In technological societies, where so many people live in cities and are far separated from the countryside, people tend not to eat enough leafy green vegetables - forgetting the vital importance of the color green in a wellbalanced diet. (Liv-eat is a living foods regimen.) Green foods are the principal source of many vitamins, minerals, nutrients (especially chlorophyll) which are essential in protecting, healing and repairing the human body. The brighter its green color, the richer a vegetable is in that magic ingredient chlorophyll, a most valuable defense against all manner of diseases.
Brilliant, green, young wheatgrass grows prolifically on the vast plains of the Wheat Belt each year in the spring and it is an especially concentrated source of the vitamins and minerals characteristic of deep green vegetables. The chlorophyll content is especially concentrated, when some pure sunlight is available. We are all famliar with the wheat grain which is the end result of those lush high fields of grass. The reason wheatgrass reaches its high nutrient concentration is that it supplies the nourishment for the rapidly developing grain - the ripened seeds from which our "manna" and many other "scary cooked foods" are made. While these wheat seeds are an excellent source of many essential constituents of our daily food, they may contain a range of nutrients different from those the plant contains when it is in the grass stage. Unlike the grain, wheat grass is a deeply green leafy vegetable. In fact, persons who are allergic to wheat grain do not experience any adverse reaction when consuming wheat in its leafy green stage. Gluten and other elements that cause some people to be allergic to the grain are not present in the grass.
Wheatgrass was born only about 44 years ago (Now it is 2003 AD) Grasses have been studied by scientists for centuries. Some of the earlier research was conducted by the animal foods industry in searching for a concentrated green food to increase the vitamins in their products. Many different grasses and plants were studied and the greatest results were achieved with wheatgrass. It was found that only a small amount of dehydrated wheatgrass was needed, in addition to the regular feed, to achieve superior health and fertility. Chickens laid more eggs: animals produced larger litters and cows gave more milk - while the young ones of all species grew faster and stronger. Later, medical studies confirmed its health giving benefits to humans.
In the early summer of 1962 I (Dr. Ann Wigmore) took another trip to New Jersey and I had a frank and enlightening talk with Dr. Earp- Thomas. He welcomed me enthusiastically and listened to the details of my grass seed sowing experiment. When I had concluded, he settled back in his chair with a smile. "Your persistence brings you deserved success." He said, and with a twinkle in his eye, he added, "but I could have foretold the result of your endeavours when you were here on your previous visit. Wheat is the king of all grain foods." He paused and with a kind of regretful look came to his eyes as he gazed out through the window. "It is unfortunate that the formerly good 'staff of life' has been permitted to degenerate." "Wheat" he said. "I should have guessed it. The grain fills the storehouses of the civilized world. It is the sole agricultural product that has come down from the tombs of the Early Egyptians." (See. Wheatgrass in Hebrew.)
After finding this quick-growing, vital grass to be one of the richest in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, I chose to work with it alone. And so wheatgrass, the green sprouts of ordinary wheat, in which nature collects the live-giving rays of the sun, the nourishment of the air and the minerals from water and the soil, at that time became part of the plan. It brought into my hands a simple, home-made food beverage (Yuk!) which subsequent events suggested was capable of helping Mother Nature to mend the shattered health and extend the span of life. (Any Life!)
"God bless you and your work," he said in parting. "Call upon me for whatever assistance I may be able to give. And have a safe journey home." At the door he stopped me again. "Perhaps," he said, "and I trust it is so, bringing to the public the health-giving properties of fresh wheatgrass chlorophyll may result in partially counteracting the damage which is unquestionably done by chemicals which are being spread by the ton on our land. Your work is a step in the right direction for a healthier world."
Upon my return from High Bridge, New Jersey, and my most enlightening talk with Dr. Earp-Thomas, I began to lay plans for the future testing of wheatgrass chlorophyll drink. (Double Yukk!!) I was determined to work slowly, (good thing) wanting to be sure of each move. It was necessary to carefully check and record each development so that results might be published in the best, most accurate manner. My first objective was to ascertain the proper method for sprouting wheatgrass.
I realized that my students, scattered throughout the world, would have to deal with all kinds of soil, in all stages of mineral and organic richness. I could not advocate the exclusive use of compost, leaf mold, or in fact any type of naturally rich earth.
Created on ... May 30, 2003: Excerpt: pgs. 161-163: Recipes for Total Health and Youth, Let Easy-to-Digest Living-Food Nourishment be a means for Self-Healing, By Ann Wigmore, D.D., N.D.