Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Essence of wheat grass

I have been drawn to wheat grass after reading a number of articles that are going round in internet. To find the validity, I looked for the original wheat grass article on wikipedia. The first research on wheat grass dates back to 1930s when an agricultural chemist Charles F. Schnabel fed his sick poultry stock with dried wheat grass. He found not only the poultry revived but also they produced more good quality eggs than the control group. In rural India, the infertile cows are left in wheat field to restore their fertility. Although the claim that 1 oz of wheat grass juice has enough nutrients as 1 KG of vegetable does not sound right. I just saw some data and it may be as good as 1 oz of broccoli, spinach, carrot and some other vegetables together. Still exciting... When we eat vegetables in different forms we have almost lost a lots of nutritional values altogether. Another great thing I read about wheat grass is the readiness with which the componenets are absorbed by our system. That may make it a superfood.

Although specific research on this is lacking, I would not doubt the beneficial effects of wheat grass for the fact that "there are many well known facts that are yet to be proved by scientific research". For this I looked at pubmed and selected the limit as 'alternative medicine' + wheat grass. There was a total of 331 articles showed up as of today and here are just a few of research articles I pulled out.

1) Wheat grass juice reduces transfusion requirement in patients with thalassemia major: a pilot study

2) Wheat grass juice may improve hematological toxicity related to chemotherapy in breast cancer patients: a pilot study

3) Wheat grass juice appeared effective and safe as a single or adjuvant treatment of active distal UC.

4)Adjuvant fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar) nutraceutical improves survival of high-risk skin melanoma patients: a randomized, pilot, phase II clinical study with a 7-year follow-up

5)Avemar, a nontoxic fermented wheat germ extract, induces apoptosis and inhibits ribonucleotide reductase in human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells.

6) The formulation of WIT-NP, in which WGA(wheat germ aglutinins) is conjugated to the surface of paclitaxel and IPM-loaded PLGA nanoparticles, significantly potentiates the anticancer activity of paclitaxel

7) Fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar) in the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases: Avemar, the product of industrial fermentation of wheat germ, possesses unique cancer-fighting characteristics. Taken orally, Avemar can inhibit metastatic tumor dissemination and proliferation during and after chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation. Benefits of Avemar treatment have been shown in various human cancers, in cultures of in vitro grown cancer cells, in the prevention of chemical carcinogenesis, and also in some autoimmune conditions. This document reviews the clinical and experimental results obtained with this extract so far. Special references are made for its safety, including its coadministration with anticancer drugs, as well as for its immunomodulatory activity, its molecular targets, and its use in cancer clinical trials.

The list goes on and on. So, the properties of wheat grass is definitely something that needs further attention. The studies have been done with respect to wheat grass and auto immune disorders, ulcerative colitis, cancer etc. I think this can further be expanded to studies on endometriosis, female, male fertility, anti aging, diabetes and so on and so forth.

There are often mention of macronutrients in wheat grass, but there are lots of micronutrients that need be studied in great detail. A study need to be conducted to profile the nutritional property of this wonder grass vs other formulated vitamins.

1 comment:

Wheat germ grass said...

Thanks a lot for the post. Good information on wheat grass. Wheat germ grass is very useful for health. It is rich in proteins. It has so many benefits like it has anti-aging properties, it is detoxifier, toner, it act as cleanser, reduces cholesterol, pain reliever, purifies blood, fights infections etc.