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Health
Benefits-Fact and Fiction
Nutritional
Supplement
Wheatgrass is a good natural source for
the following:
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Vitamins:
provitamin
A (carotene), Full spectrum B-vitamins, including Laetrile (B-17), vitamins C
and E
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Minerals:
High
quality organic calcium, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, and potassium in
a balanced ratio. Two ounces of fresh wheatgrass juice is equivalent to the
nutritional value of roughly four pounds of organic green vegetables in vitamin
and mineral content.
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Amino Acids:
Wheatgrass juice supplies up to seventeen amino acids, which include the eight
amino acids responsible for cell renewal.
However national nutritional guidelines
recommend choosing a variety of sources (i.e. fruits, vegetables, etc)
to meat nutritional goals as opposed to consuming large amounts of one
particular food. Wheatgrass is a good nutritional supplement to a
diet in moderate quantities.
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Wheat Grass
(Seven 3.5 gm tablets) |
Amounts in Common Foods
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| Protein |
860 mg |
2,300 mg in 1/2 cup cooked
broccoli |
| Beta carotene |
1,668 IU |
20,253 IU in one raw carrot
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| Vitamin B12 |
0.05 mcg |
1 mcg in 8 oz 2% milk
|
| Calcium |
15 mg |
89 mg in 1/2 cup cooked broccoli
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| Magnesium |
3.9 mg |
47 mg in 1/2 cup cooked broccoli
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| Phosphorus |
3.9 mg |
37 mg in 1/2 cup cooked broccoli
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| Iron |
0.87 mg |
2.2 mg in one cup cooked macaroni
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Enzymatic Support
- Wheatgrass contains hundreds of enzymes cytochrome oxidase,
lipase, protease, amylase, catalase, perioxidase, superoxide dismustase.
- Claims have been made that these enzymes
aid the body in digesting foods, building protein in the bones and skin, and in
detoxification processes.
- However orally ingested enzymes are digested
(i.e. broken down) in the stomach and have no enzymatic benefit
to the consumer.
Ulcerative Colitis
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2002:The addition of 3 oz. fresh
wheatgrass juice vs. 3oz. placebo juice in addition to standard
medical treatment to control ulcerative colitis symptoms was
studied.
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Results showed patients who drank
wheatgrass had less diarrhea, pain and rectal bleeding than
those who drank placebo
Tumor shrinkage and
Cancer Survival
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Claimed benefits of Chlorophyll
include its reduction of the binding of carcinogens to DNA in the
liver and other organs.
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Testimonials/anecdotal claims exist
for cancer benefits
wheatgrass
testimonials
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No clinical trials exist to
validate or rebuff this report
Chronic Plantar
Fasciitis
Other Claims of
Chlorophyll
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"The Plasma of Plants"
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Cholorphyll is very similar to human "heme" the protein
fraction of human blood which carries oxygen.
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Claims to breaks down calcium-oxalate stones, which are created by the body to
neutralize acid, for elimination. Calcium oxalate stones are better known as
kidney stones.
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No clinical trials to validate or
rebuff these reports.
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