Can we eat grasses?

[Tony]

Can we eat grasses?

I look at grass, and wonder....?! It's all over the world and we just cut the stuff to look nice, but can we eat it. What does anyone know or experience?

THAcyXDvn8E

LEVHEl_gdso



Will I turn green?
Tony

[Arrowwind]

People have been eating grasses for ages... especially alfalfa which is really good for you... but actually alfalfa is a legume.
Most grass is best if taken in tea form or juiced as in wheat grass becasue the fiber in grass is very hard to digest for the most part.

Cows have two stomachs to digest this stuff... so special preparations are generally required to eat the green parts of grass, although tender parts can be nipped off and easily eaten. Ever sit on a lawn and pull up grass shoots and see the white ends? ever eat them and notice how sweet they are?
they are good for you.... if the lawn hasnt been fertilized with chemicals etc

lots of grasses provide grains, such as rice, wheat, wild rice etc.. so people have been eating this stuff for ages. Hippocrates institute insists that the grass seeds are best eaten when fermented first.

[The Truth Is In There]

you can eat everything but getting what you need from that food and detoxing the antinutrients in it is another matter. adding a few ounces of green juice will probably not do any harm and may even be beneficial but since we're no cows and don't have four stomachs to ferment and digest large amounts of grass it's probably not a food originally intended for humans.

[DarMar]

Do you think if we start to eat grass it would still be all over the world? :)

[Tony]

As we can see from your avatar, ....we don't just have to eat it!

[Camilo]

What you can't eat you can smoke.

[Ammit]

And how is it prepared for smoking and are there any side effects???

[ThePythonicCow]

Cows have two stomachs to digest this stuff...
Aham ... four stomachs :cow:

[Arrowwind]

Cows have two stomachs to digest this stuff...
Aham ... four stomachs :cow:

Actually according to this we are both wrong.




Answer:

The basic answer that most people look for from this question is that cattle, a cow, or any other bovine such as a bull, a steer, a heifer, or even a bison or buffalo has FOUR stomachs. However, physiologically speaking, cattle do not have four stomachs; they have four digestive compartmentsinterconnected as a single stomach.

The four digestive compartments in order are:
Reticulum (the hardware stomach, where foreign objects collect that cannot pass through the digestive system; this compartment is also responsible for further breakdown processes from the rumen, and is the compartment where partly digested feed is collected to be regurgitated as cud.)
Rumen (where bacteria and protozoa break down cellulose, hemi-cellulose, lignin and fibre from plant material; this is where the process of fermentation takes place)
Omasum (absorbs water and digestible nutrients)
Abomasum (which would be the true stomach, as it is in humans)



One thing that should be noted is that because the abomasum is considered to be the true stomach (and the only functional stomach compartment when a calf, a newborn bovine, is born), the other three compartments are simply an extension of the esophagus. Thus the primary reason that a bovine only has one stomach and not four. The definition of a stomach is that it is an organ which secretes enzymes, acids and other digestive compounds which enable the ability to break down food to mere molecules. Since a cow does not have four of these types of stomachs, it is safe to say that, physiologically, a cow or any other ruminant only has one stomach with four compartments.






Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_stomachs_do_cattle_have#ixzz2BQtO3Gl5

[WhiteFeather]

Cows are pretty healthy and that's all that consists in their diets,,,,, no meat nothing. So i would have to say yes.

Wheat Grass - American Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/dietandnutrition/wheatgrass

Wheat Grass - Memorial Sloan Kettering http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/wheat-grass

[pugwash84]

when I was a smaller person we used to have apple grass in the garden and we used to pick it and chew on it and it smelled of apples but tasted sour xxx

[Operator]

If you ever find the necessity to eat green leaves out in the wild then:

1. bend the leaf and see if it releases any white milky juice
2. Do not take more than a teaspoon full and wait a couple of hours

The white milky stuff will make you sick and vomit. So better be safe when you try.
There is a great diversity in grasses. Recently they started experimenting with cows here on the island.
However tropical grass won't do for cows ... they need to import that too.

[GlassSteagallfan]

youtube comments on video 1 in original post:
From http://www.thebestofrawfood.com.
Raw foodists Valya and Sergei Boutenko take a group of people on a wild nature hike in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In this video Sergei discusses how to eat and grow wild grasses and wheat grass.
For more info about sergei and wild plants visit Sergei's website at: http://www.harmonyhikes.com

youtube comments on video 2 in original post:
Wheatgrass is an amazing superfood that has great benefits that outnumber many other products on the market today. In this video, you will see a couple of my business partners drink fresh wheatgrass for the very first time.


Did you know that corn started out as a grass?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc6ifBieaS0&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc6ifBieaS0&feature=player_detailpage


"As we can see from your avatar, ....we don't just have to eat it!"
That made my day! :pound:
Nice post and glad you didn't leave us.

[Tangri]

If you able to regenerate your appendix and wisdom tooth, you may consume cellulose.
Even you can eat bark and branches.

[Living Food]

Humans can't digest grass by ourselves, but if you juice it (using a special wheatgrass juicer) it becomes very easy to digest. Grass juice is actually one of the most nutritious foods known to man, loaded with chlorophyll, trace minerals (cereal grasses can pick up something like 90 different minerals and elements present in the soil), oxygen, hormones, and unique phytonutrients. It also has an extremely high electromagnetic vibration, or life energy, and is a complete protein - 1 oz of wheatgrass juice provides 1 gram of very bioavailable protein.

Cereal grasses like wheatgrass, barleygrass, ryegrass, and oat grass are very easy to grow, and wild grasses are edible to.

Growing cereal grass (http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/kit/print/wheatgrass.pdf) Vermiculite and kelp fertilizer are optional, although providing some source of trace minerals for your wheatgrass is very important because it picks up so many different nutrients from the soil - but only if they're present in the soil. The used wheatgrass mats also make great compost, and if you continually compost them your soil quality will steadily increase and with it the nutritional value of your grass.

The above link mentions freezing juice for later, but it is always best to drink any juice immediately. It's also best not to use a second or third crop from the same seed, even though you can. The latter crops have far less nutritional value.

Grass juice is such an amazing food, everyone should be drinking at least 4 oz a day, although 8 is even better. I personally drink 8 oz everyday and used to drink 16 oz/day for a few months with absolutely no adverse effects - I know a guy who would drink 30 oz a day and his health was and still is unbelievable! The only drawback to drinking that much is a possible buildup of alkaloids, so it's better to stick to 8 or 16 oz most days and if you want to, have large amounts on weekends for a treat.

Grow wheatgrass!

[Living Food]

As we can see from your avatar, ....we don't just have to eat it!

Wheatgrass enemas and implants have amazing health benefits as well...I'm sure that's what you meant :rolleyes:


Hippocrates institute insists that the grass seeds are best eaten when fermented first.

Yes, rejuvelac (fermented wheat sprout water) is a wonderful drink - it improves your digestion and health so much. Sadly, Hippocrates now recommends that you do not drink it because of the possibility that it may harbor harmful bacteria if the temperature is even a few degrees off. I'm currently trying to think of a way around this because I've seen the amazing rejuvenation effect it has on people, but I don't dare give it to people without having a foolproof method. A couple ideas I had were using H2O2 in the water and/or adding probiotics to the water, but until I know for sure that those methods are safe I can't recommend it.

I personally think the danger is overhyped - lots of people consume fermented foods on a daily basis not made is specially vacuum-sealed sanitized environments - but I wouldn't give it to anyone who's immune system is compromised.

[Living Food]

Studies done on wheatgrass are relatively few and far between (because the pharmaceutical industry would lose billions if it became known how effective it is), and those there are don't show the full benefits - mostly the patients drunk 2 or 3 oz/day, hardly the kind of doses you'd expect to overcome disease - but most are still impressive:

Therapeutic Potential of Organic Triticum aestivum Linn. (Wheat Grass) in Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases: An Overview (http://www.ijpsdr.com/pdf/vol4-issue1/2.pdf) - An overview of studies done on wheatgrass juice, full article, conclusion "wheatgrass therapy may serve as a preventive and curative measure for such health problems which may lead to serious diseases like diabetes mellitus, anemia, ulcers, arthritis, cancer, thalassemia and others."

Wheat Grass Juice May Improve Hematological Toxicity Related to Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients: A Pilot Study. (http://69.164.208.4/files/Wheat%20Grass%20Juice%20May%20Improve%20Hematological%20Toxicity%20Related%20to%20Chemotherapy%20in% 20Breast%20Cancer%20Patients:%20A%20Pilot%20Study.pdf)- breast cancer patients given a measly 2 oz wheatgrass juice/day had better blood levels and required fewer blood transfusion, also "it was found that WGJ taken during FAC chemotherapy may reduce myelotoxicity, dose reductions, and need for GCSF support, without diminishing efficacy of chemotherapy." Full article.

Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2006 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings Part I. Vol 24, No. 18S (June 20 Supplement), 2006: 8634 (http://www.asco.org/ASCOv2/Meetings/Abstracts?&vmview=abst_detail_view&confID=40&abstractID=33403) - 348 patients with various organ cancers were given 1 oz of 5-day old wheatgrass juice/day (too young, they should have let it grow longer) for 6 months; the results: "The mean values for haemoglobin, total protein & albumin were improved significantly...The performance status was improved from 50% to 70% (Karnofsky) after wheat grass treatment...We concluded that wheat grass juice is an effective alternative of blood transfusion. Its use in terminally ill cancer patients should be encouraged."

Inhibition of in vitro metabolic activation of carcinogens by wheat sprout extracts (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01635587809513598) - I can't seem to find my copy that goes into more detail, but basically this study showed that an extract from wheat sprouts almost completely neutralized the mutagenic activity of a specific carcinogen. By 99% or so if I remember correctly.

Wheat Grass Juice in the Treatment of Active Distal Ulcerative Colitis: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11989836) - 19 patients with ulcerative colitis were given 3 oz wheatgrass juice daily for 1 month. The abstract here only says "Wheat grass juice appeared effective and safe as a single or adjuvant treatment of active distal UC", but I believe the complete study says that there was a significant reduction in disease activity + rectal bleeding (one of the 4 parameters used).

Wheatgrass Juice Reduces Transfusion Requirement in Patients with Thalassemia Major: A Pilot Study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15297687) - 16 people with a rare form of hereditary anemia were given 3 oz wheatgrass juice daily, 8 of them had a greater than 25% decrease in the number of blood transfusions required, and three of them had a greater than 40% decreased number of required blood transfusions. [Even better then wheatgrass juice would have been fenugreek sprout juice and stinging nettle juice - both amazing blood builders].

[eaglespirit]

I Love You People : )

I think about every thought or notion I have had in regards to the natural life that is abundantly in front of Us has been brought out here at Avalon...Thank You!

[mahalall]

Since a child I've eaten grass (as a snack) and recently introduced it to family children. Who too enjoy eating it but a few tips,


If you pull gently upwards at the main stem of a blade grass, it will release the lower part of the grass stem. This part of the plant is softer and lighter in colour. It has less fibre and it really flavoursum and mostly sweet. It always surprises me how many different types of grass and flavours they have.

Importantly though the inner part the grass is less likely to have those parasitic pathogens that would love to live in our bowel. Oh and avoid grassy area were dogs walk.