thing but its incredible health benefits have been widely acknowledged for many years. In the 1930s wheatgrass was actually certified as the only complete food and tablets of dried wheatgrass were prescribed to patients in the USA. Being a complete food means that wheatgrass contains everything the body needs to balance its own chemistry.
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Wheatgrass makes an ideal daily supplement thanks to its large spectrum of nutrients, minerals and vitamins. It differs from all other grasses because it contains P4D1 which acts like an antioxidant. This amazing gluco-protein is the first known substance studies have shown to promote the repair of DNA and is also thought to help the body attack cancer cells.
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Wheatgrass also has high levels of the digestive enzymes that are depleted with age. This has been shown to help restore normal digestive processes and cleanse the colon and liver. Sufferers of constipation, bloating and even more serious conditions like IBS could find relief by adding wheatgrass to their diet.
Wheatgrass is made up of 70% chlorophyll which is remarkably similar to a molecule in haemoglobin which is found in red blood cells that transport oxygen around the body. It also shares exactly the same ph level as our blood which is 7.35. This means that wheatgrass could be beneficial for specific conditions like anaemia while also acting as a universal energiser; promoting more efficient oxygenation of the blood and other cellular processes. This high chlorophyll content has also been shown to make wheatgrass a great general cleanser. Wheatgrass is thought to help ‘chelate’ or clump toxins and heavy metals together to make them easier to expel from the body.
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Wheatgrass is an antioxidant powerhouse with well-documented free radical scavenging abilities, which makes it an essential supplement to help reduce some of the effects of ageing on our skin and digestion. Wheatgrass has also shown a promising effect of lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels both which stress our body and lead to ill health.
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There's been lots of talk about the importance of an alkaline rather than acid diet and wheatgrass is ideal for achieving this as it is naturally alkaline. This means that it could negate the effects of acid and calm conditions like IBS. Wheatgrass is also a prebiotic food which means that it helps probiotics to proliferate. As we all know gut health is incredibly important for our overall physical and mental wellbeing so creating an environment which allows beneficial bacteria to flourish is key.
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One thing to bear in mind when you're shopping for wheatgrass is that it isn't all equal. Lots of wheatgrass is grown using herbicides and pesticides or in soil that is stripped of vitamins and minerals. I spent a long time finding a source for my own wheatgrass and eventually settled on a very small farm on the south island of New Zealand. The entirety of NZ is nuclear free and the farm where my wheatgrass grows operates to strict organic soil association standards. This means that my wheatgrass is about as pure as it gets with the maximum amount of nutrients locked in.
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Click here to find out more about my organic wheatgrass powder.
