Hey guys!
Happy weekend. Anyone have fun plans? It’s an editing weekend for me, which is a good thing for you: it means I’ll be largely homebound, and being homebound means cooking and uncooking new grub. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, I come to you all on this bright Saturday with a confession: I hate wheatgrass.
Yes, my friends. Your ears don’t deceive you. I hate the stuff so much that I can’t even bear to take it (unless it’s diluted by 16 oz of pear juice and ginger, a la Liquiteria’s “Grasshopper” drink, or I’m taking it Hippocrates style, if you raw foodies catch my drift). I literally get sick and gag when I even try. And boy, do I ever try: I’ve been attempting–unsuccessfully–to love wheatgrass for almost four years now.
Let’s just say that it’s not working. My ex boyfriend could down an order of waffles and bacon at Jackson Hole and hop across the street to the health food store with me for a double shot of wheatgrass. He sucked it back like a champ, and while he didn’t feel great afterwards (always take wheatgrass on an empty stomach, guys: it’s highly medicinal and cleansing, which means it’ll make you feel like hell if you’ve just eaten something shady), guess what? He looked and felt better than I do when I try to take the stuff on an empty stomach–I, who eat raw foods all the time, juice on the reg, and love the taste of raw kale.
No fair.
At this point, I’ve accepted the fact that wheatgrass and I are not going to be warm and snuggly. And I have told myself–with some legitimacy, I think–that the fact that I juice as much other healthy stuff as I do (kale, chard, green veggies, and herbs like parsley and cilantro) kinda makes up for the fact that I visit Stewart the Wheatgrass Man’s stand at the farmer’s market just to gab (and to buy sunflower sprouts). My wheatgrass aversion does make me feel, though, as though I’m missing out on the rawcurious eater’s holy grail.
Let’s take a moment, shall we, to talk about the beauty of the grass? I will quote liberally from the Hippocrates Health Institute website (consider the Hippocrates folks the foremost keepers and purveyors of sprout and wheatgrass wisdom):
Wheatgrass is a blood purifier, cleanser, and detoxifier. It contains chlorophyll, which helps carry oxygen to every cell in your body. Oxygen in the body’s cells helps fight off disease, harmful bacteria, and cancer (see books written by Brian Clement or Ann Wigmore for more information). Wheatgrass must be “squeezed” or juiced in order for the body to assimilate its nutrients; so, unlike sunflower and pea green sprouts, it is not appropriate to add it to a salad.
Hippocrates suggests drinking wheatgrass juice in small amounts throughout the course of the day, always on an empty or nearly empty stomach. In general, two to four ounces every day or every other day is sufficient. Slowly sipping small quantities of the juice gives your body an opportunity to get used to its taste and effects. Taking one-ounce- to two-ounce drinks straight or mixed with other juices (Greens only) and sipping slowly will help prevent nausea or stomach upset. On a healing regime, we suggest you drink one or two ounces up to three or four times a day with one day of rest periodically. As a general rule, more is not better. Two ounces at any one given time is all any one person will need.
Wheatgrass is also high in vitamins A, E and B, and numerous trace minerals and elements, including calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc. Wheatgrass also contains twelve amino acids, including the eight “essential” amino acids (that is, the ones our bodies don’t produce on their own): phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine.
So in other words, wheatgrass is awesome.
Now I have an embarrassing confession to make: some time ago, I won a Lexen healthy wheatgrass juicer in an online giveaway. This little contraption juices wheatgrass easily and efficiently at home–all you need is to purchase the wheatgrass itself (which you can do online or at many farmers’ markets). Since then, guess how many times I’ve used my juicer? Sadly, a big fat zero. I should have predicted this, of course: if I can’t bear the stuff when I get it at juice bars, how on earth could I ever be compelled to juice it at home? I suppose I must have been swept up in a tidal wave of optimism.
Now, it makes me feel dreadful that I’ve got a juicer perisihing in the corner of my kitchen. So today, my ridiculous waste is your gain. I’m offering the incredible Lexen juicer to one Choosing Raw reader–may you feed your bod with the gift of chloryphll more steadily and happily than I have!
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post PROMISING me that you’ll put this awesome little contraption to good use! For two entries, tweet it, too.
Before I head out, I want to share a little video with you guys. On Monday, I was in a bit of a funk. A coworker of mine sent me an email with the subject line “Will this cheer you up?” and the following video.
J, you’re the best. New age-y montages of salad always cheer me up.
So does sunshine, so I’m going to take a study break. Have a great weekend, all, and enter to win your juicer now!
xo
I'm a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, a former book editor, and a post-baccalaureate pre-med student at Georgetown University. I'm passionate about helping people to discover and enjoy plant based foods in a simple and healthy way. My name is pronounced like "Jenna."
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Oh wow, I promise I’ll put it to use!!!
I’ve been meaning to try and incorporate wheatgrass into my diet, but my Breville juicer just won’t handle it. 
If I win, I will work tirelessly on wheatgrass juice recipes to please all!
Yes! I promise!I would love to have this.
I would love to have the juicer! I have tried to incorporate more and more greens (including wheatgrass!) into my diet because it DRAMATICALLY reduces my acne that modern medicine cannot. I cannot afford one on my own, so I would LOVE to win one
I PROMISE I will use this! I do indeed love the wheatgrass…
I would love to have the juicer! Being able to juice at home would be that I would be able to have wheat grass much more often, as around here it’s really pricey to buy it.
Yay, how generous of you, Gena! I would definitely use this juicer. Promise! I have to admit… I have never had wheatgrass. Isn’t that nuts?!
I tweeted this, too!
I wouldn’t even know where to get the wheatgrass to juice it!
I cross my heart and pinky promise to use it!
I would love, love, love to have that juicer. In my quest to be healthy, it would most certainly come in handy. With both of my parents diagnosed with cancer this year (lung cancer and leukemia) I am trying anything and everything to be as healthy as I can be and as fit as I can be. I promise, promise that I would use it!!!
Oh, yay! If I win, I promise I’ll use it all. the. time! Thanks, Gena.
OMG – I have been wanting a wheatgrass juicer! My juicer will not juice it
I promise, promise, PROMISE to put this to GREAT use!! Thanks!
The way you feel about wheatgrass? This is the way I feel about green juices– I try to drink my kale and collards and spinach but I just can’t seem to get them down. Oddly, I actually enjoy wheatgrass. So, I promise to use the wheatgrass juicer, to make up for all the other good greens I’m not drinking!
I promise promise promise I will use this. I would love to have one of these.
Right now I don’t have a juicer at ALL. I’d love to start. I love my smoothies, but fresh, awesome juiciness would rock my world.
Yes, I promise! I’ll use it for myself, and for wheatgrass proselytizing… I do love the taste; so sorry to hear it doesn’t agree with you. Thanks for the chance to win, and for your wonderful blog. Good luck, everyone, with health and with the drawing!
my sister sent me the link to your post because (drum roll please) i’m one who gafawed at your reference “taking it Hippocrates style, if you raw foodies catch my drift” – i’m a recent HHI graduate
and i promise i will make good use of it, of all possible uses, if i happen to win. yes indeedy i will.
Hi Gena….Thanks for stopping by our site and commenting on our Smoked Coconut Spinach Soup! I’d love and use a juicer; but I think it should go to Taylor there, or Laura with the little juice drinkers….or Lisa who will use it to spread the word, or….. (great crowd)
You’re an angel…keep it up! and good luck all!
Hi Gena,
I have been looking at these! I don’t love wheatgrass but I love the benefits and I choke it down.
I have even been putting some Amazing Grass in my cat’s food (he has feline aids and leukemia!) but I want to juice and give both of us the fresh kind.
Thanks for the giveaway.
I have tried wheatgrass 3 times and every time felt terribly nauseous afterward and NOW I find out it’s because I should’ve taken it on an empty stomach! I promise to use it wisely and on an empty stomach!
Promise! Pinky swear! Having this juicer would be amazing!
I broke my foot today while running outside, I can’t run for a month and a half and am extremely upset about it. I PROMISE that I will put this juicer to good use because i’m using this time off from cardio to clean up my eating habits a lot!
….WOW it was like you where reading my mind. I have so badly wanted a juicer fro our home for a long time, I have 2 children 12 an 10, myself and my husband who all LOVE wheatgrass juice…YES you read that right my kids love it….So we are constantly out buying shots for 4 people on a regular basis and let me tell you it is not cheap for all four of us to purchase and drink. But like you said knowing the great benefits especially for my kids I would never say no to them if they want to nourish their body’s in such a great way so young. It is funny when my kids go up to order their shots the staff always looks at them twice and says….”a wheat grass shot, cool”
This juicer would be so helpful financially I cannot tell you. Over the years I have saved up to slowly fill my home with things like the vitamix to and juicer, to help my children see ho fun and easy it can be to be creative at home with healthy foods
I promise it would be used, and appreciated.
Ahhhhh this is super exciting!
I don’t ever have any troubles taking a quick shot of wheatgrass… but I do get slightly grossed out with the wheatgrass burps I have for a few hours afterwards!
I can give you my word that this would be used on a regular basis and very much appreciated.
Oh I promise I will use it! I pray it helps relieve my stomach ailments.
I promise, pinky swear that I will use this ALOT!!
I promise, promise!!!
I just met a local wheatgrass grower this weekend. I NEED this in my life so I can purchase and utilize and enjoy frequently the wheatgrass love!
I’ll promise to use it! I’m going take it to college with me for sure!
I would definitely use this! How awesome.
How I would love to win this lovely gift! I could sure use the pick me up. Been a really rough few months.
Oh, I would love to win this!! I am detoxing and preparing for a baby this next year and know that adding wheatgrass could make such a difference.
This is definitely something I would use in my kitchen–I really could use a daily boost (beyond my green smoothies)
Wheatgrass grows really well in Australia – so it will get lots of work in my house! I’ll even pay shipping!
I have wanted this juicer for the longest time! I promise to use it every single day!
I would love to have the juicer. My husband is recovering from colon cancer and wheatgrass is so good for him (and me!). We would use it!
Thanks for offering it.
What’s the ole saying… “another man’s/woman’s junk is another man’s treasure”?!!
Wow… I’m the 240th wanter!….I want I want I want…
I promise I promise I promise…I promise I will use it!
Thanks for giving!
I would love, love, love to win that juicer–I love the way wheatgrass makes me feel, but I don’t buy it as often as I would like because I have to trek down to the health food store to get it and the cost adds up. My own wheatgrass juicer would solve both of those problems! Thanks for the opportunity!
I love coming to your blog everyday with something new and something old that maybe I needed reminding on! I had to laugh reading about you and your guy, this is very much my husband and I. He can eat a donut and a coffee for breakfast and I can drink my green smoothie (I love parsley and cilantro!) and he just looks amazing! Maybe love has just given him that glow
. Anyway, we do not share the same love/interest in foods and wheat grass is definitely one of them. I drink a powdered form now and it is not too bad. I have read that fresh is better but I have not been able to convince my husband that I NEED one. Haha!!! I had a juicer (not wheatgrass worthy) that only worked for about a year and have had a hard time deciding on what will be the next purchase. I would love a vitamix but cost is a putoff to my husband and it does not do wheat grass. I would love to put your wheatgrasser in our chaotic crazy love story and can promise you it would get to good use!! Thank you for making my life even greater with your blogs. It is so nice to know there are more of us out there!!!
I love wheatgrass! If I had juicer I would drink wheatgrass juice for breakfast. This would be a perfect prize for me I promise I’ll use it!
Thanks
That’s so generous of you, Gena! I actually love the taste of wheatgrass…it just makes me feel so happy and healthy instantly!
A wheatgrass juicer is something I would love to have, but would not feel justified in adding to my budget at this point.
Thanks for the opportunity!
I would use a wheatgrass juicer daily! I love the taste of it and the jolt of energy a shot gives me!
I just bought a sack of red wheat at the Co-op! I would so put this to use. I’m going to start some sprouts today!
I can assure you my “unemployed…too much time on my hands-self” will be able to put this to good use!! LOL to that salad video!
I would love to win the juicer and promise to (ab)use it with love!
Thanks, Erica
I have not been able to afford a juicer so this would be perfect! It is too bad that you are unable to stomach the stuff though. Cheers!
What fun a wheatgrass juicer would be! I absolutely PROMISE to put it to good use! It will even save me money – what could be better?
I’ll use that bad boy all the time
I can definitely promise that I would be using that wheat grass juicer on the daily!
I would use this lovely piece of equipment EVERY DAY! I haven’t been able to afford to buy a decent juicer and since I work from home I’d definitely use it!
I LOVE wheatgrass juice. Any vegetable juices for that matter really. I definitely promise I would put that baby to good use!!
Tweeted your giveaway https://twitter.com/the_vegster/status/10182019843
Are you kidding? lol I would TOTALLY use a wheatgrass juicer. I promise! I LOVE juicing! mmm, that plant-y goodness!
I grow wheatgrass for my kitties to nibble on as they please but a lot goes to waste and ends up composted. With a wheatgrass juicer I’d be able to take in the green goodness with them! The juicer would get used daily in my house between my dh, juice for the animals, and me!
I will! I will!
I actually like the taste of Wheatgrass!
My momma didn’t raise a picky eater!
I desperatley need this wheatgrass juicer. Not only do I juice everday for breakfast and lunch, I’m trying to best my PR in a half-marathon… and need energy! Wish me luck!
Would love the juiced and would put it to good use!
This is great! I would definately use a wheatgrass juicer!
I wholeheartedly promise I would use it!
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win this! I have been experimenting with growing my own wheatgrass so this would be great as I don’t have a juicer. I bet I could get a LOT more juice out of the grass than just trying to squeeze it with cheesecloth!
Pinky swear! I got a juicer for Christmas and have tried juicing wheatgrass, but have not been very successful. Apparently I need a special contraption!
I PROMISE THAT I’LL USE IT!
I promise!!!
i PROMISE i will use it to nourish my body as well as any guest that stops by my home
I promise, NO I emmis (a word my mom made up that means stronger then a promise) that I will un-neglect your neglected wheat grass juicer. ~~~Julie
I would put that baby to good use forsure!!! not only for myself but for my family and friends aswell:)
Dont sweat it that your taste buds hate the stuff, I am sure you make up for it in many other ways my dear! You just look healthy
Thanks for the awsome giveaway xox
You crack me up!
Confession: I, too, would gag and grimace every time I downed a shot of wheatgrass…until, I began mixing it with ZICO pure coconut water. LOVE it. Don’t even make a horrible face any more. I figure, wheatgrass + coconut water has GOT to be the magic elixir of life, right? C’mon!
So, I promise, cross my heart that I would put this Lexen Healthy Juicer to good use and not allow it to collect dust in a corner of my kitchen.
Blogged your giveaway here on In The Raw earlier today.
I promise to give wheatgrass a try if I win! I am excited about it!
I don’t twitter or facebook, but I do blog. And I’ve added your contest to my blog!
When does the contest end? Let us know! I don’t think you mentioned that in your post. If so, I guess I missed it.
Love!
PROMISES, PROMISES…This is a promise I would keep! I’ve just started sprouting, and now looking into growing my own wheatgrass. Would be FAB to win this little gizmo!
I would love to win!!!
Gena:
Love ur site,would love one.Just started juicing and absolutely loving it.Would love to own a wheatgrass juicer!!!!
Sharanya
I promise to you I would use and cherish said wheatgrass juicer. xoxoxo
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this juicer!! I don’t even own a regular juicer, so to have a wheatgrass juicer would be a bonus…and would definitely be put to good use!!!
This would be a dream come true =) I LOVE wheat grass juice, and don’t have the resources to make it or buy it anymore…I always felt amazing when I was drinking it daily!!
Wow, I would loove this since I love wheatgrass! I would definitely put this to good use
Hi! I just found your website through fitnessista! Wow I have been missing out b/c I just tried your banana fro yo and it is to DIE for!! Thank you so much! Anyways, I would love to win this juicer and I promise I would use it!!
Jaymi
My pancreas has been on vacation for 28 years!! To celebrate I PROMISE to use that beautiful wheatgrass juicer!!
Yes please!!! I have wanted a wheatgrass juicer for about 5 years now and I only went raw last year. I have to admit, I love wheatgrass! A lot of my friends and family think I am nuts and many of them are in the same boat as you are, but I love it! I have been just throwing wheatgrass into my blender because it is a bit more financially resonable right now ($2.50 for container of wheatgrass at the co-op which lasts me a week versus $2-$3 for a shot of wheatgrass). It takes quite a while for my blender to “chew” it up, but it tastes glorious in my green smoothies. Anyway, I super-duper promise and criss-cross my heart that I will use it! Thanks for the opportunity!
Oh I would promise, promise to use it twice a day if i could win!!! Right now I have to pay two bucks an ounce at the juice bar in my city. I love the taste and I’ve been dying for m family to start drinking it as well.
Oh! Sad you don’t like wheatgrass, I think it is so tasty! It’s good thing, but so expensive to buy at Raw Food store…I don’t get as much as I should.
I am going to try Coconut Yogurt recipe, but I have blender not as powerful as yours, so I’m afraid it might be not as smooth. Maybe I can just blend for longer and it will turn out right? I’ll try!
I would love to have Wheatgrass juicer for better health!
Very cool that you are regifting it. Yes I would use it and share it too.
I LOVE wheatgrass and can see myself using it NOW
I promise I would use the wheatgrass juicer!
I have only had wheatgrass once and i swear on my raw lifestyle that i would surely use this all the time. i can send pics to prove it
I sprout my own, but am limited to mincing them onto a salad because my blender just can’t cut it. I would love to have the wheatgrass juicer!
What a great giveaway!! To my surprise, I discovered this past year that I don’t have the same aversion to wheatgrass that many others do. I have had a problem with the expense of the powdered versions, and therefore haven’t used it as much as I would like. I can promise you I will put this juicer to good use!!
I used to get wheatgrass shots in college @ the student union all the time and I actually don’t mind the taste. I promise I would put this to good use and would love to have it!
I promise to use it. I love wheatgrass!
Also, I tweeted (@hawkjen)
Yes, I would use it! I saw wheatgrass at the grocery store and would love to be able to juice it.
I PROMISE I will use this. I live n NH and there are tons of Farmer’s Market and local/organic grocery stores where I can get my hands on that grass to juice!!
Gena,
I thoroughly enjoy your website!! I am a new raw convert and I would love to be gifted with your WHEATGRASS Juicer!!! I was coaxed into a wheatgrass shot at one of our local Whole Foods markets Juice Ban by a lovely couple who were expecting their first child. The husband of course was having a shot while I was debating whether to try one. He was very knowledgeable of the benefits and was successful in coaxing me to take the shot. Well I did and I am HOOKED…the only problem I can’t make a daily journey to the Juice Bar for a $3.00 shot on a daily basis….But if I am gifted with your lonely Wheatgrass Juicer, this will no longer be a problem for me because I can juice my wheatgrass right in the comfort of my home on a daily basis and continue on my journey to reverse my diabetes and insulin dependence.
Thanks Gena!!!
Thanks for such an inspiring blog. I have moderatly been transitioning to a raw food lifestyle for a month and will be starting all raw tommorrow. My background is a 300# mother that is in terrible health and a 600# father that passed away from weight related diseases. I am 30 years old 5’2″ at 200# and ready to make the leap to break all patterns of food hadits that I have ever been taught. I have a husband that has been healthy in his life before we met he was vegan/raw for 7 years. Needless to say he now is eating processed, sugary, meaty horriffic diet along with me and feels trapped as I do in our food habits. We have three boys ages 7, 3 and 1. I am completly ready to transform my life as well as my husband is ready to be healthy again for our sakes as well as being leading role models for our boys. I pray we can break the habits we were taught as children so that our children will be free and eat to live not live to eat as I have done for 30 years. I would love to have a wheatgrass juicer my husband has not gone a day in the 9 years that we have been together without saying how much he would love to have a wheatgrass juicer in our home ( not kidding I hear it everyday, he loves the taste of it). We are on a very limited income of less that $900 a month income for our family of five and can not afford a wheatgrass juicer, dehydrator, vitamix (boy do I want one of these!). With or without the above items I am determined to completly change my way of thinking about food for my life, my husbands life and my three boys. I will be 100% raw tommorrow and I promise if I win your wheatgrass juicer I will use it every day until it can no longer run and enjoy the wheatgrass and be so thankful that you are a kind person to give away such an amazing item. Thanks again for the blog, you are helping me transform my life through yours.
Thanks for the entry, Amanda!
Please don’t go 100% raw overnight: this is too extreme for most people, and your body may respond poorly before it responds well. If you can, strike up a semi raw, semi cooked balance, and move towards 100% (if that’s what you want) over time.
Thank you for such a generous gift. I would be forever grateful and feel like the luckiest person on the planet if I won this juicer.
I started my raw journey at the Creative Health Institute 8 years ago, but have been “off the wagon” for about half a year now. I have firmly committed to myself that I WILL get back to it, as without it I find that my body is really toxic. I seem to have a hard time detoxifying, and wheat grass does the trick for me, giving me energy, clear head and good digestion. I plan to use wheatgrass now forever, daily, with some breaks of course.
I just started with a new tray of it yesterday, and the manual juicer I have is very frustrating……..hard to unscrew the tip where the pulp comes out, and hard to crank it. It IS a good work out, but sometimes I have to take the wheatgrass juicer over to a neighbor’s to unscrew the tip of it. This is way too long I know, but I want you to know how serious I am about being committed to the Ann Wigmore protocol so that I can enjoy life! I’m tired of being tired and wheatgrass IS the answer! (along with raw foods, of course!)
Thank you Gena!!!
I PROMISE I will put this juicer to good use.. probably wear it out making wheatgrass for my family and myself.
wheatgrass shots in NYC aren’t cheap (and you only get 1 little oz.)..
I believe you need to drink around 4 oz. Everyday for max benefits. that’s crazy expensive.
I would really like to clear my body (and help clear my families) of toxins, especially living in NY and with all the on-going effects from 9-11 on overall health.
this juicer would be amazing, soooo beneficial! maybe a life saver
I have this juicer – I hope you found it a good home. It makes more wheatgrass juice than my electric one because it doesn’t foam. I just came across your blog – very nice!
My wife and I love your website and all the advice on living raw! A wheatgrass juicer would be used here night and day! I promise!
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