Wheatgrass -drink, drink, pass.....

Last week, a virtual friend of mine **I say virtual because I've never actually met her in person. We met on a web board, gosh years ago. She's a great person, full of support and encouragement. Shout out to Patty and the LGs! :)** posted that she had taken a shot of wheat grass juice at her local smoothie bar. I've read about wheat grass before but not extensively. Because of her face book post I decided to do some more research on it.

Here's just a smidgen of what Ive found:

1.Wheatgrass lowers blood pressure
2.Wheatgrass helps the digestive system by flushing toxins from the system
3.Wheatgrass slows the graying of hair and removes dandruff
4.Wheatgrass suppresses appetite, curves cravings, and stimulates metabolism and circulation
5.Wheatgrass protects the body from outside pollutants by building up the white blood cells
6.Wheatgrass has anti-inflammatory effects on arthritis, ulcers and insect bites
7.Wheatgrass builds blood by building red blood cells quickly
8.Wheatgrass energizes and reduces fatigue
9.Wheatgrass promotes regularity and helps fight constipation
10.Wheatgrass reduces or eliminates offensive body and breath odors
11.Wheatgrass' antibacterial properties reduce symptoms of a sore throat when used to gargle
12.Wheatgrass topical antibacterial use for skin wounds (burns and sunburns)
13.Wheatgrass aids in stopping tooth decay
14.Chewing of wheatgrass may banish sleepiness and bring a new alertness
15.Wheatgrass juice helps cleanse the liver
16.Wheatgrass calms the nervous system
17.Presence of chlorophyll in wheatgrass stabilizes blood sugar levels
18.Wheatgrass reduces fever & irritability in children
19.Wheatgrass applied regularly onto the skin will eventually fade blemishes and sunspots by stimulating the growth of healthy new skin and “tightening” older skin
20.When inhaled through the nose, wheatgrass is effective in clearing sinus congestion.

Seems pretty amazing right? Now of course, there are also tons of websites out there that say its all bunk. Here's my thinking - its GRASS - a plant, that is ground and squeezed. You drink the juice or heck, some people just chew on the plant itself and spit out the pulp. This is not a man made chemical. Now, just because it is a plant does not make it good for you. Some plants are poisonous and will kill you if juiced of chewed on. However, I have found very little negative side effects of wheat grass. The main one being a detox effect, which includes "purging" or throwing up and diarrhea. Supposedly, this is only an issue in the beginning while toxins are being flushed from your system. A little puke and poop never hurt anyone. So, I decided to give it a shot - pun actually intended.

Problem. There are no and I repeat NO smoothie bars in this town that carry the stuff - fresh that is. There are no health food stores that carry it fresh or frozen, or even in pill form. My only option is powder. Not quite what I was looking for but what the heck?

I was eager to try it out the first day but I gotta tell ya, it was really hard to get it down. I actually didn't get it down on the first try. The instructions say to mix two teaspoons with 8 ounces of water. Imagine putting frozen spinach in a blender and then mixing it into 8 ounces of water. Not a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? **Back on track Lindsey**
After a little tweaking, Ive figured out that two teaspoons in about 4 ounces of V8 works good. It ends up as two big shots or three comfortable drinks. Chased by a big swig of water and Im good to go. The texture is thick but V8 is to begin with and it does smell. Not like fresh cut grass like some say - but probably because what I'm drinking is not fresh cut.

Lemme tell ya - I don't know if there's a connection or if its totally a coincidence but about 20 minutes after taking the stuff I feel different. Awake and refreshed are two words to describe the feeling. You know those days when you wake up and the weather is great, you feel great, you can concentrate and don't feel in a fog? The days you feel light on your feet and just wanna roll down the windows in the car and turn up the music and dance? That's really how it feels. At least for me.

Like I said I don't know if its truly because of just the wheat grass, a combination of the wheat grass, weight loss, exercise and increased water or just totally a coincidence. BUT I had the weight loss, exercise and increased water and did not feel like that before. Is it a little difficult to get down in powder form? Yes. But am I going to stop taking it - not on your life!

On that note - I say, It's 4:20 somewhere - go drink some grass!



** This post is edited to say - I'm not a pot smoker. Sure, Ive "tried" it in the past - OK, Ive smoked maybe three times in my life. But I'm not encouraging anyone to partake in the activity. I was just making some "grass" inspired jokes - Gah!**