Wheatgrass question

[Tangerina]

Ok... so everyone takes wheatgrass juiced, but is there any reason you can't just throw a chunk of the whole grass blades into a green smoothie in the morn along with some spinach... a banana... berries... mango.... drooolllll...... I know it is kinda fiberous, but in a good blender it would just be incorporated into the drink and then you wouldn't have to juice it separately, which takes time.... this morn I ate some blades off of the wheatgrass plant I bought for my boyfriend (he named it Hermie) and it tasted... well... gross like wheatgrass but it seemed a fine way to get the nutrients... I was curious if there is any reason that everyone always juices it or if eating the whole blades is fine.....

[Tangerina]

Oh, a bit of googling and I answered my own question:

Q Why can't we eat wheatgrass as it is?
A Cellulose in the wheatgrass blades makes it too woody and fibrous to digest. It must be juiced to achieve maximum nutritional value. But before then, it must be carefully grown in prepared mineral-rich soil, cut at its most nutritious stage (before jointing), then juiced.

I also learned that it should be cut from a living plant, juiced, and then consumed within 3 hours to get the full benefit. I'm gonna have to go get a new plant because Hermie has grown past that jointing stage and is kind of part of the family now....

[sport]

Thanks for that info. I have some in the freezer and was hoping to juice it at some stage but perhaps I will trow it out.

[rawfigure]

I have juiced wheat grass and immediately frozen and it is fine that way. It does not taste as sweet as it does prior to freezing.

[Tangerina]

Hmmm... I don't have any pure science on this, but I have read that many nutrients can survive freezing and it is probably still really nutritious even if it is not as good as fresh.... kind of goes along my personal food philosophy.... better to eat non-organic raw than eat cooked food, better to eat cooked vegetables than eat pasta, better to eat frozen wheatgrass than not.... better to eat the little bit of cooked nuts they put on your salad at a restaurant than throw away the food.... etc...