The Medicinal Uses of Wheatgrass

Over the past few weeks I’ve been playing around with wheat—sprouting, cooking, eating, growing into grass—and in the course of my research discovered that there has been some research into the medicinal uses of wheatgrass.  Most studies have been conducted on mice, rats, and rabbits, but there have been small trials with people as well. 

Because wheat is a relatively common food storage item, and because our access to medicine—both the drugs and the doctors—becomes limited, it seems a good idea to check out the potential medicinal uses of wheatgrass.

But before getting into the medicinal uses, let’s review what wheatgrass actually is.  Wheatgrass is the leaves of the sprouted wheat.  Fodder is what we get when wheat grains are soaked and sprouted and grown on trays without soil, and everything is fed to small livestock like chickens and rabbits.  Wheatgrass is what we get when the wheat grains are soaked and sprouted and then sprinkled into soil and grown into grass.  The green grass is then cut and while it can be eaten as is or in salads or on sandwiches, it is usually juiced or added to smoothies.  People go to great lengths to mask the taste of it, with pineapple noted as being the most effective.

The medicinal uses of wheatgrass are limited, but they address medical conditions common in industrialized nations with unhealthy diets—like the US.  Unfortunately, as noted above, most of the research has been conducted in animals, so there isn’t much guidance in the way of amounts of wheatgrass to consume. 

• Cardiovascular
• Wheatgrass reduced cholesterol levels in rabbits and rats[1] [2]
• Researchers noted that effects were similar to atorvastatin[3]
• Endocrine
• Wheatgrass has been shown to lower blood sugar levels in diabetic rats[4] [5]
• Gastrointestinal
• Wheatgrass reduced the severity of ulcerative colitis (1/2 cup of wheatgrass juice per day)[6]
• Wheatgrass is generally considered safe for use by those with celiac disease—consuming the grass and not the grain.
• Other
• Wheatgrass has been shown to reduce inflammation[7] [8]
• Wheatgrass has been shown to increase vitamin C levels in rabbits[9]
• Wheatgrass has been shown to kill cancer cells in test tubes[10]

Links to related posts:

Basic Food Storage--Sprouting Wheat

Basic Food Storage--Wheat:  Using the Whole Berries

Wheatgrass for Health and Preparedness 

How to Use Wheat in Your Food Storage

Using Hard Red Wheat Supplies

How to Cook Wheat Berries

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[1] J Sethi, et al., Antioxidant effect of Triticum aestivium (wheat grass) in high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress in rabbits, Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, May 2010, Vol 32 No 4, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20508870/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[2] S Kothari, et al., Hypolipidemic effect of fresh Triticum aestivum (wheat) grass juice in hypercholesterolemic rats, Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica, March-April 2011, Vol 68 No 2, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21485304/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[3] S Kothari, et al., Hypolipidemic effect of fresh Triticum aestivum (wheat) grass juice in hypercholesterolemic rats, Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica, March-April 2011, Vol 68 No 2, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21485304/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[4] G Shakya, et al., Hypoglycaemic role of wheatgrass and its effect on carbohydrate metabolic enzymes in type II diabetic rats, Toxicology and Industrial Health, June 2016, Vol 32 No 6, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25116122/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[5] Y Mohan, et al., Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Properties of Triticum aestivum in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats, Advances in Pharmacological Sciences, 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876669/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[6] E Ben-Arye, et al., Wheat grass juice in the treatment of active distal ulcerative colitis: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial, Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, April 2002, Vol 37 No 4, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11989836/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[7] A Subramoniam, et al., Chlorophyll revisited: anti-inflammatory activities of chlorophyll a and inhibition of expression of TNF-α gene by the same, Inflammation, June 2012, Vol 35 No 3, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22038065/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[8] KH Lin, et al., Chlorophyll-related compounds inhibit cell adhesion and inflammation in human aortic cells, Journal of Medicinal Food, October 2013, Vol 16 No 10, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24066944/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[9] J Sethi, et al., Antioxidant effect of Triticum aestivium (wheat grass) in high-fat diet-induced oxidative stress in rabbits, Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, May 2010, Vol 32 No 4, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20508870/ (accessed 31 May 2022).

[10] RD Gore, et al., Wheatgrass: Green Blood can Help to Fight Cancer, Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 2017, Vol 11 No 6, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5534514/ (accessed 31 May 2022).