What's with Wheatgrass!?

Ok so we've heard all about this little grassy supercalafragalistic expealidocious food, right?!  So what gives?  I mean I've been one to take wheatgrass shots every time I enter Whole Foods or the local farmers market, and swear I can 'feel' the effects start to take place immediately...but what does it REALLY do for me?  Secondly, my amazing husband has graced me with the much coveted juicer for Christmas - which I am completely obsessed with!  So now I want to juice just about anything but I can find in the kitchen vicinity - seriously!  Of course you can't juice wheatgrass with a regular juicer - but I wanted to see what it would take to juice this grassy gem myself...so I did some research.  Here's some great info from another blog "Wild Roots":

So, what is it?Wheatgrass is the young grass of a wheat plant. It’s typically harvested 8-10 days after sprouting & can be purchased as fresh grass, a juice, or a concentrated powder. Since it is a grass, the fibers must be separated before human consumption because our bodies cannot digest them.


What does it do?

Wheatgrass is a powerful detoxifier. The enzymes & amino acids found in it can protect us from carcinogens like no other food or medicine. It will detoxify your liver & bloodstream, strengthen your cells, chemically neutralize environmental pollutants & it cleanses the gastrointestinal tract of debris.

Wheatgrass also stimulates metabolism & aids in reducing blood pressure by dilating the blood pathways. Plus it helps restore fertility & promotes youthfulness.

It can eliminate itching almost immediately when applied externally to the skin, and is soothing & healing for cuts, burns, rashes, scrapes, athlete’s foot, insect bites, poison ivy, boils, sores, open ulcers, & tumors. It will also sooth sunburned skin & act as a disinfectant.

Rub it into your scalp before a shower & it will help mend damaged hair & alleviate itchy, scaly, scalp conditions.

Wheatgrass can also help you sleep! Place a tray of living wheatgrass near the head of your bed (you can order the seeds online and find trays & soil at a local nursery.) It will enhance the oxygen in the air & generate healthful negative ions to help you sleep more soundly.


Gargle with wheatgrass juice to sweeten your breath & firm up your gums.

If you’re daring enough to try it as an enema, wheatgrass will help cleanse & nourish your lower bowel.

 

How to drink it:
Personally I like to take my wheatgrass as a shot. If you don’t like the taste much you can chase it with a little sparkling water & a bite of citrus.

You can always add wheatgrass to another juice or smoothie as well. Adding it to any Naked juice will give you an easy extra boost, or make a homemade juice.

No juicer? No problem… if you have a blender & a french press or aeropress, that is. Blend your fruits & veggies in your blender with a little water to get things moving. Once everything is well blended, pour the mixture into your french press/aeropress & push the fibers to the bottom. If you have a dehydrator you can use the leftover fruit & veggie fibers to make chips. Always make wheatgrass shots separately & do not use the leftover wheatgrass fibers. Our bodies cannot digest them.

This method works really well for juicing since it’s slower than a normal juicer. The slower your food gets broken down, the less damage is done to the cells, and the more nutrition it holds. But a normal juicer works great too. Really, juice is just awesome. Drink it. Everyday. Seriously.

You can’t drink too much of this stuff and once you start feeling the benefits you won’t want to stop.

Make sure you use the blender/french press method or a specific wheatgrass juicer when working with wheatgrass. That way you can separate the fibers. A normal juicer will NOT work with wheatgrass.