The False Statement Found Everywhere
1 fl. oz. of wheatgrass juice is equivalent to 2½ pounds of the choicest vegetables
Charles F. Schnabel
This statement is easy to understand and widely propogated on the internet but it is a myth. It originates from a letter Charles Schnabel (pictured – the father of wheatgrass) sent to Conrad A. Elvehjem, July 10, 1942. The actual statement made was:
15 lbs. of wheat grass is equal in overall nutritional value to 350 pounds of ordinary garden vegetables. We have not even scratched the surface of what grass can mean to man in the future. -Charles F. Schnabel
The problem is that the statement is conjecture, not fact. It is also taken out of context as it refers to wheatgrass as a plant not a juice. While wheatgrass juice is absolutely fantastic, neither the first or second statements are supported by nutrition facts.
The first inaccurate statement was extrapolated from the second inaccurate statement with these calculations:
- Taken as fact that 15 lbs wheatgrass = 350 lbs vegetables
- 15 lb wheatgrass would need to produce 140 fl oz juice
- 350 lbs of vegetables / 140 fl oz = 2.5
- Therefore 1 fl oz of juice = 2.5 lbs of vegetables
- Repeat time and again…and that is how a myth is born
We know wheatgrass juice is fantastic and believe it to be so good because:
- it is a singularly life sustaining plant – as evidenced by the many animals that subsist solely on grasses
- optimal growing – field growing by mother nature produces an optimal plant
- juicing – essentially digests the food to make it 100% biologically available
- unpasteurized state – keeping the juice unpasteurized maintains its integrity as a food
- uniqueness – most other foods are optimized for shelf life and badly damaged as a result, wheatgrass juice is optimized for nutrition and unlike anything else you regularly ingest
