THE WONDER OF WHEATGRASS

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There's more good to be ahd from grass than the "pleasure" of sowing, mowing, and showing it.

by Kelsey Clark

Have you ever watched cattle or horses grazing and wondered how such large, strong, and downright magnificent creatures sustain themselves on a diet that's primarily composed of grass? Well, I have, and the notion never ceased to amaze me . . . that is, until I did some research and found out just how much food value chlorophyll-rich grasses offer.

Of course, more and more folks are finding out about the outstanding nutritional value of raw foods such as fresh greens, sprouts, and — although it's less well known than the others — wheatgrass . . . thanks to the tireless crusading efforts of a few nutritional scientists, most notably Dr. Ann Wigmore of the Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. It seems that — as a young woman — Dr. Wigmore was once afflicted with gangrene in both legs. She cured herself through the use of nutrition-rich, freshly grown wheatgrass . . . and went on to become one of this country's leading experts on sprout and wheatgrass therapy, a regimen that has been used in the treatment of nearly all chronic disorders.

WHY WHEATGRASS?

Nutritionally speaking, wheatgrass is one of the best of all grasses. It has the ability to absorb more than 100 elements from the soil (depending on the quality of the seed and the medium it's grown in, of course), and is a rich source of vitamins A and C and the Bcomplex . . . as well as of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur, cobalt, and zinc. What's more, the food is abundant in vitamin B-17 (more commonly known as laetrile), a substance that's said to selectively destroy cancer cells in the body.

In one of many studies conducted by Dr. Wigmore, two flocks of chicks were fed identical diets, but one group received a supplement of chopped fresh wheatgrass. Within a few weeks the chicks that were fed the supplement had grown much larger than the others, were more alert, and had more feathers. Further tests with rabbits and kittens produced similar results.

In fact, some researchers now claim that 15 pounds of fresh wheatgrass is nutritionally equivalent to 350 pounds of garden vegetables. Wheatgrass, then, might prove to be an excellent survival food . . . because it's inexpensive, easily accessible, highly nutritious, palatable, and free of poisonous sprays. The grass can be raised year round in any apartment or house, in the city or the country, and grows well either in indirect sunlight or under artificial light. It's hardly surprising that many nations are looking toward various grasses in the search for emergency means of feeding their populations.

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