This doctor sez that wheatgrass is not beneficial and that it is sometimes harmful. And that we are wasting our money. What is your opinion>

[gundrymd.com]

Well, as far as Dr. Gundry is concerned, I'm sick of seeing his face in so many ads when I'm on my phone.

And I know that he hates a lot of vegetables - because of lectins, oxalates, anti-nutrients and I don't know what else.

So he doesn't like wheatgrass either, I guess.

From the article, this is a really dumb argument:

IS WHEATGRASS BENEFICIAL FOR HEALTH?

Not really. First of all, marketers claim that you can skip servings of veggies the rest of the day if you can work a wheatgrass shot into your daily food regimen. But, this particular green juice can only give you the equivalent of 3 oz of veggies.

But the CDC recommends up to 3 cups of vegetables a day— and Dr. Gundry suggests even more! 8 Three cups equal 24 ounces! Where will that missing 21 ounces come from? 7 more shots of wheatgrass? That could cost you anywhere between $25 and $40. Not to mention the digestive discomfort this could cause. No thank you

I never read or heard anybody say that if you drink a shot of wheatgrass you can skip your other daily vegetables. And what's that got to do with his claim that wheatgrass 'can actually be dangerous to your health.'

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This:

Also, the human body isn’t built to digest wheatgrass. If it were, we’d all be picnicking on the lawn –– and literally eating the lawn!

No, nobody said to eat the whole wheatgrass and nobody eats the whole grass; wheatgrass is supposed to be juiced for the liquid in it and throw away the actual 'grass' part that we can't digest, so that's a strawman.

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This bit:

ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS OF WHEATGRASS?

Again, we’re dealing with association only. You see, chlorophyll can be found in certain nutrient-dense foods. For instance, leafy greens are vitamin-rich and do contain chlorophyll. So, yes, chlorophyll is maybe a neighbor of some good vitamins and minerals in certain natural foods. But wheatgrass is not one of those foods.

There is research, but it’s not helpful. That’s because the trials are inconsistent and inconsequential. For instance, there may be “no real adverse effects of wheatgrass”, but some individuals report being unable to tolerate it. And when have you ever heard that chlorophyll is an essential nutrient? You haven’t.

Because chlorophyll isn't an essential nutrient, what's that got to do with if wheatgrass is good or bad for you.

So that's all he's go to base his argument that wheatgrass can be dangerous to our health, is that 'some individuals report being unable to tolerate it.' Flimsy.

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This:

WHAT ABOUT THE ENZYMES IN WHEATGRASS?

Let’s talk about enzymes. An enzyme is a protein. And these particular proteins can be catalysts for biochemical reactions in your body. These reactions motor several of your body’s biophysical functions.

Now, the enzymes in plants are there to defend the plant. You may be wondering, “Defend the plant against what?” Enzymes are meant to defend the plant against predators, like you!

In order to eat the plant, you’ve got to kill it. And plants, like all life, want to live and do what they must in order to survive.

Lots of different enzymes are actually inhibitors of digestion. Plants figure if you don’t enjoy eating them — and suffer through digesting them — you won’t return to eat their plant families. These enzymes block the absorption of nutritional materials by the animals that eat them.10 And people are animals too. Can you blame plants for trying?

OMG, I hate that stupid argument of carnivores (and my zealot paleo/keto daughter) that - 'Plants don't want us to eat them.'

As if Animals do want us to eat them

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So at the beginning of the article, he said:

Thing is… wheatgrass is not all it’s cracked up to be, and can actually be dangerous to your health.

and at the end of the article, he said:

SO, IS WHEATGRASS BAD FOR YOU?

It’s not good for you. There’s no reason to spend your hard-earned cash on wheatgrass.

For more information about what’s wrong with wheatgrass, click the link below. You’ll see, the claims are just plain wrong.

So because supposedly wheatgrass is not good for you, it's bad for you?

So it's like he's basing his entire conclusion on -

there may be “no real adverse effects of wheatgrass”, but some individuals report being unable to tolerate it.

Not good enough argument for me.

Or else we're supposed to check out all those sources to find out why he claims that wheatgrass "can actually be dangerous to your health."

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I personally unfortunately don't like the taste of wheatgrass. It's kind of sweet and weird tasting. I used to drink some though until I lost a part of my wheatgrass juicing thing. And I'm impressed that Ann Wigmore got her black hair back from gray with drinking wheatgrass.

Jennifer - thanks for taking the trouble to comment on Gundry's article. I used to grow my own wheatgrass outdoors in the garden for juicing and after awhile lost interest.

However, I now have the urge to take the powder (not powdered juice, just dried wheatgrass powder) so we will see how it goes. I know we aren't cows with four stomachs so maybe there will be "side" effects. Maybe it's all about dosage.

Sorry to hear about your daughter.

Gundry sez that wheatgrass is possibly dangerous to our health. I don't know of any food or supplement that isn't dangerous to some people. I wonder what he's on about, why does this concern him so much. As long as wheatgrass consumers aren't falling over dead (like the recipients of some inoculations), I wonder why he wrote this article in the first place.

Maybe Dr. Gundry didn't actually write this himself. He could have people who do research and write the articles on his website. It says - Gundry MD Team.

These are the sources he used in his article. They're irrelevant I think.

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Effects of wheat germ agglutinin on human gastrointestinal epithelium: insights from an experimental model of immune/epithelial cell interaction

The Dietary Intake of Wheat and other Cereal Grains and Their Role in Inflammation

Effects of wheat germ agglutinin on insulin binding and insulin sensitivity of fat cells

Wheat Germ Agglutinin: The Evil Relative of Gluten

Impact of Environmental Variation on Genetic Expression (phenotype) of Hard Winter Wheat Quality Traits - (Confirmation of gluten-free status of wheatgrass.)

Is Wheatgrass Gluten-Free? (While it’s a wheat product, wheatgrass does not contain gluten and is safe to consume if you follow a gluten-free diet)

Only 1 in 10 Adults Get Enough Fruits or Vegetables

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This source states the benefits of Wheatgrass -

The Medical Use of Wheatgrass: Review of the Gap Between Basic and Clinical Applications

[pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Abstract

A wide range of health benefits have been attributed to wheatgrass, the young grass of the common wheat plant Triticum aestivum. Its components include chlorophyll, flavonoids, and vitamins C and E. Forms of wheatgrass include fresh juice, frozen juice, tablets, and powders, with compositions varying according to their production processes, as well as to the growing conditions of the wheatgrass. Laboratory in vitro studies, mostly using the fermented wheat germ extract, have demonstrated anti-cancer potential and have identified apoptosis as a possible mechanism. In animal experiments, wheatgrass demonstrated benefits in cancer prevention and as an adjunct to cancer treatment, as well as benefits to immunological activity and oxidative stress. Clinical trials show that wheatgrass may induce synergistic benefits to chemotherapy and may attenuate chemotherapy-related side effects, as well as benefit rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, hematological diseases, diabetes, obesity, and oxidative stress. However, all the trials were small and a number of methodological problems arose. No adverse events of wheatgrass have been reported, although some forms pose problems of tolerability. The popularity of wheatgrass continues to grow. Nevertheless, the advantages seen in the clinical trials need to be proved in larger studies before clinical recommendations for the public can be given.

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This is the only article that may support his argument that plants are protecting themselves against 'herbivores' so create toxic substances.

An Overview of Plant Defenses against Pathogens and Herbivores

[www.apsnet.org]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2022 08:49PM by Jennifer.

Anyway, here are 50 reasons to drink Wheatgrass that mention wheatgrass powder -

[thechalkboardmag.com]

You sure outdone yourself with all that info! Thank you.

One thing I could never understand: many people complain about the strength and taste of freshly made wheatgrass juice. No one ever seems to think of just diluting it with pure water in order to get it down more easily. What am I missing here...

The site you linked to, with its 50 reasons - it is not clear to me if they are referring to wheatgrass powder or wheatgrass juice powder.

I've consumed barley grass juice powder in the past and it has a wonderful taste. This was the stuff imported from Japan.

I think Gundry's article trips all over itself trying to tell us to avoid wheatgrass. What's in it for them...