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Wheatgrass juice doesn’t sound appetizing, and it normally isn’t, but the health properties of this humble grass are off the charts. Let’s take a look at the top three reasons to incorporate this health-boosting superfood into your diets.
1. Wheatgrass Is One Of The Most Nutrient-Dense Foods On The Planet
A typical serving of wheatgrass juice not only contains an incredibly wide spectrum of nutrients, but this one food alone will contain all your recommended intake of vitamin K and a third of your vitamin A. Why are these two vitamins in particular important? Vitamin K may:
- Promote heart health by preventing hardening of arteries;
- Prevent or slow the growth of several cancers, including lung, prostate and colon;
- Help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Vitamin A may:
- Boost eye health and prevent macular degeneration;
- Help prevent certain types of cancer, including skin, breast and bladder;
- Help boost immune the immune system.
Imagine what regular consumption of these bioavailable nutrients in wheatgrass juice could do for our health. And these are just two vitamins out of many.
Saving The Best Nutrient For Last
The biggest nutritional component of wheatgrass juice, however, may be its chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll makes up about 70 percent of wheatgrass juice.
Why is this important? Chlorophyll has been shown to be a potent blood cleanser and detoxifier, namely by escorting heavy metals out of the bloodstream.
Chlorophyll has also shown an ability to bind to some carcinogens and prevent them from being absorbed into the digestive system. It has shown an ability to help the liver in its detoxification capabilities, helping our bodies rid themselves of toxins and improving our health.
Lastly, chlorophyll is structured extremely similar to our own red blood cells. This is how chlorophyll acts as a potent booster of our red blood cell count, helping to oxygenate all our cells. This helps boost our energy as well as having an anti-cancer effect. Which brings us to #2 on our list.
My top choice for wheatgrass juice along with numerous other powerful superfoods!
2. Wheatgrass has numerous anti-cancer properties
Maybe this should be number 1. In any case, there are a couple of factors that contribute to wheatgrass’s ability to help prevent the onset or growth of certain cancers. These same factors also contribute to its overall ability to boost our total health, so they are not one-hit wonders.
Let’s go back to its chlorophyll content, which is the gift that keeps on giving. As we discussed previously, chlorophyll helps boost red blood cell count in the body, oxygenating our cells. Cancer cells, however, thrive mostly in an anaerobic environment (an environment lacking in oxygen). Most do not do well in an oxygenated environment.
This is where the chlorophyll comes in. By helping to oxygenate the cells, the chlorophyll in wheatgrass helps foster an environment where cancer cells cannot thrive, and in many cases cannot survive.
Secondly, chlorophyll is a potent antioxidant. Antioxidants are great at relieving inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is known to be a contributing factor to the growth and development of cancer. Curbing that can go a long way toward preventing it from developing or thriving.
Lastly, as discussed in point #1, not only is chlorphyll a great detoxifier, it has also been shown in some studies to prevent the absorption of certain carcinogens. More studies can hopefully conclude these findings and discover other carcinogens chlorophyll can help us defeat.
As if these factors were not already enough, the following studies have also shown wheatgrass juice’s potential cancer healing and prevention qualities.
The Studies
A 2009 study showed wheat sprout extract to induce apoptosis (cancer cell death) in certain cancer cells in an isolated setting. [1]
A 2011 study showed commercial wheatgrass to be cytotoxic to leukemia cells in an in vitro setting. [2]
Lastly a 2014 study showed wheatgrass extract to induce apoptosis in breast and cervical cancer cells in an in vitro setting. [3]
Of course, more studies need to be done to prove its efficacy in humans and by no means am I suggesting it is proven wheatgrass does cure cancer. But these hopeful findings are all the more reason to be excited about the potential healing power of wheatgrass juice!
3. Wheatgrass Turns Back the Clock on Aging
How? All of the factors mentioned above, from its nutrient-density, which supplies our cells the necessary nutrients to function optimally, to its ability to balance hormones, which also helps us function optimally from building muscle to giving skin a healthy and youthful glow, and more.
The detoxifying effects of wheatgrass also contribute in helping keep our system clear of toxins. When toxins are not weighing us down, our body has a greater chance to function optimally, thus slowing down the signs of aging and tissue degradation.
Lastly, the antioxidant effects act as an important tool in the fight against aging symptoms. Antioxidants combat free radicals in your system. Free radicals are unstable chemicals that are known to cause damage to the body’s cells and DNA. The antioxidant capacity of wheatgrass acts to help combat those free radicals, thus slowing or preventing the damage that could have been done by free radicals roaming free in the body.
There are many tools to achieving optimal health, giving us the chance to succeed in life beyond what we thought was possible. One of those tools is the consumption of nutrient-dense, health boosting foods like wheatgrass juice. I strongly believe in the possibilities foods like this can have when consumed regularly and am excited to see how they can help us all in the long run.
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