Barley grass and wheat grass are essentially synonymous for our purposes. They pack a nutritional punch that’s almost impossible to duplicate. And the “wheat grass juice factors” cannot all be named and catalogued. They are just that good!
First of all, what exactly is this stuff? Barley/wheat grass are types of nutritional grasses which are usually found along roadsides and hedges. Sometimes labeled cereal grasses since they are the young green plants that develop into cereal grains. However, they are NOT the same as the cereals they will eventually develop into. Their nutritional profile is vastly different.
For one thing, barley grass and other nutritional grasses do not contain the gluten that their cereal grain counterparts do. They are entirely gluten-free, and are regarded as a class of superfoods which have an extraordinarily high nutrient profile similar—and even superior to—the nutrient profile of dark green leafy vegetables – yeah – a class all of their own.
After years of extensive research and study of over 150 plants over a 13 year period, Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara, a Japanese doctor, scientist, and inventor, discovered that barley grass was the best source of nutrients needed by the body for healing, vitality, restoration, growth, and well-being. And even has the propensity to prevent cancer and aging.
The general consensus regarding why we age and sometimes develop cancer is because genes become damaged and fail to repair themselves. Working with biologist Dr. Jasuo Hotta, a specialist of gene engineering at the University of California at La Jolla, Dr. Hagiwara found that when barley grass juice was introduced to damaged cells, the DNA within the cells repaired itself remarkably fast. Their experiments with mice who were exposed to a carcinogenic chemical and radiation and then given barley grass juice revealed cell renewal at twice the speed of normal cells.
The second group of cells that were not given the barley grass juice repaired themselves at a significantly slower rate, and many of the cells died. When they introduced barley grass juice to the mouse cells before subjecting them to a carcinogenic chemical and radiation, Dr. Hotta noted that the repair rate was about 3 times as fast as normal. Pretty provocative, really.
Though it would be “wrong” to isolate the exact components causing these good effects because natural plants always work better as a whole. That said, Dr. Allan L. Goldstein, Ph.D., head of the biochemistry department at George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences discovered that specific components of barley grass appear to inhibit several types of cancer, including leukemia, brain tumors and prostate cancer.
Barley and wheat grasses have high amounts of Vitamins A, B1, B2, C, folic acid, B12, calcium, iron, potassium, chlorophyll, and all 9 essential amino acids. A fine combo to help chelate chemicals from the body. Additionally, the thousands of enzymes in these grasses help to neutralize and combat the numerous carcinogens we are exposed to in our modern lives.
What about the anti-aging benefits of barley and wheat grasses? Well, their pure juices have been found to contain one of the most abundant sources of Superoxide Dismutase (S. O. D.), an anti-aging enzyme. Why is that significant? Because the length of our life span is directly proportional to the amount of S.O.D. we have in our bodies. High S.O.D. levels = longest life spans.
Since barley and wheat juices (not the powdered plant, but the actual juice from the plant) contain the most abundant supply of S.O.D., we can expect them to slow down aging and maybe even help us live longer, more productive lives. Now that’s exciting!
