Chapter 4
Life Extension and Rejuvenation Through Wheatgrass

.... Give me a field where the unmow'd grass grows, the good green grass, that delicate miracle, the ever-recurring grass .... - Walt Whitman

As in the days of Ponce de Leon, humans everywhere are still in hot pursuit of the fountain of eternal youth. One drink from this magic fountain, it was believed, would restore youthful appearance, outlook, and vigor. Despite the fact that scientists have now discovered over a hundred chemical elements and thousands of factors that play a role in nutrition and health, they are not even one step closer to realizing the dream of eternal youth than Ponce de Leon was five hundred years ago. In fact, when you consider the rising incidence of degenerative disease in our society, you could say we have taken a few steps in the opposite direction. Yet, in wheatgrass, I believe we have a veritable fountain of youth available to us.

Many of the wild claims being made about vitamin-mineral supplements are exaggerated and misleading. Supplements, "youth drugs," or hormones will not, in any amount, cure the common cold, restore potency to an octogenarian, or return hair to a bald head. In most cases supplements are a waste of time and money, and they can even be dangerous in large doses.

Let's be clear: synthetic vitamin-mineral supplements can have a druglike effect, creating symptoms from constipation and headaches to kidney and liver damage. Furthermore, they have a limited effect compared to their natural counterparts found in fresh foods. Synthetic Vitamin E, for example, is less than one-tenth as effective as natural E. Less of the synthetic vitamins and minerals get absorbed than the forms found naturally in foods. All vitamins and minerals found in nature come "packaged" with other nutrients to ensure their optimal absorption and use. This is the way we have been getting our vitamins for millions of years—and it is still the safest and best way to do so.

Wheatgrass contains a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals, including the thirteen essential ones, packaged with dozens of trace elements and enzymes. It is a nutritionally complete food which will sustain the growth and development of laboratory animals and humans alike. In addition, scientists have never found wheatgrass to be toxic in any amount when given to either animals or humans. I will discuss the role of vitamins in nutrition more fully in the following chapter.

NUTRITION AND REJUVENATION

Proper nutrition is inseparable from the process of rejuvenation. No other method or treatment can bring assured results as quickly and permanently with total safety. Despite huge medical gains over the past one hundred years, medical solutions to life extension and rejuvenation have all fallen short— the average male lives just four years longer today than his ancestor did a hundred years ago. And until we can prevent ourselves from falling into the grave in the first place it is doubtful whether we will find a way to raise ourselves out of it.

The most sane and direct approach we have towards finding the fountain of youth is through proper nutrition, utilizing potent foods like wheatgrass and sprouts, and moderate exercise. Unfortunately, this approach requires effort, and is not glamorous as taking an elixir—but the results more than justify the means.

My own experience exemplifies the miraculous ability of wheatgrass to fill deficiencies in the body and reverse the aging process. At fifty years of age I was ready for an early retirement. My hair was gray, I had a terrible case of colitis and other colon problems, I suffered from low energy, and had no clear direction in life. Out of desperation I turned to nature for relief. Lessons I had learned in childhood from my grandmother were strong in my memory and dreams.

My intuition and reason led me to experiment with the most vital and nutritionally rich foods I could find. These were not meats, cheeses, and eggs, as most people suspected at that time, but those foods which could trap the sun's energy and transfer it to my body. These were live foods—foods richer in vitamins, minerals, and life energy, than in proteins or fats. While proteins and fats are necessary, I knew that I did not need them in the heavy form and large quantities used by the average person.

I knew that to find the energy of life and use it to rejuvenate my tired and sickly body I would have to find it in green plants. Charles Kettering and a handful of other researchers had the right idea, but commercial pressures forced them to seek ways to package or synthesize the life energy in green plants to increase its shelf life—which cannot be done.

In wheatgrass, raw foods, and exercise, I found what I feel is as close to the fountain of youth as we are going to get. Twenty-five years after my discovery, my hair has turned fully natural brown again. My weight has been a stable 119 (the same as it was in my youth), and my energy level is limitless. For the past ten years I have required an average of only four hours of sleep a night, and I haven't needed the services of a physician in years. My work has brought me all over the world on many demanding lecture tours, sometimes for months at a time. Yet I have more energy than I ever remember having as a child—and I am no child at seventy-six. What I found can help you, too. But instead of taking my word for it, examine what I have to say carefully, and then, if you are so inclined, try it for yourself.

LONGER LIFE

I am not going to promise that wheatgrass will give you immortality, but it can cleanse your blood and help rejuvenate aging cells, slowing the aging process down, way down, making you feel more alive now. Americans as a group do not live long. In many areas, such as personal income and production, we lead most other nations year after year, but when it comes to longevity, in 1978 we ranked about twenty-fifth for men and ninth for women. American men live an average of sixty-nine years and women seventy-four. People in Israel, Greece, Japan, East Germany, and Australia live longer than we do. Women in the Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Canada, and Britain all live longer than American women.

Compared to our American ancestors, however, we are doing better. Of course they had to deal with pestilence, famine, and more infant and maternal deaths. Just the same, in 1900 the average life expectancy in America was forty-seven, and by 1950 it had risen by twenty years. In the three decades since then any increase in lifespan has been insignificant. The problem is that we have changed our diet radically. The average American now consumes about nine pounds of chemical additives per year. Nearly 50 percent of the food in the typical American diet is artificially processed. Americans eat fewer fresh vegetables and fruits and more red meats, poultry, and dairy products, than ever before.

There are no deep secrets to living a long life. Simplicity is the key. That is what we can learn from the traditionally longevinous peoples of Hunza, Pakistan; Vilcabamba, Equador; and Georgia, Russia. A simple diet that includes plenty of chlorophyll-rich greens, fresh vegetables, sprouted grains, beans, seeds, fresh fruits, and other wholesome foods, with few (if any) animal foods, is best. The addition of wheatgrass to such simple fare creates a diet with the power to regenerate the body far better than any chemicals, drugs, or vitamin- mineral supplements can.

Think about it for a moment. Can you get life from nonliving things? If you plant a vitamin pill in the ground, will it sprout up and grow into a thick living plant? Of course not. How then can it add life and energy to your body in the same way that living wheatgrass, greens, or sprouts can? Plant any of these in the ground and they will create new life out of the soil, rain, and air. Vitamin supplements may be necessary on a temporary basis, to balance an existing problem, but they cannot take the place of live foods in the diet.

It is the life force in wheatgrass, along with its stores of vital nutrients, that can restore youthfulness to the body. If you cook the grass, what is left? A mere shell of matter, totally devoid of life. When we cook food, we destroy its enzymes and life energy. It is no small wonder that we age quickly, degenerate, and die younger than we have to.

Life comes from life. Wheatgrass, as it grows on a tray of soil in your home, is the essence of life and vitality. Wheat- grass contains extraordinary nutrients, identified by G.O. Kohler as the "grass juice factor," which he found only in grasses. The research of Kohler and others has indicated that the grass juice factor can correct nutritional deficiencies, stimulate growth, and prevent early death in herbivorous (plant-eating) animals.

Now let us briefly discuss the nutritional factors in wheat- grass chlorophyll which give the juice the ability to rejuvenate even the most tired and worn out body.

WHEATGRASS, ENZYMES, AND AGING

Enzymes are perhaps more important than any other active ingredients in wheatgrass. To date, literally hundreds of enzymes have been discovered in cereal grasses. An even more thorough study in the future may turn up thousands, because grass is a storehouse of enzymes.

When included in the diet, these enzymes supplement the indogenous enzymes manufactured in the human body (see page 19), extending their life energy. The most important enzymes that have been isolated in wheatgrass are: cytochrome oxidase, an antioxidant required for proper cell respiration; lipase, a fat-splitting enzyme; protease, a protein digestant; amylase, which facilitates starch digestion; catalase, which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen in the blood and body tissues; peroxidase, which has an action similar to catalase, on a cellular level; transhydrogenase, an enzyme which aids in keeping the muscle tissue of the heart toned; and superoxide dismutase (SOD).

It is interesting to note that when these enzymes decline in quantity and strength—which happens as we get older—the body's ability to handle heavy fats, proteins, and excess calories weakens. This could be responsible for the problems of overweight and premature aging, which plague so many Americans today. It is also interesting to note that three of these enzymes—cytochrome oxidase, peroxidase, and catalase—are found in relatively high concentrations in normal red and white blood cells. In the body of a cancer patient, however, their numbers are usually decreased significantly.

We have already seen how the enzymes found in wheatgrass help to detoxify the pollutants inside us. They also help us to digest our food better. In some cases they also have shown an ability to "digest" or dissolve excesses of fat and protein in the body, and may even break down tumors and cysts.

One of the enzymes found in cereal grasses, SOD, plays a crucial role in wheatgrass's ability to prevent aging. This enzyme has received plenty of attention in scientific circles as a possible anti-aging enzyme.

Working independently, Dr. Barry Halliwell, a biochemist at the University of London, Dr. M. Rister, at the University of Cologne in Germany, and Dr. Irwin Fridovich, a biochemist at Duke University, have found SOD in all body cells. They have investigated the role that this enzyme plays in slowing cellular aging. Remarkably, SOD lessens the effects of radiation, acts as an anti-inflammatory compound, and may prevent cellular damage following heart attacks or exposure to irritants. Wheatgrass is a superior food source of SOD.

SOD occurs naturally in each cell as a balancing agent that neutralizes the toxic effects of superoxides, which also reside in cells. Superoxides are substances produced by every cell in the normal metabolic processes. However, when the quantity of superoxides in the cells increases without a corresponding increase in SOD production, they can damage cells and stimulate aging.

After exposure to radiation or pollutants such as nitrogen oxide derivatives, following the consumption of foreign (and toxic) substances like drugs and chemical additives, and as we age, the number of harmful superoxides in and around our cells increases. Their accumulation damages the fats, DNA, and overall structure of the cells. As I mentioned, some amount of superoxides is necessary, but any excesses should be destroyed by SOD present in cells. When the supply of SOD is low, cells become poisoned; they lose their ability to renew themselves, and die prematurely. In fact, the older or more abnormal the cells in the body, the greater the number of superoxides they usually contain.

In both laboratory trials and clinical tests, however, SOD has proven to be a safe and effective enzyme which can protect us from cell damage due to superoxides, infection, aging, radiation, and poisoning by bad food, air, or drugs. And wheatgrass is a natural source of this enzyme.

WHEATGRASS AND DNA REPAIR

Dr. Yasuo Hotta, a biologist at the University of California at San Diego, has isolated another compound from young grasses. Provisionally named P4D1, this substance has shown the ability to stimulate the production and natural repair of human reproductive sperm cells and DNA.

Dr. Hotta tested reproductive cells rather than somatic cells (the ones that make up body tissues) because of their remarkable ability to repair damaged DNA, thus ensuring the health of the newborn. The experiment consisted of first damaging one group of spermatocytes with X-radiation and administering a toxic chemical to another group. Some of the damaged cells from each group were then allowed to recover on their own, and others were given P4D 1. When the cells were incubated under normal controlled conditions, the added extract increased the number of cells repaired and the speed at which the repairs took place. When the extract was added to undamaged cells it also assisted in their normal repair processes.

What this means is that young grasses, including wheat- grass, may be able to increase potency and reproductive powers. And for those who are impotent, elderly, or ill, the return of potency is a sure sign of a stronger body and greater ability to fight disease and hold off aging. Dr. Hotta is currently testing the effect of the extract on somatic cells, which are slower to recover, to see whether they too can be benefited by it.

The regenerative effect of young spring grasses also has important implications for agriculture. Dr. Charles Schnabel showed farmers how fresh young grasses returned fertility to bulls and extended the longevity of milkers by at least five or six years. Grasses have the same regenerative and productivity-increasing effect on other farm animals, too. Today, large-scale cattle farms and many city zoos use huge machines to grow grasses indoors to feed their animals year- round. If grass can return fertility to a bull, think of what it could do for you!

WHEATGRASS AGAINST FREE RADICALS

We are not leaving the subject of rejuvenation to venture off into the political arena when we discuss "free radicals." Free radicals are atoms with a bunch of wild electrons that can surround your cells internally and age every part of your body from the inside out. They are created especially by the processed and cooked fats in our diet.

A recent book by Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, entitled Life Extension, has brought much attention to free radicals. The authors point out the damage free radicals can cause, and suggest ways to eliminate them as a means to a longer and healthier life. Unfortunately, their advice could be harmful, since the drugs and supplements they recommend have not been thoroughly tested for long-term effects. Their premise is that rprtain chemicals called antioxidants, contained in food additives like BHT and BHA, can neutralize and reverse the accumulation of free radicals in the body, improving health and extending longevity.

However, according to Dr. Jeffrey Bland, a biochemist at the University of Puget Sound in Washington, preliminary results of studies on the long-term use of BHT and BHA as anti-aging supplements indicate that these food additives tend to inhibit the production, in the liver, of certain enzymes that are necessary for health and long life.

My own feeling is that the practice of using preservatives to extend lifespan is absurd. Preserving a food item and preserving the life of a living body by using food additives are galaxies apart. Do you want to be preserved while you're still alive? I don't! While portions of the cell have a vital need for oxygen, other parts may be damaged by it. Antioxidants protect these important components of the cell (especially unsaturated fats) from being damaged by oxygen. The antioxidants found in BHT, BHA, and other additives are also found in wheatgrass and other natural foods, in a form which is both safer and more efficient than the chemical types.

As you may recall, I have mentioned that fats can accumulate as certain enzymes diminish due to age and poor eating habits. What I didn't discuss was how these fats contribute to premature aging and how wheatgrass can remove them, and that is where free radicals enter the picture.

Over the past few years, many Americans have switched from saturated fats (mostly animal fats) to unsaturated and polyunsaturated ones. The unsaturated fats were supposed to prevent heart disease while the saturated fats caused it. However, now we know we were wrong. Both types of fats increase our risk of heart disease, and worse, accelerate the aging process—saturated fats by their tendency to shut off oxygen to our cells, and polyunsaturated fats for the same reason—but also because they create free radicals.

Free radicals are atoms that contain electrons which have become detached from their paired mates. In the bloodstream, they form easily from polyunsaturated fats in the presence of oxygen. They can also form outside the body in oil when it becomes rancid. The problem is that free radi cals are very unstable. They tend to disrupt anything they get close to, and can damage nearly every system in the body.

According to P. Gordon, in "Free Radicals and the Aging Process," in Theoretical Aspects of Aging, published by Academic Press, when cells are damaged by free radicals, their remnants persist as intracellular accumulations called lipofuscin pigments. These further disrupt health by inhibiting the flow of oxygen into cells. The quantity of lipofuscin pigments usually increases with age, and can be regarded as an indication of the age of tissues. A high-fat diet like the one eaten by most Americans is believed by many investigators in the field of aging to be one of the primary ways to increase the quantity of lipofuscin pigments.

Wheatgrass, on the other hand, can prevent both free radicals and lipofuscin pigments from accumulating and doing their damage. Wheatgrass juice contains vitamins C, E, and carotene, natural antioxidants which protect us from free radical formation, safely and effectively. The antioxidants found in synthetic chemicals such as BHA and BHT may be able to prevent rancidity in polyunsaturated oils, but there is no proof that they can do the same inside the human body. In addition, there is no evidence that they are safe for supplemental use since we have only been exposed to small amounts of them for the last few years.

Vitamins A, C, and E are examples of natural antioxidants. Vitamin C not only prevents free radical formation, but also prevents vitamins A and E from being destroyed. Wheatgrass juice contains about as much Vitamin C per ounce as orange juice, and more than most common vegetables.

Vitamin A is not found in wheatgrass juice, or any other plant food, but its precursor, carotene, is. In fact, carotene is one of the substances that prevents oils from becoming free radicals while plants are alive. Unlike animal food sources of Vitamin A, which can cause harm in large doses, carotene has not been found to be toxic in any amount. In experiments where investigators gave animals extra carotene from food sources or in foods, they discovered that it had a major protective effect against the formation of free radicals in the animals' tissues.

Wheatgrass juice is a good source of Provitamin A (carotene). It has more carotene per pound than iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and many other garden vegetables. Of course, besides using wheatgrass juice to prevent aging due to free radicals, you can limit the fats and oils in your diet to those found in foods. Cooking oils, butter, margarine, mayonnaise, and other "free" fats can age your body to the extent that you indulge in them and cannot rid your body of the excesses.

YOU ARE ONLY AS YOUNG AS YOUR BLOOD

A healthy body requires healthy, normal blood to stay that way. In my opinion, the healthier the blood, the greater the vitality and longer the span of life. For it is the quality of the blood which determines the strength of our bones and the firmness of our muscles. Without rich, healthy blood to carry nutrients to every cell of the body, we merely survive with our share of poor health and low energy.

According to Dr. Bernard Jensen, none of the blood builders are superior to green juices and wheatgrass. Over the years he has used them both to treat low serum iron count and toxic conditions of the blood. In his book Chlorophyll Magic From Living Plant Life, Dr. Jensen mentions several cases where he was able to double the red blood cell count in a matter of days merely by having patients soak in a chlorophyll-water bath. Blood values were measured, using standard laboratory techniques, before and after the baths. The blood building results occurred even more quickly when the patients drank green juices and wheatgrass regularly in addition to taking the chlorophyll baths. Blood rich in iron brings more oxygen to the cells, promoting youthfulness and preventing senility.

REJUVENATION THROUGH WHEATGRASS

While we still do not know exactly why wheatgrass rejuvenates poor-quality blood and tired bodies, we have many clues. Years ago, Brown Langone wrote a book entitled Make Your Cells Grow Younger, in which he discussed the remarkable power of root auxins—substances found in the roots of all young, growing plants. He cited research experiments conducted by botanists who placed root auxins on the tip of a leaf, causing root to grow on the edge of the leaf. Langone reasoned that we could get a sort of youth auxin from eating baby greens, sprouts, and grasses. Others have proven his assumptions correct. For example, Dr. Weston Price, founder of the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, isolated a substance from the tips of young grasses which had a similar effect to that of root auxins, showing an ability to promote regeneration in damaged cells. My own research confirms these results.

Wheatgrass may be used as a tonic and rejuvenator because of its abundance of natural vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and enzymes. It is also a high-quality source of fuel, and it is highly assimilable, requiring little energy to digest. Even those with weak or failing digestion can reap the rewards of using it.

Chapter 5 - Super Nutrition From Wheatgrass

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