Wheatgrass is the food prepared from the first leaves of a regular wheat plant that has just been split. Wheatgrass is different from wheat malt as it is served freeze-dried or fresh, while wheat malt is convectively dried. Wheatgrass is allowed to grow longer than malt. Like most plants, it contains chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. Claims about the health benefits of wheatgrass range from supplemental nutrition to having unique curative properties, but this claim has not been scientifically proven. These are often available in juice bars, and some consumers grow wheatgrass and juice in their homes. It is available as fresh produce, tablets, juice and frozen powder. Wheatgrass is also commercially available as spray, cream, gel, massage lotion, and liquid herbal supplements. Because it is extracted from wheatgrass buds, that is, before the wheat grains begin to form, wheatgrass juice is gluten-free, but some recommend that those with celiac disease avoid it because of the high risk of cross-contamination.
Video Wheatgrass
History
Wheatgrass consumption in the Western world began in the 1930s as a result of experiments conducted by Charles Schnabel in an attempt to popularize the plant. In 1940, Schnabel grass powder cans were sold at major drugstores throughout the United States and Canada.
Ann Wigmore is also a strong supporter of wheatgrass consumption as part of a raw food diet. Wigmore, founder of the Hippocrates Institute of Health, believes that wheat grass, as part of a raw food diet, will rid the body of toxins while providing the right nutritional balance as whole foods. He also taught that wheat grass can be used to treat those who are suffering from serious illness. Both of these claims are believed by many leading health agencies to be entirely unfounded by facts, and may be dangerous.
Maps Wheatgrass
Cultivation
Wheatgrass can be grown indoors or outdoors. The common method for indoor sprout production is often on trays in growth media such as a mixture of pots. The leaves are harvested when they develop "split" when other leaves appear. These can then be cut with scissors and allow the second shoot harvest to be formed. Sometimes a third cut is possible, but may be tougher and have less sugar than the first.
Schnabel research was done with wheatgrass grown outdoors in Kansas. Wheatgrass requires a slow growth of 200 days, through winter and early spring, when harvested at the jointing stage. He claims that at this stage the plant reaches its peak nutritional value; after united, the concentration of chlorophyll, protein, and vitamins decreased sharply. Grown wheatgrass is harvested, dehydrated at low temperatures and sold in tablets and powder concentrates for human and animal consumption. Wheatgrass grown indoors is used to make wheatgrass juice powder.
Health claim
Proponents of wheatgrass make many claims for their health properties, ranging from general health promotion to cancer prevention. However, according to the American Cancer Society, "the available scientific evidence does not support the idea that wheat grass or wheat grass diet can cure or prevent disease".
Nutritional content
Wheatgrass is a source of potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E (alpha tocopherol), vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Wheatgrass is also a source of protein (less than one gram per 28 grams). Adding other foods with complementary amino acid profiles for these foods can produce a more complete source of protein and improve the quality of some strict diet types.
Wheatgrass supporter Charles Schnabel claimed in the 1940s that "fifteen pounds of wheatgrass is equal in total nutritional value to 350 pounds of ordinary garden vegetables", a ratio of 1:23. Although vitamin and mineral content claims are not proportional to other vegetables, the nutritional content of wheatgrass juice is roughly equivalent to dark leafy vegetables (see table 1).
Contrary to popular belief, vitamin B 12 is not contained in wheatgrass or any vegetables, since vitamin B 12 is not made by plants; but rather a byproduct of microorganisms that live in plants or in the surrounding soil. There are several claims that the wheatgrass analysis has found B 12 in negligible quantities; however, no reliable source is mentioned to support such claims. It should also be noted that wheat grass analysis by The USDA National Nutrient Database reports that wheatgrass does not contain vitamin B 12 .
See also
- Juice list
- Beverage portal
References
External links
- Wheatgrass Juice & amp; Folk Medicine Michael Shermer, Scientific American , 299, 42 (2008)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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