Wheat grass is possibly one of the most popular health supplements around, probably due to its history and also the fact that it deserves it.
It was first made popular in the 1930’s when Charles F. Schnabel discovered that by feeding dried wheat grass to his chickens they produced twice as many eggs. By 1940, tins of his powdered wheat grass were available in major chemists through the United States and Canada and 2 large companies, Quaker Oats and American Dairies Inc had invested millions of dollars in research and developed products for animals and humans.
Wheat grass is also probably one of the most effective foods at alkalizing the body and providing nutritional support while colon cleansing or detoxing.
Most people take wheat grass in either dried form or freshly squeezed as juice (usually 30mL or 1 ounce at a time). Many juice bars around the world have trays of wheat grass growing freshly on their counters which people can have juiced. Dried tablets and powders are also widely available.
A common claim about wheat grass is that 1 ounce of the juice contains the same amount of nutrition as 1kg of vegetables. Scientific data however suggest this to be untrue, but we tend to feel from our own experiments that it may be true. Charles F. Schnabel himself made a similar claim, and this was from observing his chickens egg laying abilities.
From our own in house experiments we even found a huge difference in the dried and freshly squeezed forms. We prepared green smoothies by either using dried wheat grass or fresh wheat grass chopped with scissors (the equivalent of fresh juice when blended in the smoothie). The smoothies also contained fresh apple, banana and 100% apple juice. When taking the wheat grass fresh, all the people drinking it noticed a large increase in the feeling of wellbeing and also energy levels, something not really explained well by modern science but quite possibly due to the ‘living’ nature of the fresh wheat grass. We have long believed that modern chemistry is missing something vital that live raw foods contain, which we feel is often referred to as ‘life force’, something which fresh wheat grass has a lot of.
Dr. Brian Clement of the well respected Hippocrates Institute in one of his lectures stated that from their research they found that although dried wheat grass is an extraordinary food, the fresh wheat grass is 100 times more powerful! Something which we also believe is correct.
How To Grow Wheat Grass
Wheat grass can be grown in 2 in main ways, indoors in trays or outside. Growing outdoors can take up to 200 days, yet growing inside takes around 10 days. So we will cover the topic of growing wheat grass indoors.
What you will need
-Potting mix
-2 shallow growing trays (about 3-5cm deep x 46cm x 17cm), available from garden shops
-250 grams of organic wheat seeds or wheat berries (spelt is the best)
-A glass jar
-A cheesecloth or thin cloth
-A rubber band to fit around the mouth of the jar
What to do
Sprouting the Seeds
-Put the wheat seeds in the jar and fill with clean water. Leave overnight.
-Drain the water out of the jar and cover the top of the jar with the cheesecloth and rubber band. Leave the jar in a warm and dark location, in a position so the excess moisture can drain out for the jar through the cheesecloth.
-Rinse the seeds twice a day to stop them drying out.
-After a day or 2 the seed will sprout, and you will see little white roots coming out.
Growing the Grass
-Spread the potting mix evenly over the trays, just below the top.
-Spread the sprouted seeds over the top of the soil, so they are touching each other but not overlapping (if possible).
-Spray or water the seeds regularly and don’t let them dry out. Keep out of direct sunlight while they are young.
-Once the shoots become green you can move into a sunny location if you want, although indirect light is also ok.
-When the grass is about 20cm high, you can cut it up and put it in smoothies, chew it, or juice it in a wheat grass juicer. If you don’t have a wheat grass juicer you can put it in the blender (chopped finely) with some water or apple juice.
-You can cut the wheat grass twice but after that it’s time to start again.
-You can also have many trays sprouting at different times so you can have a continuous supply.
-Enjoy!