Yet another
health food craze.
Wheatgrass juice is the result of processing the young
shoots of the
Red Wheatberry plant and extracting the juices from them. It is, like all similar products,
rumored to do pretty much everything:
...is antibacterial and can be used inside and outside the body
...rebuilds the blood stream
...gets into the tissues and refines them
...improves blood sugar problems
... neutralizes toxins in the body
... helps purify the liver and wash drug deposits from the body
... prevents tooth decay, helps with tooth pain and strengthens the gums
Refines tissues?
Whatever. Drinking it is probably harmless, but all the
pseudomedical information you can find about it on the
web or in your local
health food store is sketchily backed up by the
infamous "studies where x has been linked to y", if backed up at all. Everyone wants a
WonderDrug. Wake up,
people,
there is none. The American Medical Association says not to take
vitamin supplements. They don't say that they think they are
unnecessary, they say
do not take them. If you aren't getting the
vitamins you need, then you had better start
eating right in the first place. Aside from that,
vitamin overdoses have actually become
known due to fools
scarfing down
incredible amounts of
vitamin A,
vitamin E,
vitamin K, whatever.
I confess, I don't understand health food crazes at all. I've always figured that if you eat a proper diet (that means making a bean salad and eating a mango or two instead of ordering pizza one night out of the week), you'll be fine. The media-induced mass hypochondriasis (paranoid concern for one's own health) the US is experiencing is somewhat humorous but at the same time kind of sad, as people race to throw their money away on the next wonderfood.
List of wheatgrass juice benefits taken from www.utahwheatgrass.com/wheatgrass.html. I have seen this list on fliers at smoothie joints, certain ads, and other contexts.