Lani Lopez - Does wheatgrass live up to the hype?

Getting your greens can be tough. The Challenge of 5 plus a day servings of especially green leafy vegetables often proves too much for many. A handy solution is becoming increasingly popular; the green shot.


You may have heard the term but what exactly is a green shot?
A green shot is a short glass filled with juiced wheatgrass.

Ask for a shot of wheat grass and you’ll wonder why when you taste it. Reminiscent of lawn mower clippings this shot of pure green liquid actually does have healing properties.

Heavily concentrated with chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, wheat grass is gluten free and nutritious. Now practitioners are using it clinically for ulcerative colitis, breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy because it is a potent antioxidant. Wheat grass is the new coffee for this year in my book.

Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is the name given to a test that is a method of measuring antioxidant capacities in biological samples in vitro or a laboratory setting for instance in test tubes.


The ORAC value for both alcohol and water-based wheat grass extract was found to be higher than that of many other vegetables or extracts.
The April 2002 issue of Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology reported that those who had ulcerative colitis, a painful colon condition were given either 1/2 a cup of wheat grass juice or a placebo for a month. Of those who fully completed the study, all of them showed a significant reduction in symptoms compared to the placebo group. Researchers concluded it was due to wheatgrass antioxidants.


How to get the best out of your wheat grass
The most potent antioxidant wheat grass juice extracts are:

1. Alcohol-based tinctures
2. Wheat grass grown for fifteen days before harvesting
3. Wheat grass had grown in soil with nutrients. Not only did this type of wheat grass extract have impressive antioxidant properties, it also significantly reduced fat (lipid) cells in rat liver mitochondria.

Just a tip. Remember to clean your teeth otherwise you’ll walk around with green Martian teeth.


Energy Wheat Grass Recipe

1 tsp wheat grass powder, tincture or a shot fresh juice
Pineapple juice

Mix the wheat grass with pineapple juice to make it taste sweet and get the goodness of enzymes from pineapple. Take note of your energy levels. Drink every morning and do your own test for 21 days. How are your energy levels now?