wheat grass... any science to this fad?

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Given the cost we decided that it might be of interest to find out if it is doing anything for real. The claims we have heard or read is that a shot glass of wg is equal to 1kg of vegetables,

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This can't be true, simply because different vegeatbles have varying amounts of a very wide variety of nutrients and minerals.I'd like to know how it is equal to a kg of vegetables, you know?From what I know about the digestive process of animals that eat grass, like horses, is that they have to spend around 20 hours of every day eating many pounds of grass to get enough nutrients to be healthy, not to mention that they have specialized organs to digest the some of the various kinds of fiber present in various kinds of grasses.Grass, compared to other food sources, is actually very low in nutrients and calories.

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in addition to vitamins,

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But what vitamins? And how much?None of the wheatgrass juice sites I visited gave much in the way of specifics.

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it helps cleans the body of toxins, etc etc.

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That's a warning bell for me.The body does a very good job of cleansing itself of toxins; that's what your kidneys and liver are for.All that happens when you "cleanse" or "purge" or take diuretics is that you pee a lot for a while.Anyway, the thing that turns me off about wheatgrass juice is that is tastes pretty bad.

yeah.I mean, grass isn't a vegetable.The seeds of the grass is where all the nutrients are; the wheat berry in the case of wheatgrass.Certain sprouts ARE quite nutritious, but they are legumes; alfalfa and mung bean sprouts come to mind.

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Yeah yeah yeah, I know all the general recs, but I'm interested in specific foods (and number of foods) that some may have as part of their regular diet to stay healthy.

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Some foods (off the top of my head) that are particularly packed with nutrition or particularly healthful:blueberries
sweet potatoes
kale
bok choy
salmon
raw almonds
olive oil
broccoli
bananas
quinoa
seaweed
eggsAs a general rule, eat a wide variety of foods, lots of vegetables and fruits, choose whole grains over refined most of the time, some lean protein (less than most people think, unless you are on a muscle-building exercise regimen), and take it easy on the refined sweeteners, processed/fake food, super fatty red meat and other saturated fats and hard liquor.I never say never to any food. It's the proportion in the diet that is important.Lots of water is also important.My ob/gyn tells me to take a daily multivitamin (Fintstone's actually) now that I'm in my mid thirties, and I do, but I dunno.I have a great diet compared to the average american, so I really don't know if it makes a big difference.

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Olive oil is good for your heart;

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Specifically, I think it reduces bad cholesterol and increases the good.

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tumeric extends life;

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How does it do that?

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garlic just plain can't be anything but good for you.

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I think I remember reading that raw garlic has the benefits, and that it is a natural blood thinner?

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Chili peppers are good for you, too.

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High in viamin C, are chiles, I think.I also think I remember reading something about chiles being good for fighting off colon cancer?

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These aren't foods that I specifically consume so much as foods I try to use in my cooking whenever possible. (You can't fry in olive oil, though, so I'm open to suggestions for the healthiest and cleanest oil for such cooking. Right now I use pure vegetable oil.)

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Yes, you can fry in olive oil; you just can't get it terribly hot.The smoke point of a good filtered mass produced olive oil like Colavita is 375 degrees, and typical deep frying temperature is 365 degrees, so I don't think that frying in olive oil should be a problem as long as it is not filled with particulate.Now, I wouldn't sear anything in olive oil. I usually sear in a cast iron skillet with no oil at all, anyway.

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Eh, I tried it once, and the smoke point wasn't the problem; it was that the oil imparts way too much flavor to the food. It was awful. Worst kitchen mistake I ever made (that I actually tried to eat.) Then again I was batter-frying pork for tiger pork so maybe there is something you could fry in olive oil. Dunno about that, though. I'd love to be proved wrong, though.

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Oh my, if you want some of the most delicious eggs in the world, fry them in about 1/4" of extra virgin olive oil that you've heated fairly hot. The eggs should spit and sputter as they cook and get crispy on the edges. Turn them out on to a shallow bowl with their oil and hit them with coarse s&p.If you can get some good coarse country bread, fry the bread in the oil before you put the eggs in and then rub a cut clove of garlic over the rough browned surface, then do the s&p thing. You can also heat up some roasted red peppers in the oil, too (Piquillo peppers if you can find/afford them) A little smoked Spanich paprika is heaven on this as well.)This is one of my very favorite late-night noshes that takes almost no time, nor effort.Anyway, stuff fried in ilive oil is fantastic- but if you were trying to do an Asian dish it would taste all wrong. Stick with the Mediterranian.

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So that's the trick. Say, what do you know about cast-iron cookware? How do I season a skillet? How much should I pay? I invented a recipe for seared wasabi tuna tacos with black bean salsa (made the salsa myself, delish) and the tuna didn't get the sear that I wanted (they were still hella good, though. Old El Paso makes white corn taco shells with flat bottoms for stuffing a bunch of diced, seared tuna in the bottom with a little wasabi paste.)

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Wow, Crash, I might just have to crush on you a little bit if you keep feeding me your self-invented food porn. What Cor has said about buying and seasoning a cast iron pan is correct, and all I would add is that the more you use it, the more non-stick it will become.Of course, I probably don't need to tell you but for others who may be reading, do not cook anything very acidic in a cast iron pan as it will react with the metal and make your food taste metallic.

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Good list, but you forgot sunflower oil.
Recent research suggests it is as good or better than olive oil for reducing LDL blood cholersterol. One of our current research projects concerns sunflower insects so I'm kind on into publicizing its benefits. Its the best substitute currently for hydrogenated fats in processed food and it needs half as much irrigation water as corn so its a good option for farmers in dry areas.

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Interesting, thanks.Do you get the benefits only if it is unrefined, expeller pressed oil?

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For example blueberries were mentioned. Would that include blueberry pies, or does the process remove whatever health benefits the natural blueberry might contain?

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Well, as far sa I know, you get the benefits of blueberries raw or cooked, although my hunch is that most fruits are going to be better for the less you cook them (except for things like quince and tamarind which you have to cook to eat at all.Here is a good little bit of info on blueberries. link

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Another specific one I'd like to know more about is the Chili pepper. It sounds like that can be quite healthy, yet I really don't like them much. I think the most I like is dried chili peppers for flavoring (though not eaten directly), or within oriental chili sauces used for dipping (where they are eaten but I have no idea what process they went through). Can those provide benefits, or is raw or lightly cooked the only way?

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Fresh chiles have 2 main substances which are healthful; high levels of vitamin C and capsaicin, the "hot" stuff. Also, red chiles (as opposed to green) have beta-carotene which is an anti-oxidant.Dried are not as good, nutritionally, I don't think. chili pepper infoIf you want to avoid the heat of chiles but also want the vitamin C and beta-carotene, just eat red bell peppers. You won't get the benefits of the capsaicin, but they are still plenty good for you.

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Heh, that's why I don't post pictures of me on the forum.

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Here, I found one of you on the internet:

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As I don't like stews

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I must say, that is a new one for me.What do you find disagreeable about stewed food?

That's interesting.I have always thought of soups and stews as very comforting, soothing sorts of foods and of course it is conventional wisdom that clear soup is the classic food to eat when one is sick and cannot manage anything heavier.Not saying you are wrong for having a preference, just noting that it is unusual.What kinds of textures work better for you?

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We are a wheatgrass juice company and believe firmly that there is something particularly unique about wheatgrass juice.

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Of course you do! If you didn't, you certainly wouldn't say so out loud.

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What we understand about wheatgrass juice really isn't over complicated. Essentially, we know: i) it has a broad spectrum of nutrition (compared to other tested foods); ii) being juiced makes it extremely easy to digest and assimilate;

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But is that really true? How do you know if the nutrients are easily assimilated if you haven't tested it?

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and iii) most of us need high quality fuel because we eat diets that include lots of denatured foods that have become nutritionally devoid.

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Can you be more specific here?I mean, the minute any food molecule hits our digestive juices they are denatured. Can you explain how food that is "denatured" is less nutritious than food that isn't?And, are you claiming that wheatgrass has a lot of nutrients or a lot of calories? You used the word "fuel", which to me refers to energy (like carbohydrates or fats), rather than minerals or vitamins.

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At this point in time, science has identified over 3,800 nutrients and recognizes that there may be countless unidentified ones. When you realize this, you understand that the only meaningful measures we have are either validated scientific or personal observations.

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Actually, it is only the scientific measures which are valid in determining if wheatgrass juice does all it's proponets say it does. Personal observations are rather useless in this case, unfortunately.

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As a wheatgrass juice supplier, we simply cannot afford to fund scientifically validated studies.

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Then you shouldn't make any health claims regarding your product.Tell me, has your company looked in to what it would cost to do, say, urine or blood tests on a couple of hundred people?

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What we have done is try to capture customer expereinces by putting a health forum in place that customers can post in directly. You should read these, they are very interesting.

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Testimonials are meaningless as evidence.I did notice that you make some specific claims on your website. I was unfortunately unable to find the sources for these claims, so perhaps you would be able to provide them? Specifically, I am looking for studies from scientific journals.For example, your company claims that: Has all of this, plus the long list of other health claims on your site been demonstrated? If so, where can I read the original research? If you are going to make such bold scientific claims on your website, you really should include references to the original research so that people can check to make sure that the claim you are making jibes with the paper you are lifting it from.It looks to me that your company is making a lot of unsupported claims and looks very much like a quack company.Lastly, at least one of the claims made on your website is simply wrong and you should change it immediately:

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Tooth decay is the result of degenerative changes in the body

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False. Tooth decay is the result of acids produced by bacteria that live in plaque.Edited by nator, : No reason given.

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Is it possible that some other factor was responsible? Sure. It is likely to be something other than the wheatgrass juice? No.

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Again, anecdotal evidence is not particularly compelling.

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Quite frankly, we don't want to make any claims, rather, we want to enable people to use their first amendment right to free speach to tell their story. This is what the Health Experiences Forum provides.

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Oh, come on.You absolutely make claims for the amazing power of wheatgrass juice to do almost anything all over your website. Why would you gather together all of these health claims if you weren't looking to influence people to think positively about the product you sell?You aren't providing some kind of open, objective forum or informational site for discussion of wheatgrass juice, both pro and con. If you were, you would also include quotes from research and doctors that hold the view that wheatgrass juice is just a fad with nothing particularly special or amazing going for it.I wonder what would happen if I posted polite but skeptical criticisms of the website on your message forum? Would I be censored? Would my messages be deleted? Where would my free speech rights be if I started pointing out that you make unsupported claims and use scientific-sounding jargon that is actually meaningless?In your list of reasons for not testing your product, you stated as a reason:

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A study is too finite and in fact, would measure the wrong things.

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Can you elaborate on what things the study would measure and why they are "wrong", and also what you mean by a study being too "finite"?Also, I asked a specific question regarding something on your website that it seems you have overlooked.I asked: I also pointed out that tooth decay is the result of acids produced by bacteria that live in plaque, not "degenerative changes in the body" as stated on your website.What are you planning on doing regarding that false statement?Edited by nator, : No reason given.Edited by nator, : No reason given.

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The Health Experiences Forum on our site came about as a result of our discussion about a scientific study. We believed that it would do a better job than a scientific study of:

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- Showing broad health impacts
- Representing both qualitative and quantitative measures
- Provide more detailed information about other products or lifestyle changes people may make in addition to wheatgrass juice to reach a desired end result

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Um, no.Self-reporting is actually really, really awful at providing reliable evidence of cause and effect.What you are describing is certain to be awash in many sorts of bias and the placebo effect.We know this about human nature, and have known it for a long time.That's why the gold standard of any scientific test is the double blind study.That's why we don't test new drugs or evaluate the nutritional benefits of diets by having people self report how they feel on message forums.In science, we try to limit variables and eliminate as much subject and experimenter bias, both conscious and unconscious, as we can.What message boards do is actually encourage bias.

I've registered at that forum and have posted a few polite but critical posts. I'm nator there, too, if anybody wants to read. Research

My replies over there have become shorter and shorter in order to see if I can actually get a response to my actual questions and points.I am most interested in seeing if my question asking for an explanation of how "denatured" food is less nutritious will be answered.