|
Chapter 2
Green For Life
Fifty million years ago our guardian angel, the grass, arrived
to our planet—to make life possible, and to prepare the Earth for the human
race. - Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
Maybe you take the springtime, with its myriad of green and the physical and
mental relief it gives you, for granted. Or perhaps you are too busy chasing
after paper to notice the green trees and grasses that grow in your back yard.
But chances are, somewhere deep in your mind you remember that plant life on
earth is responsible for your existence here. Without the miracle of
photosynthesis, there would be little warmth, air for us to breathe, or food to
eat. I have come to the conclusion that the further from our conscious minds
this memory is, the closer we come to failing as a civilization.
In this chapter I will discuss the importance of green plants in our ecosystem
and how chlorophyll, the "blood" of a plant, is related to human blood. The
nature of chlorophyll itself, and the relationship between modern agriculture
and nutritional deficiencies will also be discussed.
When we stop appreciating the green life—the trees, grasses, and plants that we
call nature, we tend to abuse them—to our detriment. Where green life has been
effectively extinguished, in inner-city ghettos and prisons, mental illness and
violence are commonplace.
The residents of Los Angeles have known of the importance of green plants and
trees for years. "Tree People," a Los Angeles-based conservationist group,
estimates that if it were not for the millions of trees and green plants, many
cities would be uninhabitable due to pollution. The Tree People have been
commissioned by the state of California to plant one million "smog resistant"
trees, as many of the existing trees are dying due to pollution.
In Japan, researchers have concluded that the amount of oxygen required to
support the people and industry in that country far exceeds the amount supplied
by green plants there. If it were not for the steady supply of oxygen generated
by the Amazon jungle of South America, and distributed by wind currents,
countries, like Japan could suffer from a shortage of oxygen. The jungles of the
Amazon are being rapidly depleted for use in making paper and other wood
products, thus reducing the total oxygen content of our atmosphere. We cannot
afford to forget that the quality of the air we breathe and the climate we live
in are determined by green plant life everywhere.
PLANT BLOOD
You could say that green plants are to the earth as the lungs are to humans and
animals, except they work in reverse. That is, plants "inhale" carbon dioxide
and "exhale" oxygen, whereas humans and animals exhale carbon dioxide and inhale
oxygen—a perfect symbiotic relationship.
Years ago, Dr. Hans Fischer and a group of associates won a Nobel prize for
their work on red blood cells. During their research, the scientists noticed
that human blood, which carries oxygen to all our cells, is practically
identical to chlorophyll on the molecular level. In the human body, red blood
cells are characterized by the oxygen-carrier, hemoglobin, which has as its
central nucleus the mineral element iron. Most green plants, on the other hand,
are characterized by chlorophyll, which has magnesium as its nucleus. A careful
examination of the two molecules shows them to be strikingly similar.
In 1930, Dr. A Zin showed that an injection of chlorophyll increased the red
blood cell count of animals with normal hemoglobin counts. Scientists J.H. Hughs
and A.L. Latner of the University of Liverpool went one step further. In their
study, reported in the Journal of Physiology in 1936, a number of animals were
made anemic by daily bleeding. After their hemoglobin levels were reduced to
less than half the norm, the animals were divided into ten groups. Five of the
groups were fed various types of chlorophyll in their diet. The five groups of
control animals did not receive any chlorophyll. Those animals receiving "crude"
or raw, unrefined chlorophyll were able to increase the speed of hemoglobin
regeneration by more than 50 percent above average, to approximate their
previous blood values in about two weeks. However, the group receiving synthetic
chlorophyll showed no improvement in the speed of hemoglobin regeneration. In
their report, the scientists concluded: "It seems, therefore, that the animal
body is capable of converting chlorophyll to hemoglobin." Raw, unrefined
chlorophyll seemed to be the best for this purpose.
Chlorophyll was formerly used by some physicians to treat anemia. But even if
you're not anemic, an increase of red blood cells could mean better circulation
and oxygenation to the cells, and rapid body cleansing. My empirical evidence
has shown this to be the case. And since oxygen is quickly used up in the many
body functions it is responsible for (the brain alone uses about 25 percent of
the available oxygen in the body), the infusion of it into the blood via
wheatgrass juice, among other things, stimulates an improvement in the immune
system—our natural means of preventing and healing illness. In other words, the
blood becomes richer and the body healthier by its use.
CHLOROPHYLL
You may be wondering exactly what chlorophyll is. Very simply, it is a green
(sometimes purple) pigment found in growing plants. It contains mineral and
proteinous compounds. As I mentioned earlier, it is the blood of the plant. But,
like Dr. Bircher of the famous Bircher-Benner clinic in Switzerland, I think
about chlorophyll in another way—as condensed solar energy.
The leaves of plants convert sunlight into energy that is stored in the plant
fibers. People who have the habit of eating meat or drinking milk are merely
getting this solar energy secondhand, after the cow has converted it into milk
or flesh. Seventy percent of the solid matter in wheatgrass juice is crude
chlorophyll. In wheatgrass (and in uncooked fresh vegetables, sprouts, and
greens), you can get "concentrated sun power" firsthand.
Dr. Bircher was outspoken on the therapeutic value of green juices extracted
from green leafy vegetables and grasses: "Chlorophyll," he said, "increases the
function of the heart, affects the vascular system, the intestines, the uterus
and the lungs. It ... [chlorophyll] is therefore a tonic which, considering its
stimulating properties, cannot be compared with any other."
The very same power that enables the roots of trees and clumps of grass to push
their way through cement sidewalks in a matter of days is available to our
bodies, now, in the form of wheatgrass and other green juices. The lack of this
vital force is responsible for our ills today. No matter how we may neglect
green plants in our diet and our lives, we will never erase our need for them
from our instinctive memories—and our physiological systems.
THE NEW GREEN REVOLUTION
Many people are looking to the science of the future for answers to their
problems, but as funding for basic research is dwindling, and more and more
research becomes oriented towards industry, can we really trust science to guide
us in our life from day to day? No doubt we owe a great deal to the scientific
achievements of the past hundred years, but as our environment becomes
increasingly polluted and the death rate due to cancer continues to climb, the
only hope we have is to make our bodies stronger and healthier. No amount of
library research or medicine will give you a stronger, healthier body. Only a
good diet with plenty of raw green foods and wheat grass, moderate exercise, and
a positive and caring attitude will do this.
Thanks to the much-praised "green revolution," we have in recent decades seen
greater yields of a larger variety of plants. While this green revolution is
well-intentioned, the agricultural techniques that we call "revolutionary" and
"improved" involve much short-sighted thinking, and bring limited positive
results in terms of human health. Much of the increased crop yields are
squandered on animals produced for slaughter, and the effect modern
industrialized agriculture has on our topsoil is devastating. Moreover, chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides have detrimental effects on our bodies.
The new green revolution which I have been advocating for years is a more
personal one. It is all about bringing green plants, grasses, and foods into
your home and life. We eat so few green vegetables, fruits, and raw foods that
it is astonishing that we continue to survive. Most of our food is processed
with chemicals. In 1977, the United States had the dubious distinction of
becoming the first nation in history whose people consumed more than 50 percent
of their diet as processed items. This experiment with processed foods is
dangerous; it has created epidemic proportions of degenerative diseases, many of
which are labeled "incurable." In light of this fact, how can we be so arrogant
as to believe that we can improve on nature? Clearly what we need today is a new
green revolution. One that is concerned not only with replenishing nature's
trees and green plants, but also with cleaning out the "national bloodstream,"
using fresh green foods and wheatgrass juice to do so.
MODERN TOPSOIL AND MINERALS
The soil we grow our food on should be a very real and serious concern to us.
Not only is our topsoil eroding by the thousands of acres each year, but it is
losing its vitality, just as we are losing ours. When the mineral content of the
soil is poor, it yields crops that are deficient in nutrients. Without vital
soil to grow food on, farmers have come to depend increasingly on various
fertilizers and chemical sprays to keep their weakling plants alive.
The color and taste of fresh foods reflects the mineral value of the soils used
to grow them. Would you ever dare compare tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, or any
other vegetables shipped into your area out of season on an equal basis with
locally grown foods? Even a gourmand knows the difference between a vine-ripened
local garden tomato and the ones available in the markets during the winter. The
natural red of beets, orange of winter squash, and green of kale or grass
becomes richer and deeper when the soil is inherently balanced and vital.
Unfortunately, in many cases, fruits and vegetables are artificially colored.
These items usually have little taste and aroma.
Chemically treated fruits and vegetables which are deficient in flavor, aroma,
and color can be likened to an obese person who has gained weight on excess fat
and carbohydrates— bloated with water, yet containing less minerals and vitamins
than normal, healthy-sized individuals.
Where will we get our minerals from in a healthful diet? Certainly not from
processed foods, meats, sugar, white bread, or butter. Our best source of supply
is from organically grown land vegetables and sea vegetables (especially the
deep green varieties), and from sprouts and wheatgrass.
Organic growers are part of the new green revolution. They do not use synthetic
fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides, but rely instead on crop rotation,
composting of crop residues, and a number of biologically safe measures to
control insects, weeds, and other pests. Organic farmers encourage soil
fertility by enriching its stores of natural minerals, earthworms, and soil
enzymes. Foods grown on organic soil are balanced foods, which foster healthy,
balanced people.
In recent years, however, many people who are not fond of vegetables have turned
to supplemental minerals that can be dangerous and chaotic inside the body. A
much better solution, if you dislike vegetables, is to juice them and drink the
juice, and to use wheatgrass juice. Since wheatgrass and other green plants are
among the best dietary sources of minerals, there will be less of a chance that
you will come up short on any of the essential minerals if you do so.
THE ENDURING ACCOMPLISHMENT OF BARBARA MOORE
A few years ago I listened intently to news reports of Barbara Moore, who was
about to set off from San Francisco on her way to New York. What attracted my
attention to the story was the fact that she was walking—she expected to reach
the Big Apple just forty-five days later—and that she would eat little more than
grass and weeds all the way.
For years, Barbara Moore had made a habit of traveling to Switzerland to walk in
the Alps. During many of her long treks there she subsisted on grasses, weeds,
and water from melted snow. She also completed a walk across England (some one
thousand miles), maintaining a five to six mile per hour pace for sixteen to
eighteen hours a day. At fifty-six years of age, Mrs. Moore shattered the common
belief that we need meat and lots of cooked foods to be strong and have plenty
of endurance.
The day she departed from San Francisco on her grueling transcontinental
"walkathon," reporters saw her carrying a banana and a jar of celery juice, the
only supplements she would add to her diet of wayside grasses and edible weeds.
Forty-six days later, Mrs. Moore arrived in New York, greeted by an entourage of
friends and surprised reporters.
Chapter 3 -
How Wheatgrass Chlorophyll Works
Back to
The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore
Download
The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore (566KB)
Back To Top
|
