Anti Aging Properties of Wheat Grass

Anti-aging wheat grass juice has been promoted as a tonic and a curative since the 1930s, when an agricultural chemist named Charles F. Schnabel first discovered that chickens doubled their egg production when their diets were supplemented by concentrated wheat grass powder.

Soon Schnabel was feeding wheat grass powder to his family and friends, and shortly after that he began to market the anti-aging wheat grass concoction commercially. Today wheat grass is a standard option at most juice and smoothie bars, and many health enthusiasts also grow it in their homes and buy special juicers to process it and remove the indigestible fibers.

The original wheat grass used by Schnabel was grown slowly over a period of 200 days and harvested during its reproductive phase for maximum nutritional value. Wheat grass used today takes just 8 to 14 days to grow to maturity and seems to have the same nutritional content. The grass is fibrous and indigestible unless made into a juice or a powder. Wheat grass tablets are also widely available.

Anti-aging wheat grass will gum up most standard blenders, but if you don’t want to invest in special equipment, the powdered version is still pretty good, or you can get your wheat grass shot at a local juice bar and let them worry about processing. Since anti-aging wheat grass juice tastes pretty bad, most people drink it down fast as a short shot. You can also drink anti aging wheat grass in a fruit or vegetable smoothie, but you’ll need lots of sweetener to counteract the strong, strange taste.

What makes wheat grass such a hot anti-aging food supplement?

The answer is: wheat grass contains chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes that aid digestion. Several studies have shown that anti-aging wheat grass juice significantly reduces the frequency and severity of ulcerative colitis attacks; a digestive disease that is very painful and difficult to treat.

Chlorophyll is very similar in structure to hemoglobin; the substance in human blood that makes blood red and that processes oxygen and delivers it to human cells. People who swear by wheat grass juice as a daily tonic insist that the high concentration of chlorophyll that provides the greatest anti-aging benefit. Fans report increased energy, better digestion, better sleep, and improved circulation.

Unfortunately, few scientific or nutritional studies have been done on the effect of chlorophyll consumption on human beings. Therefore, most of the evidence for the effectiveness of wheat grass juice as an anti-aging tonic is anecdotal or else comes from animal research, (like Schnabel’s initial observation of its effect of the egg-laying productivity of chickens).

However, as medical science becomes more and more aware of how many toxins are produced by unhealthy digestion and how quickly these toxins trigger the cellular destruction that is central to the aging process, it is likely that more research will be conducted and better evidence for the effectiveness of anti-aging wheat grass juice will emerge.

Recent studies on pro-biotic bacteria (which also have a major impact on healthy digestion and in preventing disease and cellular aging) have shown that colon health is much more important to whole body health and youthful cells than was previously thought. Wheat grass juice is rich in vitamin B12 because microorganisms that live on the grass itself produce this vitamin while digesting the grass--a process very similar to pro-biotic aids to digestion.

Related links:

Wheat Grass Juicer: How to Choose the Right One for You

Anti Aging Foods: Look and Feel Younger with the Foods You Eat