The History of Wheatgrass

by KK Fowlkes

Before we establish the wheatgrass habit, it might be good to know a short history of this ubiquitous substance called grass.  Why on earth did people start drinking grass juice?  You'd think that people would realize that grass is for cows!  Wheatgrass juice and barleygrass juice—just a fad?  Wheatgrass juice is very sweet, while barleygrass juice is very bitter.  In fact neither grass made into juice tastes really delicious—but in fact they of all the health foods out there, really deliver health—and fulfill all the claims made about them!

    During the early 1900's a man named Edmund Bordeaux Szekely discovered an ancient biblical manuscript which he subsequently translated.  It was a remarkable discovery and Szekely was so enthralled with the translation that he formed a society he called the Biogenic Society to promulgate the teaching of this new (old) way of eating.  He began publishing the manuscripts in the form of little books, which he sold very inexpensively because he felt that the world needed the message.  He called the books The Essene Gospel of Peace.  The Essenes were a very righteous people who lived near the Dead Sea during the time of Jesus Christ.  Christ actually taught them the laws of health during that time.  The main teaching of Essene Book I is:  Don't kill your food by cooking it.  The main teaching of Essene Book IV is :  all grasses are good for man and wheatgrass is the perfect food for man. These little books can be purchased at any health food store.

     In the 1940's a man by the name of Charles Kettering (former Chairman of the Board of General Motors) donated money for the study of chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll was studied intensively by medical doctors using FDA required standards i.e. double blind studies, etc.  (There are currently over 40 articles written up in medical journals about the healing effects of chlorophyll.)  These medical doctors found that chlorophyll was a great healer and used it as such for quite some time.  The next question is…why aren't they still using it?  Answer:  I am sure if drug companies knew that if the average individual knew that the chlorophyll from their backyard grass would heal them, then they probably wouldn't be using high powered—high priced drugs! …and then, who could make money?

     Sometime during the 1940's a lady by the name of Ann Wigmore healed herself of cancer from the weeds she found in vacant lots in Boston.  (See Why Suffer by Ann Wigmore.)  She began a study of natural healing modalities—and with the help of a friend, Dr. Earp Thomas, she found that there are 4700 varieties of grass in the world and all are good for man.  With the help of her pets, she arrived at the conclusion that wheatgrass was the best-—or the medicinal grass.  She started an institute in Boston (Ann Wigmore Institute) and since then has taught people from all over the world about the grasses and the living food healing program—and helped them get well from some very serious diseases.  She has written over 35 books telling about wheatgrass and living foods.

     Here we are in the year 2000 and many people are finding out for themselves the great benefits of wheatgrass (liquid chlorophyll).  Since Ann Wigmore's time, there has also been research done on the healing properties of barley grass- by a Japanese man named Yoshihide Hagiwara.

     Yoshihide Hagiwara was the owner of a large pharmaceutical company in Japan.  He had personally developed numerous medications.  He became extremely ill from working with drugs.  He came to the conclusion that if synthetic drugs make a person sick, then how could they make one well?

     He began to study Chinese medicine and found that the father of Chinese medicine said, "It is the diet which maintains true health and becomes the best drug."  Hippocrates, considered the father of western medicine, said basically the same thing.  Ann Wigmore originally named her institute after Hippocrates—based on his teaching that the body can act as its own physician when provided with the proper tools (living organic nourishment), used in the way nature intended—unprocessed, uncooked.

     The truth seems to be that God originally designed the foods of the earth in such a way that they would not only nourish his earthly children, but would keep them at a peak of health.  Our mistake seems to be that we alter this grand design by cooking, therefore destroying the food before we eat it.

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