Super Food Nutrition

I received some good feedback from my last article on growing wheatgrass, as well as a few questions.

One of the questions is from Bill in Washington, who writes

Where did you get the 92 mineral fact from? Some people like myself have taken science classes and learned that minerals are metalic ions like iron Fe or Calcium. There are only 92 natural occurring elements and oxygen and hydrogen (the components of water) and uranium (radioactive) are not minerals.

~ Bill

Thanks for your question Bill. This info comes from the folks at Ocean Grown. I checked with them and I have a little info.

The Ocean Grown company did some research and found that every mineral is found in the ocean in a perfect balance. The minerals in ocean water can be concentrated into ’sea solids’, and the sea solids can be used to fertilize crops, gardens, fruit and nut trees, sprouts, and wheatgrass. A list of the 90+ elements is on the OceanGrown website.

There is some confusion about Elements vs. Minerals. I asked John Hartman from OceanGrown about this.

John said that there is a difference between the 90 elements listed on the periodic table, and minerals.

John said that there is a difference between the 90 elements listed on the periodic table, and minerals.

When Ocean Grown talks about the 90 “elements”, they are using that in a sense of the table of elements. They are using that in the chemical sense, but people use the word interchangeably with “mineral elements”.

Most people don’t really know what “elements” are, so they call them “minerals” instead.

This is a confusing subject, so I asked John Hartman to join me on a teleseminar interview. Stay tuned for an annoucement!

The OceanGrown tests found that the grasses, including barley grass and wheat grass, will contain 90 elements, but only if the elements are present in the soil.

There is a research paper on the ocean grown website that says they tested ocean grown wheatgrass for 60 minerals, and it has all 60 minerals in it. They only tested for 60 because the tests are very expensive, and it would have cost thousands of dollars to test for all 90 elements.

What they did is test for the 60 elements that are not commonly found in plants. There are 30 mineral elements that are known to exist in most plants and wheatgrass, such as calcium and magnesium. They did not test for these common elements because they already know they are present.

They did another test with tomatoes and found that the average tomato has less than 18 minerals in it. This is because the soil does not have all the minerals. Next, they fertilized the soil with the OceanGrown sea solids and grew the tomatoes in them. They found that these tomatoes had 56 minerals in them!

A great introduction into this subject is by Dr. Maynard Murray, M.D. wrote an amazing book titled “Sea Energy Agriculture”

Click Here for a good MP3 audio interview with Gino, who works at Ocean Grown

The first part of the interview is with Steve “The Sproutman” Meyerwitz, the second part of the interview is with Gino from OceanGrown.

(This audio is from Dorit’s raw food radio show I Am Healthy-
http://iamhealthyradio.com/dorit_serenity_spaces.HTML

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I am learning about getting into wheatgrass juicing. Which wheatgrass juicer would you recommend for me?

My favorites are the Lexen manual wheatgrass juicer, and the Tribest Z-Star wheatgrass juicer. They are easy to use and clean, and the pulp is dry.

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Do you know of any companies selling the ocean grown wheatgrass?

Yes, I know of one company selling this. The website is http://www.growgreens.com/ and http://www.shopgrowgreens.com Their website introduction says “we grow and distribute the worlds finest, most nutritious food for people who wish to effect positive change and unfoldment in their lives.”

Basically, they grow the wheatgrass with the Ocean Grown sea solution. They juice it, and then bottle it fresh and unpasteurized. It has around a twelve day shelf-life.

The ocean grown wheatgrass is also available at many of the raw food health retreats, including the Angel’s Health Food Institute in Oregon.

Click Here for the Ocean Grown website

I have a couple articles on my site providing an introduction to Sea Energy Agriculture:

Trace Elements in Nature’s Balance- An introduction into Sea Water Agriculture by Maynard Murry

Remineralize Soil for Optimum Elemental Balance, using mineral “sea solids” to fertilize crops.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Mike Snyder
Portland, OR

The Raw Diet newsletter
The Raw Diet Health Shop

Wheatgrass is one of the most nutritious foods available to us. It is very inexpensive and easy to grow. Wheatgrass juice should be the foundation of all natural health maintenance and healing programs.

This is the only food that can hold up to 92 minerals. Compare this to a conventional tomato, which may only have 10 minerals in it. Wheatgrass is high in chloropyll, which is similar to the hemoglobin in our blood. Wheatgrass is a great source of vitamins, enzymes, and phytonutrients.

Wheatgrass does not contain gluten, and so people with wheat allergies are safe to drink it. The grass is completely different than the grain.

Dr. Ann Wigmore brought wheatgrass juice into the mainstream many years ago and it is one of the foundations to her healing program. According to ‘The Wheatgrass Book’ by Ann Wigmore:

Increases red blood-cell count and lowers blood pressure. It cleanses the blood, organs and gastrointestinal tract of debris. Wheatgrass also stimulates metabolism and the body’s enzyme systems by enriching the blood. It also aids in reducing blood pressure by dilating the blood pathways throughout the body.

Stimulates the thyroid gland, correcting obesity, indigestion, and a host of other complaints.

Restores alkalinity to the blood. The juice’s abundance of alkaline minerals helps reduce over-acidity in the blood.

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. It strengthens our cells, detoxifies the liver and bloodstream, and chemically neutralizes environmental pollutants.

Has remarkable similarity to our own blood. Wheatgrass juice is 70% chlorophyll. The second important nutritional aspect of chlorophyll is its remarkable similarity to hemoglobin, the compound that carries oxygen in the blood….when the “blood” of plants is absorbed in humans it is transformed into human blood, which transports nutrients to every cell of the body.

Sweetens the breath and firms up and tightens gums. Just gargle with the juice.

Is a beauty treatment that slows down the aging process when the juice is consumed. Wheatgrass will cleanse your blood and help rejuvenate aging cells, slowing the aging process way down, making you feel more alive right away. It will help tighten loose and sagging skin.

Why are minerals important?

Wheatgrass juice is one of the best sources of minerals. According to natural health expert Dr. John Whitman Ray:

* According to Senate Document No. 264, the official publication, 99 percent of American people are deficient in minerals, and a marked deficiency in any one of the more important minerals actually results in disease.

* The body is equipped to chelate only a small amount of some inorganic elements from nature. Therefore, the body requires the minerals to come from plants in a chelated form that the minerals may be properly assimilated and utilized. The efficiency of each mineral is enhanced by balanced amounts of the others.

* All nutrients such as vitamins, proteins, enzymes, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, sugars, oils, etc. require minerals for activity. All bodily processes depend upon the action of minerals.

* Trace chelated minerals are more important in nutrition than vitamins. Vitamins can be synthesized by living matter, minerals cannot.

* Vitamins are required for every biochemical activity of the body. Vitamins cannot function unless minerals are present.

* Minerals are the catalysts that make enzyme functions possible. Chelated minerals combine with enzymes into an alkaline detoxifying agent which neutralizes the acid metabolic by-products of the cells and other toxic conditions within the body and prepares them for elimination.

* Hormonal secretion of glands is dependent upon mineral stimulation.

* The acid-alkaline balance(pH) of the tissue fluid is controlled by minerals.

* All elements work together as a collective whole. If there is a shortage of just one mineral, the balance of the entire bodily activity can be thrown awry. A deficiency of one mineral may disrupt the entire chain of life, rendering other nutrients either useless or inefficient.

Where do I find wheatgrass juice?

Wheatgrass juice is available fresh in most juice bars. One of the biggest juice bars is Jamba Juice, and they always have wheatgrass juice available. It is also found on the menu in many vegetarian restaurants.

It is also available in a powdered version in the supplement aisle of your local health food store. The powdered version is not as nutritious as the fresh, but it is better than nothing! The powdered version is a good supplement to eat if you are not drinking fresh green juices.

Most grocery stores also sell fresh wheatgrass, which you can take home and juice yourself.

Purchasing wheatgrass juice and powder is the expensive way to do it. An ounce of wheatgrass juice at a store costs about $1.50, which is equal to $192.00 a gallon! And you thought gas for your car was expensive!

When you grow it yourself, it only costs about $1 for a pound of wheatberries. This is a big savings and only costs about 50 cents for an ounce of juice!

The best part is that growing wheatgrass is one of the easiest things you will ever do, and the health rewards are enormous.

How much do you need?

A serving of wheatgrass juice is one to two ounces. You don’t need to drink more than two ounces at a time. A good amount of juice to drink is between 2 to 4 ounces a day, or every other day. I have heard of people drinking up to 8 ounces in a day to assist in healing.

To grow wheatgrass, you first must purchase the wheat seeds, also called wheat berries. Most health food stores carry the wheat berries in the bulk food section. I use the hard, red spring wheat berries.

If your local store does not have wheatberries, you may purchase them on-line at www.wholelifegreens.com , Sprout People, Jaffe Brothers Natural Foods http://www.organicfruitsandnuts.com/ , or http://www.sproutman.com/

Once you have the wheatberries, you simply pour them in a bowl and soak them in water overnight, around 12 hours, up to 24 hours max. It takes one cup of dry seed to cover a 10″x 20″ greenhouse flat.

Then you pour out the water and seeds into a large colander in the sink. Let the seeds sit in the colander for about 24 hours. Rinse them three times throughout the day to keep them moist. They will begin to sprout a little tail, and this is when you transfer the seeds to your sprouter.

The ‘hard work’ is now done! The wheatgrass will grow on its own. Your job is to simply keep the seeds moist and make sure they don’t dry out.

The grass is ready to juice in about 7 to 10 days.

Here are some tips that will help your wheatgrass grow big and strong.

1. Tools for growing wheatgrass:

There are many different tools available, some are fairly inexpensive, while others require a little investment. There are automatic sprouters available that work great. These do all the work for you because they have an automatic watering system. These are great if you are not home to keep the sprouts watered.

My favorites are the Tribest Freshlife sprouter, and the EasyGreen Microfarm sprouter, which are available from my store at http://store.TheRawDiet.com/sprouters.html

The inexpensive manual way to grow it is to purchase some soil, and a couple black plastic greenhouse flats from your local nursery or gardening center. These have a clear plastic lid on the top. You put a little soil on the trays, then sprinkle on the sprouted wheatberries.

When you sprinkle the sprouted wheat seeds onto the soil, spread them evenly across the tray. You can help them settle into the soil by lightly pressing down, but do not bury them. The tails will grow into the soil and create the roots.

Keep the plastic lid on the tray for the first four days. The wheatgrass is not ready for sun until day five, so wait until the fifth day to remove the lid and take it outside. Once the sunlight touches the grass, it will turn green pretty quick.

I use a water bottle with a spray nozzle to keep the grass moist. You don’t want to over water it, just don’t let it dry out. Too much water could cause the root to rot.

How to prevent mold

Occasionally you will see mold growing on the wheatgrass. This is pretty easy to prevent. If the trays are in a closed area, you may need to increase the air circulation with a fan.

Food grade hydrogen peroxide H2O2 is a great way to kill the mold. You can put about one tablespoon of the food grade H2O2 into the water bottle, and spray the grass.

Between the seventh and tenth day, the grass will be ready to juice. It will be ready when it is about 8 inches tall. You simply use some scissors to cut the grass and then run it through a special juicer.

The juicer that I use, the Samson 6 in 1 juicer, does a great job with wheatgrass. A similar juicer to the Samson is the Omega Juicer Model 8003. These juicers have a single auger gear and it will juice fruits, vegetables, sprouts, and wheatgrass. They also act as a food processor and will make frozen fruit sorbets, nut butters, and more.

My favorite is the Tribest GreenStar juicer, or Tribest GreenPower Gold juicer. These are similar to the Samson and Omega, but they have two gears. They are very efficient and leave the wheatgrass pulp completely dry.

These juicers will pretty much cover your wheatgrass needs and you don’t need a seperate juicer.

There are some juicers made specifically for wheatgrass. The Tribest Z-Star manual wheatgrass juicer works great. There are also a few models made by the company Miracle Exclusives, which are made of metal, such as the Miracle MJ445 Stainless Steel wheatgrass juicer.

The wheatgrass juicer recommended by Brian Clement and Hippocrates Health Institute is the Lexen Healthy Juicer. Michael, the wheatgrass grower at Hippocrates, said “After juicing over 200 ounces of wheatgrass with the same hand powered Healthy Juicer in two days, it is #1 on my juicer list!”

For more information, please read my free eBook “Getting Started with Raw Foods” available at www.TheRawDiet.com, or my full eBook and audio course The Health Evolution: Getting Started with Raw Foods

Thanks for visiting!

Mike Snyder
Portland, OR
owner, The Raw Diet Health Shop

Hello fellow sprouter,

Today I have a question from a Raw Diet newsletter subscriber who asks

“Hello Mike,

I enjoy my wheatgrass and automatic freshlife sprouter very much. I have a couple of questions. First, what kind of beans are the ones we find in the grocers? The one that is long and white, used in Chinese food? Second, my mung beans turn a little brown after 3-4 days. Also, they are very short, about 1-1 1/2 “. Is this normal and are they safe to eat?
Thanks for the help.

Sincerely,
Rick”

Hi Rick

Thank you for writing. The long white beans in the store are mung beans. They must be grown in a special way to make them big. There is some good info on growing mung beans at the Sprout People site.

The way to make them big is to apply a weight on top of the beans while they are growing.

The sprout people article says “Commercial Mung Beans are grown with chemicals and gasses in huge 500 gallon machines. You will never get your home grown sprouts to look like those you see at a restaurant or supermarket, but you can get some thick roots.”

The sprouts are still safe to eat even though they are turning a little brown. To prevent any mold from growing, I use Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide, H2O2. I fill up a spray water bottle with water, then add a spoonful of the Food Grade H2O2. I spray this onto the sprouts. The extra oxygen in the H2O2 will kill any mold.

Please let me know if I can be of further service.

Best Regards,

Mike Snyder
author of The Raw Foods Diet Health Evolution