Thanks for taking a look at the Wheatgrass Grower's Guide. Choose a subject from the labels to the right to read relevant posts. If you are just starting out, take a look at the Wheatgrass Growing Guide. If you aren't sure about wheatgrass and want to discover whether or not it works, take a look at the About Wheatgrass, Health and Wheatgrass Debate page to see articles about these subjects. The latest topics are posted below.

Why Grow and Drink Wheatgrass Juice?

If you haven't heard already, here are a few of the reasons you should try drinking wheatgrass. I am not trying to sell you anything here. My goal is simply to inform as many people as I can about this wonderful little drink that gives thousands of people a much needeed boost of liquid energy every day.

* Wheatgrass contains at least 13 vitamins, several antioxidants, and a bunch of other minerals and enzymes

* The nutrients in wheatgrass juice are completely assimilated by the human body in 20 minutes.

* Wheat grass only contains around 10-15 calories per teaspoon. It has no fat or cholesterol.

* Drinking Wheatgrass juice is a great way for you to increase your intake of leafy green vegetables.

* Wheatgrass Juice is especially good for people suffering from illness or pain. There are many, many stories of people who claim wheatgrass juice helped them recover from all kinds of illnesses.

* Wheatgrass may be expensive to buy at stores, but it is really simple to grow at home. I grow it on my balcony in trays. One tray can give me about 20 ounces of juice, which only cost a few cents each.

* Growing your own wheatgrass is a fun and rewarding hobby that almost anybody can do.

* Farmers give wheatgrass juice to bulls that become steril. After a while, most bulls can return to their jobs. Drinking wheatgrass also helps boost sexual stamina in humans. The high magnesium content in chlorophyll builds enzymes that restore the sex hormones.

* Wheatgrass juice is fine for most people with wheat allergies, since the young grass hasn't developed gluten yet. Most people with wheat allergies have problems with the gluten.

* Wheatgrass is useful in treating constipation and keeping the bowels open.

* The chlorophyll in wheatgrass also helps to purify the liver.

* Wheatgrass fights against infections and improves the body's ability to heal wounds.

* It absorbs 92 out of the known 102 minerals from the soil, which go into your body when you drink the juice!

* Wheatgrass aids in the prevention and fight against cancer.

How To Make Your Wheatgrass Taste Better

The taste of wheatgrass can vary tremendously. Sometimes it is awful and bitter tasting, and other times it is sickeningly sweet. Many people just dismiss wheatgrass as a disgusting drink that tastes like lawn clippings, but here is my guide to having smooth, sweet wheatgrass juice:

The secret lies in when you cut it, or if you buy it from someone already cut, when they cut it.

If you pick it too early, it will be really, really sweet. In addition to being sweet, the grass hasn't reached its nutritional peak yet.

If you wait too long to harvest the wheatgrass, it will taste really bitter, and it is hard get down the hatch.

The best tasting wheatgrass juice comes from grass cut when it about 6-10 inches tall. In cool wheather it grows slowly, but can grow longer before you need to cut it. In hot weather, it matures quicker, so you need to cut it sooner. Here is what it should look like when you cut it:

You need to wait until the grass has a little stem on the bottom and 2 leaves coming out. In hot weather, it will start to wilt and turn yellow on the top when it gets too old, so make sure you cut it before or as soon as you see that happening.

In the summer, the whole tray usually gets ready at the same time, so I will cut the whole tray and put the grass in a bag in the refrigerator and juice from that. It will be fine for a week or so in the fridge. If you leave it out to grow, it may take 5 days before you finish the tray, and by the last day it will be really bitter!

The Healing Powers of Wheatgrass

There are many rumors floating around about the benefits of wheatgrass, so I thought I would write a little on this subject. Some claim that drinking wheatgrass can heal all kinds of illnesses and health problems in humans. Others claim that it doesn't really do anything at all. To help answer this question, we can take a look at the one place that has focused on wheatgrass juice: The Hippocrates Health Institute. This place carries on where Ann Wigmore left off, providing guidance for healthy living that focuses on wheatgrass, raw and vegan diets, and a healthy lifestyle. The institute sees many people suffering from all kinds of sicknesses, and many have remarkable turnarounds. Take a look at their testimonials page to read what patients have to say. The ailments that have been healed include cancer, brain tumors, gallstones, weight problems, bone density, arthritis, seizures, and many others health problems.

After reading through some of these, it makes me want to keep drinking wheatgrass juice. I guess my problem is that I am very healthy, so I can't see the effects so well! But I haven't been to the doctor for years, and am in great shape, so I am going to keep drinking the juice to make sure I stay that way!

If you are new to wheatgrass, this book gives you all the info you need about what wheatgrass is, what it can do for you, and how to grow it yourself.

Come On, Even A Kindergartener Can Grow Wheatgrass

That's right, I just read that a kindergarten class is growing, juicing, and drinking wheatgrass juice. There is a belief out there that growing wheatgrass is a daunting and complex task, but it is actually quite simple. I am pretty excited to hear this kind of stuff, since all I can remember eating at kindergarten was sloppy joes, pizza, and french fries--not exactly healthy stuff. In junior high school, our health & nutrition teacher actually taught us how to make fried donuts, ice cream sundaes, and spam sandwiches!!!

With a little direction from a local juice bar owner, 5 year olds are actually learning how to grow and juice wheatgrass. It is very important for kids to get a little lesson in eating healthy, since they are bombarded from all sides with junk food. I have been drinking wheatgrass juice pretty much every day for over 2 years now, and I haven't been to the doctor for that entire time. I also feel lucky to have been brought up by health-food crazy parents, and have grown into a healthy eater. If you haven't tried growing your own wheatgrass, give it a go! The worst thing that can happen is you screw up and try again!

Here is the article

Your mama's so healthy, she drinks wheatgrass juice!

I just came across this new website that is devoted to natural herbal medicines including wheatgrass. Apparently the guy who started the site, mamaherb.com did so because his mama was sick with cancer. He heard about wheatgrass juice, and decided to give it to his mama every day. I guess she didn't suffer any adverse side effects from the chemotherapy, and voila, mamaherb was born.
The site does list many natural remedies to various ailments, but it doesn't have a whole lot of information on wheatgrass for some reason. It's worth a look though, as there are all kinds of natural treatments for everything from obesity to diabetes to hay fever.

News About Chlorophyll

The LA Chronicle just published an article about the benefits of wheatgrass. One part I found interesting is that it referred to studies of animals given chlorophyll. They found that when animals with very low red-blood cell counts or those that were extremely anemic were given chlorophyll, their red blood cell count returned to normal within 3-4 days.
Although many aspects of wheatgrass juice are vague and under-studied, one thing we DO know is that wheatgrass juice consists of approximately 70% chlorophyll. If more studies show the benefits of chlorophyll on humans, this might convince some of the cynics out there that wheatgrass juice is in fact a whole lot more than blended up lawn clippings!!!
Here is the link to the article: http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/articles/55646

The Cost Of Wheatgrass Juice

How much does wheatgrass juice cost? Is it really cheaper to grow and juice your own wheatgrass? While the up-front costs of juicing your own wheatgrass seems expensive since you need to fork over some bucks for a juicer, it actually still works out cheaper to grow and juice your own than buy it. I did the math for you. Check it out.

The Cost Of Growing Your Own Wheatgrass
Trays, Jar, Watering can, etc. $20
Potting Soil for 1 Year $60
Wheatgrass Seeds for 1 year $54
($1.50/pound * 3 pounds/month)
Subtotal $74
With a $60 manual juicer $134
With a $200 Electric juicer $274
Cost per day-- 36 cents to 75 cents, depending on how much your juicer costs.

Remember, these amounts are for the first year only. After that, each additional year only costs you $74, which works out to a measly 20 cents per day to have your wheatgrass.

Here is how much it costs if you buy it at the juice bar:

At $1.50 per shot: $547
At $2.00 per shot: $730

As you can see, the savings are substantial for growing your own wheatgrass. Yes, it does take a bit of time and effort, but once you get rolling, it only takes a few minutes of your time. And in my opinion, it is well worth it to spend a little time growing something. If you want to grow and drink more wheatgrass juice every day, the cost savings are definitely worth it. For people who want to drink 2 or more ounces a day, you could save over a thousand dollars a year by growing it yourself!!!

Is Wheatgrass A Fad?

People have been drinking wheatgrass juice for decades, and even centuries according to some sources. However, wheatgrass juice does seem to get a lot of media attention that claims it is a fad. So is wheatgrass juice just a passing fad? Yes and no. Some people have been drinking wheatgrass juice everyday for years. Others order a shot at the juice bar once in a while. The fact is that it takes quite a bit of effort and seriousness to grow your own wheatgrass, juice it, and drink it consistently. Drinking it every day is when you are going to see the results. Yes, a shot here and there is good for you, but you probably won't see much change in your health this way. There will always be people who will try new things out, especially stuff that claims to make you healthy.
Here is a funny example:

In 2000, the TV show Sex And The City shows Samantha bringing a guy to a health-food restaurant to give him wheatgrass. The owner of the restaurant said that after the show aired, his sales of wheatgrass went up 55%.
Not bad. Of course many people who try wheatgrass juice do so only once or twice and give up.

A Rude Awakening

This week the Humane Society Of The United States revealed the disgusting findings of an undercover worker sent to document what goes on inside a cow slaughterhouse in California. You can read about the results in this Los Angeles Times article. The findings mostly show that cows that are too sick to even stand up and lying in their own poop are still killed and fed to our children at school. Although I wasn't very surprised at the outcome, I suspect it will disgust many people who haven't thought much about where their food comes from. If you haven't given much attention to the origins of your food, now is a good time to start. The US Department of Agriculture is supposed to inspect these places, but they were definately not present during the 6 weeks this undercover worker was employed. If you think the USDA will make sure what you are eating is actually safe, think again. The reason cows that can't stand are not supposed to enter the food chain is because they might have mad cow disease. In my opinion, we can only ignore things for so long before a major health disaster comes along.
What can we do? Make sure you know where your food comes from. I eat a vegan diet of locally grown foods. I know the farmers who grow my vegetables. I see where the rice is grown. This way I can remove many of the scary "unknowns" from my diet.

Battle Of The Hand-Crank Wheatgrass Juicers

When it comes to manual wheatgrass juicers, you generally have 2 main choices: Plastic or Stainless steel

Each has certain advantages and disadvantages, and since I have used both kinds, each for a long time, here are my thoughts.

The plastic one is light and easy to move around. It is also cheaper, so if you aren't sure if you will stick to growing wheatgrass, you can use this kind at first to try it out. The disadvantages of the plastic kind are that they aren't as durable, and won't last as long. I started out with the Healthy Juicer, a plastic one, and it worked fine for me. That said, I now use a stainless steel manual juicer and it is definately better.
Here are the advantages of using a stainless steel juicer like this one.

1. It is virtually indestructible, and will last a long, long time. I don't think I could break mine if I tried. I expect it to be around long after I am around! This makes the price worth it. It will however break your other dishes if you accidentally drop it in the sink!


2. It extracts the juice better than the plastic kind. I can put the pulp in 2 or 3 times to make sure I get most of the juice out. With the plastic kind, it gets stuck if you try to put the pulp in a second time. The amount of extra juice you can squeeze out with the metal juicer is quite a bit--about 20%-30% more. If you get 15 ounces out of a tray, this will give you 4 extra ounces--Sweet!


3. Stainless steel won't rust, and it stays very clean.


4. It builds up your amr muscles, since it takes some effort to crank it around. (If you can't crank it around, consider an electric juicer)

In my opinion, the stainless steel juicer wins hands-down. Happy Juicing!

Superfoods To The Rescue

Lately there seems to be much talk about called superfoods. Superfoods are foods that contain especially high levels of antioxidants or other nutrients. Some of the most well-known superfoods are

• Blueberries - rich in antioxidants and phytoflavinoids



• Green or black tea - also rich in antioxidants



• Wheatgrass - made up of 70% chlorophyll and many other nutrients and antioxidants



• Tomatoes - contain lycopene, thought to have antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties



• Oats - seems to help lower cholesterol levels



• Cacao (chocolate) - rich in many different nutrients



• Flax seeds - omege-3

There are many other foods that fall into the "superfoods" category as well. For a lot more info on superfoods, check out this wikipedia page.

These foods are meant to be eaten as a way to prevent things like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other sicknesses. They can also help bring you back to optimum health if you are sick. Additionally, none of the superfoods are processed. They are all in their natural, raw state. You never seem to see superfood chips or pizza!

Although some so-called health experts warn people that there is no such thing as superfoods, I disagree. My reasoning is that these days any anything that promotes the eating of fruits and vegetables is a good thing. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for junk foods like burgers, pizza, and candy. When was the last time you saw a tv commercial for broccoli? Probably never. Some critics of superfoods seem to think people will try to live on blueberries and wheatgrass alone. This is doubtful. Of course the best diet in my opinion is a vegetarian healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, with foods that fit into the "superfoods" label mixed in whenever possible as well.

Hot weather growing

Growing wheatgrass in hot conditions can be a bit of a challenge at times. I have dealt with this problem myself many times, since the summer here gets above 90 F (30 C) and it is also humid. While it is hard to grow good wheatgrass in these conditions, it is definately possible. Here are some ways to deal with

THE HEAT

• If you leave your wheatgrass in direct sunlight on a hot day, it will start to wilt and turn yellow quickly, even if you water it enough. Don't leave it directly in the sun, especially during the hottest times of the day--from 10 Am to 3 PM. You can make a little shade-cloth tent to put over it that filters out some of the hot sun. Make sure you leave enough room for plenty of air to circulate around the grass.


• When you soak your wheat seeds, only soak them for 3-6 hours. They can begin to ferment in hot weather if you soak them too long.


• If you leave the air conditioner on in your house during day, put the wheatgrass inside by the window. This way it gets plenty of sunlight but stays cooler.


• Don't put as many seeds on each tray. Crowding the wheatgrass when it is hot and humid means less air can circulate and will lead to wilting and mold. You can grow extra trays with less seeds on each one.


• Let a fan blow on your trays during the day if they are outside and it is very hot. This increases air flow and inhibits mold growth.


• And if all else fails, you can always try growing in the basement where it is cooler (if you have one) with grow lights.

1 shot o' wheatgrass = 2 kilos of vegetables

There are claims on many websites that 1 shot of wheatgrass juice gives you the same nutrients as 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of fresh vegetables. The source of this claim seems to come from a guy named Charles F. Schnabel, who allegedly said that "Fifteen pounds of wheatgrass is equivalent to 350 pounds of the choicest vegetables". Many websites and juice bars claim this on their websites. I have pondered this for quite a while, and I think this statement is very misleading. First of all, they don't tell you which fresh vegetables they are comparing wheatgrass to. Secondly, they don't tell you which nutrients they are measuring. Different vegetables have different amounts of vitamins and minerals.
Here is the nutritional data of wheatgrass tablets and powder that I found on a website that sells wheatgrass stuff. It seems to me that wheatgrass juice does in fact contain a lot of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, although none in extraordinarily high concentrations. In addition, many vegetables contain a lot of these same vitamins and nutrients as well.

So what do we conclude from all of this? My feeling is that there is something else about it that makes wheatgrass healthy for us. Maybe it is the fact that 70% of wheatgrass juice is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll sure makes plants grow quickly, but can it work for people? Another idea to ponder is that cows and horses live almost entirely on grass. If you watch a horse graze, you will notice that they don't really like the old, tall grass. They prefer to eat the newly grown shoots because these contain the most nutrients and taste better. The fact that cows and horses can grow to be huge and full of muscles just from eating grass is in itself proof enough for me that wheatgrass juice works. Somehow grass contains enough vitamins and nutrients for them to grow big and strong, so I am willing to add it to my diet of other healthy foods.

Does wheatgrass juice make you want to barf?

There comes a time when every wheatgrass juice drinker has reached his/her limit for the day. You get this queezy feeling after you drink your juice, and there is nothing you can do about it. Some people feel this way when they first start to drink wheatgrass juice. I was fine for a while, and slowly increased the amount I drank, and then one day I felt like I wanted to puke. I guess that is your body's way of telling you how much you should be drinking. I am writing this post because it happened to me again this morning. While some people fell like this the first time they try wheatgrass juice and swear to never drink it again, I just take it as part of the process. Since it only happens to me once every few months, it is no big deal. Try taking small amounts when you first start on wheatgrass, and slowly increase your intake until you reach your limit again.

If you are taking lots and lots of wheatgrass juice to recover from sickness, my suggestion is to spread it out over the day. Take some in the morning, afternoon, and evening. This way you maximize absorbtion and minimize queeziness!