While this may look like a patch from your front lawn, wheatgrass is really so much more. Just a few ounces thrown into your morning smoothie provides your daily dose of many vitamins and nutrients. Plus, a pot of these green shoots sitting on your window sill is sure to cheer up any dark day. Do you like wheatgrass?
Wheatgrass is the very young shoots of sprouted wheat berries. Once it's at least a few inches tall, the grass can be snipped close to the seed and eaten. Wheatgrass is normally juiced and consumed as is or added to smoothies. The whole grass can be tough for our bodies to digest.
People claim that wheatgrass can help with everything from diabetes to hair loss, though few studies have been carried out to support these theories. What's definitely true is that these shoots are rich with nutrients, including iron, calcium, magnesium, amino acids, chlorophyll, and vitamins A, C and E (according to The Mayo Clinic). If nothing else, the nutritional value of wheatgrass makes it worth looking into.
As far as I can tell, the biggest problem with wheatgrass is really the taste. At best, it can be described as distinctly "grassy." If you're making your own juice blends or smoothies, try blending the wheatgrass juice with other flavorful ingredients, like pineapple, ginger, carrots, and mint.
Do you use a lot of wheatgrass? Any recommendations for how to add it to your diet?
Related: How to Grow Your Own Alfalfa Sprouts
(Image: fflolas/Shutterstock)
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this sounds amazing! adding it to smoothies would be my take on it.
can you grow wheatgrass from dried wheatberries?? haha
I have this for my cats. Never thought of having it for myself.
J&H, yes, you can grow your own with wheatberries. It's not difficult at all, and there are a lot of quick tutorials out there if you want to look into it. I like making my sprouts with the EasySprouter and the MiniSprouter, both of which I bought from Sprout House, though I know some people just use a jar or tray (I like the products because they keep it all clean and safe).
I love wheatgrass. There is a "fresh" place in the market near me that sells salads and fresh juices and they offer it as just a shot or in various juice blends. Sometimes, when I'm feeling cranky and off-balance or like I didn't eat right on a given day, I'll get a shot of it. I think it tastes sunny and a little sweet and it gives me a bit of a rush. I also love their "cold killer" drink which is mostly OJ and wheatgrass plus honey.
It is an absolute pain in the butt to juice though because of the fibers in it. They have a special machine just for the wheatgrass that extrudes about an ounce of juice from one end and a massive sausage of solids at the other.
I love wheatgrass juice - it tastes the way a freshly mown lawn smells! But it's something I leave to the professionals as you do need a special juicer for it.
I've got this for my cats. So when is the invariable person going to show up to tell us we'll all get salmonella from sprouting? (I sprout broccoli seeds — YUMMY!)
This site REALLY needs an edit function... For "invariable" please read "inevitable." Tx.
wheat grass is amazing! I always go for the juice "chaser" of either pineapple or grapefruit. it takes the taste right out of your mouth.
I'm not gluten-free, but it did make me curious.
Are wheat grass and barley grass gluten-free?
I've never had wheat grass due to the taste, but I'm willing to give it a shot
Lol @ Marion in Savannah, you crack me up. Tell me about the broccoli seed sprouts, will ya?