Ann Wigmore on her own experience with wheatgrass: "At fifty years of age my hair was gray, I had a terrible case of colitis and other colon problems, I suffered from low energy and had no clear direction in life. Out of desperation I turned to nature for relief... In wheatgrass, raw foods and exercise, I found what I feel is as close to the fountain of youth as we are going to get. Twenty-five years after my discovery, my hair was turned fully natural brown again. My weight has been a stable 119 and my energy level is limitless"

There have been many examples where Dr. Wigmore witnessed that wheatgrass stimulated the thyroid, corrected obesity, indigestion, etc. ~ an important step toward the correction of obesity, indigestion and a host of other complaints.

Wheatgrass has been know to, " Restore alkalinity to the blood... Wheatgrass has an alkalizing effect on the blood. Its abundance of alkaline minerals helps reduce overacidity in the blood. It can be used to relieve many internal pains. It has been used successfully to treat peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis, constipation, diarrhea, and other complaints of the gastrointestinal tract."

For those of us who don't have a clue about how to drink it...Dr. Ann Wigmore suggests drinking wheatgrass juice in small amounts throughout the course of the day, always on an empty or nearly empty stomach. In general, two to four ounces every day or two is sufficient, (based on Dr. Wigmore's findings and for a person who has discussed this type of program with their doctor).

Slowly sipping small quantities of the juice gives your body an opportunity to get used to its taste and effect. Taking one or two-ounce drinks straight or mixed with other juices (fruit & vegetable) and sipping slowly will help prevent nausea or stomach upset. On a healing regime, Dr. Ann suggests you drink one or two oz., up to 3 or 4 times a day. And to take one day of rest a week.

Dr. Wigmore goes on to boast more benefits of wheatgrass, explaining that it is a "...Powerful detoxifier and liver and blood protector... The enzymes and amino acids found in wheatgrass can protect us from carcinogens like no other food or medicine can. It strengthens our cells, detoxifies the liver, bloodstream, and chemically neutralizes environmental pollutants.

Amazingly, she found that wheatgrass helped fight tumors and neutralize toxins in the body.

Recent studies show that wheatgrass juice has a powerful ability to fight tumors without the usual toxicity of drugs that also inhibit cell-destroying agents. The many active compounds found in grass juice can cleanse the blood and neutralize and digest toxins in our cells.

Whether you have a cut finger you want to heal, or you desire to lose five pounds... enzymes must do the actual work. (Those little enzymes keep popping up all over the place in my reading...something to keep an eye on!)

"The life and abilities of the enzymes found naturally in our bodies can be extended if we help them from the outside by adding exogenous enzymes, like the ones found in wheatgrass juice," according to Dr. Wigmore.

Remarkable similarity to our own blood... The 2nd important nutritional aspect of chlorophyll is its remarkable similarity to hemoglobin, the compound that carries oxygen in the blood. Dr. Hagiwara, a Japanese science and health educator, is a leading advocate for the use of grass as food and medicine. He reasons that since chlorophyll is soluble in fat particles, and since fat particles are absorbed directly into the blood via the lymphatic system, that chlorophyll can also be absorbed in this way. In other words, when the "blood" of plants is absorbed in humans it is transformed into human blood, which transports nutrients to every cell of the body. * Pretty amazing!

According to the book, here are a few other ways wheatgrass can improve your everyday life. Some pretty startling claims, but again, see for yourself:

• It will soothe sunburned skin and also acts as a disinfectant.
• Rubbed into the scalp before a shampoo, it will help mend damaged hair and alleviate itchy, scaly scalp conditions.
• Wheatgrass juice is soothing and healing for cuts, burns, scrapes, rashes, poison ivy, athlete's foot, insect bites, boils, sores , open ulcers, tumors & so on.
• As a sleep aid... Merely place a tray of living wheatgrass near the head of your bed. It will enhance the oxygen in the air and generate healthful negative ions to help you sleep more soundly. (Kind of reminds me of those lazy summer childhood mornings!
• Add some to your bath water and settle in for a nice, long soak.
• Gargle with wheatgrass to sweeten the breath and firm up and tighten gums. (My dentist will love this one.)
• Don't cook it... We can only get the benefits of the many enzymes found in grass by eating it uncooked. Cooking destroys 100 percent of the enzymes in food.
• Neutralizes toxins... Wheatgrass neutralizes toxic substances like cadmium, nicotine, strontium, mercury and polyvinyl chloride.
• The benefits of a liquid oxygen transfusion... Wheatgrass juice contains liquid oxygen. Oxygen is vital to many body processes: it stimulates digestion (the oxidation of food), clearer thinking (the brain utilizes 25 percent of the bodily oxygen supply), and protective oxygenation of the blood (a defense against anaerobic bacteria). Cancer cells cannot exist in the presence of oxygen.
• **Great Beauty Trick! THIS alone will make me stick to my weekly intake! Turns gray hair to its natural color again, raises energy levels... Daily consumption of wheatgrass and sprouts can turn gray hair to its natural color again, and give you a limitless energy level. (This actually happened to Dr. Wigmore!)
• Beauty treatment that slows down the aging process... Wheatgrass will cleanse your blood and help rejuvenate aging cells, slowing the aging process down, way down, making you feel more alive now. It will help tighten loose and sagging skin. (Don't be surprised when your beauty products start carrying wheatgrass).
• Restores fertility... Wheatgrass restores fertility and promotes youthfulness.

For more about wheatgrass visit http://rawlivingfoods.typepad.com/1/wheatgrass/index.html.

Search around and find a juice bar near you and start cutting the grass! You can always find frozen wheatgrass online or in most healthy, conscious-minded grocery chains if you can't find a juice bar.  Or, get the juicer and juice your own, not to mention a large array of other greens and colorful veggies!

Here's to YOUR health,

Beth Aldrich