Wheatgrass has undeniable superfood content. Loaded with nutrients and consumed in one tiny shot glass, more and more people are reaching for a daily shot of wheatgrass for its immense health benefits.
Wheatgrass is so potent that a one ounce shot is said to have just as many nutrients as two pounds of leafy greens. That’s a lot of nutrients in just a one ounce drink! Made up of roughly 70 percent chlorophyll, wheatgrass is highly detoxifying and helps to flush out dangerous toxins that might be in your body aiming to cause you harm.
What people really want to know however, is how wheatgrass can effect weight loss efforts. Do all of its nutrients aid in helping you shed those unwanted pounds? Read on to find out!
Wheatgrass Health Benefits
There is an abundance of potential health benefits of wheatgrass, but these benefits are the most advertised:
- Increases the red blood cell count in the body
- Cleanses the blood
- Increases overall energy
- Detoxifies the liver
- Stimulates the thyroid
- Reduces acidity in the blood to reduce ulcers, constipation, ulcerative colitis and other gastrointestinal issues
How Wheatgrass Can Aid Weight Loss
Weight loss won’t happen overnight or with wheatgrass shots alone, but in conjuncture with a healthy diet and exercise regimine, wheatgrass can provide you with the nutrients and energy needed to help achieve your weight loss goals.
Abundance of Nutrients
Wheatgrass contains over 90 minerals including high amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodium. It also contains 19 amino acids (the building blocks of protein) as well as essential enzymes. Together with vitamins A, B complex, C, E and K, wheatgrass provides almost all of the nutrients that your body requires.
When your body is not missing any nutrients, you will find that you have less cravings and are more satisfied after eating a meal. Both of these are crucial when trying to lose weight. In this way, wheatgrass aids your weight loss efforts.
Detox
Wheatgrass helps to get the blood circulating due to its chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll gives wheatgrass its detoxying abilities – helping to remove harmful toxins such as heavy metals, metabolic waste and other impurities. When the body is weighed down by these toxins it can cause systems to run slower or incorrectly. Cleansing the body of these toxins and getting the blood circulating again will help the nutrients in wheatgrass to reach the body’s cells.
Metabolism
Wheatgrass helps to stimulate the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is the gland that is most important with regard to obesity and weight loss. Hyperthyroidism slows down metabolism and can lead to weight gain.
Those with hyperthyroidism can struggle for years to lose unwanted weight without success. Adding wheatgrass to a healthy diet can help stimulate the thyroid gland and return the metabolism to its normal pace. With the thyroid functioning properly and the metabolism running at its normal resting speed, weight loss is much easier.
Adding Wheatgrass to Your Diet
There are three basic ways to add wheatgrass to your diet. While fresh is always best in terms of nutrients and health benefits, there are other ways to enjoy wheatgrass’ benefits
Wheatgrass Supplements
Wheatgrass supplements contain powdered wheatgrass that you simply mix into water and drink. There are many different supplements to chose from, but when looking you should make sure your wheatgrass has the following:
- Make sure that it is organic
- Make sure that it is powedereed wheatgrass juice and not powdered plant
- Make sure that it isn’t heat-dried
- Make sure there is nothing added
Fresh Wheatgrass Juice
Buying wheatgrass juice fresh from a juice bar is another way to get your wheatgrass fix! A fresh wheatgrass shot is like an immediate energy shot, but make sure that the juice comes from freshly snipped wheatgrass.
Some companies might have pre-juiced wheatgrass, which is worth nothing in terms of health benefits. So when ordering, make sure you actually see the barista snip the grass and juice it!
Grow Your Own
If you’ve fallen in love with wheatgrass and its benefits, than growing your own wheatgrass might be the next best step. Wheatgrass can’t be juiced in a standard blender however, so it is important to make sure that you purchase a proper wheatgrass juicer to recieve the health benefits.
Tip: Found out best wheatgrass juicer reviews and best masticating juicer reviews.
Find out more about growing your own wheatgrass here!
While growing your own wheatgrass isn’t overly difficult, drinking wheatgrass shots day after day can become boring and uninspiring. How do you still ensure you are getting all those incredible health benefits? Try mixing your fresh wheatgrass juice with other fruit and veggie juices!
The following drink recipe combines both wheatgrass juice and fresh apple juice, which helps to sweeten the wheatgrass and make it more enjoyable to drink. While wheatgrass is clearly beneficial enough to drink on its own, its flavor can be slightly unappealing – it is after all, just grass!
Blending fresh wheatgrass juice with a sweeter fruit juice can help to mask the unappealing flavor while still provinding those incredible health benefits.
Fresh Wheatgrass Drink
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 4 apples, juiced
- 2 ounces fresh wheatgrass juice
Directions:
Combine the juices together in a Wheatgrass Juicer or mix together very well.
Distribute evenly between two glasses and enjoy!
Conclusion
While wheatgrass alone isn’t enough to help you shed those unwanted pounds, it is a nutritious drink that, in conjuncture with a healthy diet, can aid your weight loss efforts. The amount of nutrients alone in wheatgrass make it a superfood, but it’s the effects those nutrients have on the body that make it so beneficial for overall health and well-being – weight loss included!
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